Principal Engineer

Salary: £74,000 - 87,244 per year

Requirements:

• Deep, broad technical expertise across software engineering, system design, integrations, Azure and enterprise platforms such as CRM, Finance systems and APIs
• Proven track record leading large-scale engineering or architectural transformation
• Strong ability to shape technical strategy and influence at senior level
• Experience providing technical governance and assurance across complex environments
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to translate complexity into clear direction
• A passion for coaching, mentoring and raising engineering standards
• Ability to balance long-term strategic thinking with pragmatic delivery focus
• Experience in product-aligned or service-led operating models
• Strong understanding of modern engineering practices, including Agile, DevOps and CI/CD
• Knowledge of cloud-native architectures and modern platforms
• Experience improving engineering capability across multiple teams or domains

Responsibilities:

• Lead on our most complex and business-critical engineering challenges
• Shape and influence technology strategy across the organisation
• Define engineering standards, architecture and best practice at scale
• Provide technical assurance across platforms, integrations and systems
• Elevate capability by mentoring and inspiring engineers across multiple teams
• Partner with senior leaders, architects and product teams to ensure we build secure, scalable and future-ready systems
• Lead 3 direct reports and operate as a technical leader across a wider network of around 20 engineers
• Influence design decisions, embed best practice and drive engineering excellence across multiple teams

Technologies:

• Azure
• CI/CD
• Cloud
• CRM
• DevOps
• Support
• Network

More:

We are hiring a Principal Engineer in Southampton for a 50/50 hybrid role with a salary of 74 to 87k plus benefits. This is a rare and high-impact opportunity to act as the senior technical authority within Business Systems, working at the intersection of technology, strategy and delivery. You will partner with senior leaders, architects and product teams while helping us build secure, scalable and future-ready systems. We offer a competitive salary and pension, a performance-related bonus where applicable, 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays increasing with service, enhanced family leave including paid partner leave, hybrid and flexible working options, and learning and development support with coaching and mentoring.

last updated 32 week of 2026