Principal Software Engineer

Salary: £59,000 - 99,000 per year

Requirements:

• We require mastery of multiple modern programming languages and extensive engineering experience across diverse technology stacks such as Python, Java, and Node.
• We require an expert track record of leading multiple delivery teams to deliver enterprise-scale, high-quality, technology-agnostic solutions.
• We require strategic mastery in coaching and guiding senior engineers and leads to achieve optimal results.
• We require exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to influence both technical and executive audiences.
• We require expert knowledge of the full development lifecycle for user-centred digital solutions at scale.
• We require advanced expertise in architectural strategies and technical roadmaps across diverse and complex environments.
• We require expert-level experience with containerisation, including Docker and Kubernetes, and complex microservices architectures.
• We require strategic design experience for system integrations and large-scale application architectures.
• We require mastery of agile methodologies and their application across large, distributed teams.
• We require enterprise-level expertise in Infrastructure as Code and public cloud architecture, including AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• We require strategy-level experience with CI/CD tools and automation at an organisational level.
• We prefer significant experience delivering high-profile GOV/NHS or enterprise-scale consultancy projects.
• We prefer a proven track record of shaping organisational engineering standards or cultures.

Responsibilities:

• We will have you provide strategic technical guidance across multiple squads as a high-level SME to ensure user-centred software follows best practice.
• We will have you partner with senior stakeholders to explore, design, and deliver innovative solutions to the most complex client problems.
• We will have you oversee and optimise the design and management of complex software development and deployment pipelines, removing strategic bottlenecks.
• We will have you direct the prioritisation of multi-team workloads, ensuring alignment with high-level operational priorities and complex work streams.
• We will have you act as a high-level communicator and presenter, representing our technical vision to executive stakeholders.
• We will have you drive strategic relationships with key stakeholders, ensuring that systemic engineering challenges are overcome.
• We will have you drive the recruitment strategy for engineering and lead high-level professional development, coaching, and succession planning.
• We will have you champion our Engineering Herd globally through thought leadership, workshops, and industry conferences.

Technologies:

• AWS
• Azure
• CI/CD
• Cloud
• Docker
• GCP
• Support
• Java
• Kubernetes
• Python
• microservices
• NodeJS
• DevOps

More:

We are Hippo, a rapidly growing digital consultancy that designs with empathy and builds for impact. We combine data-informed evidence, human-centred design, and software engineering to deliver transformative digital solutions for public and private sector clients. Our collaborative, truly agile culture empowers our teams to solve complex problems and create lasting value. We are headquartered in Leeds with offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Bristol, and we are open to top talent nationwide within reasonable travelling distance of one of our offices. This Principal Consultant role is permanent, based in Leeds, and offers a salary of 81,400 to 100,000 plus benefits, along with a generous relocation support package of up to 8,000. We also offer a wide range of benefits including a contributory pension, 25 days holiday plus public holidays, wellbeing support, flexible benefits, and several family, travel, and lifestyle options. We are committed to diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and we provide an accessible recruitment process as a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer, and member of the Armed Forces Covenant.

last updated 34 week of 2026