Senior Principal Software Engineer Dev O

BBC UK; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 95,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

25 days annual leave

Defined pension scheme

Job summary

BBC is seeking a Senior Principal Software Engineer to provide senior technical leadership across Operational Excellence, Reliability and Security Engineering. The role identifies systemic problems across a large Product Engineering organisation and turns them into scalable engineering solutions, common standards and reusable capabilities.

Working across engineering, architecture, security and service management, you will shape standards, drive improvements, and lead the adoption of ASPM

Qualifications

• Significant experience providing senior technical leadership across a large, complex software engineering environment.
• Deep technical expertise in cloud/distributed systems, reliability/SRE, observability and operational engineering.
• Strong DevSecOps experience, including ASPM platforms integrated into the software delivery lifecycle.
• Practical understanding of Agentic Dev Operations and AI-enabled engineering.
• Proven ability to drive measurable improvements in operational maturity, reliability and security posture.

Responsibilities

• Identify systemic operational, reliability and security problems and design scalable solutions across Product Engineering.
• Define and embed standards, guardrails and engineering practices for reliability, resilience and observability.
• Provide technical leadership for DevSecOps initiatives and ASPM adoption within the delivery lifecycle.
• Lead opportunities to apply AI-enabled tooling and automation to improve engineering outcomes.
• Shape cross-cutting technical strategy and guidance for adoption of better practices across teams.

Skills

Senior leadership

Cloud & distributed systems

DevSecOps

ASPM

Agentic Dev Operations

Automation & AI-enabled tooling

Job description

Job Closing Date: 20/09/2026

Cardiff, GBR, CF10 1FT | Cardiff, GBR, CF10 1FT | Glasgow, GBR, G511DA | Glasgow, GBR, G511DA | Leeds, GBR, LS9 8AH | Leeds, GBR, LS9 8AH | London, GBR, W1A 1AA | London, GBR, W1A 1AA | Newcastle-upon-Tyne, GBR, NE991RN | Newcastle-upon-Tyne, GBR, NE991RN | Salford, GBR, M50 2QH | Salford, GBR, M50 2QH

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: E

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time

DEPARTMENT: Dev Ops - Media Tech

LOCATION: London, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff or Newcastle - Hybrid

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £95,000-£105,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application - though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The BBC Dev Operations function within Media Tech is looking to appoint a Senior Principal Software Engineer to provide senior technical leadership across Operational Excellence, Reliability and Security Engineering. The role will identify systemic problems across a large and diverse Product Engineering organisation and turn them into scalable engineering solutions, common standards and reusable capabilities that simplify the estate, reduce duplication, improve efficiency and close capability gaps.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

Working across engineering teams and with architecture, service management, DevOps/SRE and security partners, the SPSE will combine hands‑on technical leadership with strategic influence. They will shape and deliver cross‑cutting improvements spanning operational maturity, resilience, observability, DevSecOps and application security, including the adoption of Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) capabilities, while exploring Agentic Dev Operations and AI‑enabled automation to improve how operational and security engineering is performed at scale.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

• Identify recurring and systemic operational, reliability and security engineering problems across Product Engineering, then design scalable solutions, common patterns and reusable capabilities that standardise approaches, simplify the estate, drive efficiency and close capability gaps.
• Define and embed pragmatic standards, guardrails and engineering practices for reliability, resilience, observability, service performance and operational readiness, balancing consistency with the needs of autonomous engineering teams.
• Provide technical leadership for the ongoing DevSecOps programme, integrating security into engineering workflows and helping shape the adoption and implementation of Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) platforms or equivalent capabilities to improve vulnerability visibility, prioritisation and remediation.
• Identify, evaluate and lead opportunities to apply Agentic Dev Operations, AI‑enabled tooling and automation across operational and security engineering, turning emerging technology into controlled, measurable improvements in engineering effectiveness and service outcomes.
• Shape cross‑cutting technical strategy and reference approaches for Dev Operations; work directly with engineering teams on complex operational and security challenges; organise and lead work across engineering, product, architecture, service management, DevOps/SRE, security and other enabling functions; and create clear technical guidance, reference patterns and learning that help teams adopt better practices.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Significant experience providing senior technical leadership in a large, complex software engineering environment, with evidence of identifying systemic problems that cut across teams and turning them into scalable engineering solutions, standards, platforms or reusable capabilities.
• Deep technical expertise across modern software engineering, cloud and distributed systems, reliability/SRE, observability and operational engineering, with the ability to simplify complex estates and improve consistency without creating unnecessary centralised friction.
• Strong DevSecOps and security engineering experience, including leading or materially contributing to an ongoing DevSecOps improvement programme and implementing Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) platforms or comparable application security capabilities integrated into the software delivery lifecycle.
• Practical understanding of Agentic Dev Operations, AI‑enabled engineering and automation, with the judgement to identify high‑value use cases, introduce appropriate controls and translate emerging approaches into measurable operational or security outcomes.
• Demonstrated success in driving measurable improvement across operational maturity, reliability, engineering effectiveness or security posture, with a strong external perspective and curiosity about emerging practices that could improve how a large Product Engineering organisation operates.
• A strong organiser, leader and communicator who can bring structure to ambiguous cross‑cutting problems, build alignment across senior technical and non‑technical stakeholders, communicate complex ideas clearly and drive delivery through influence as well as direct technical leadership.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

Before your start date, you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges, in line with our Recruitment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

For any general queries, please contact: [e-mail]

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

Information at a Glance

This is your BBC

At the BBC you can create and innovate in an inclusive environment while contributing to some of the world's best loved content, and the BBC's mission to inform, educate and entertain.

Find out more about the BBC

Life at BBC

Here you will benefit from:

• Fair pay and flexible benefits including a competitive salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care and gym.
• Excellent career and professional development.
• Support in your working life, including flexible working which you can discuss with us at any point during the application, selection or offer.
• A values‑based organisation where the way we do things is important as what we do.

Benefits may vary if you are joining on an FTC basis or on an orchestra conditions contract.

Learn more about life at the BBC and our values in our candidate pack.

You belong

We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, so all our employees feel that they can belong, thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to join us. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.

Find out more about diversity, inclusion and belonging in our strategy below.

Diversity, inclusion & belonging strategy

Disability confident

We are a disability confident employer. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process, or to carry out this role, please contact us via email and we'd be happy to discuss: [e-mail]