Principal Engineer (Java) - up to £105,000 + Bonus - Hybrid

Principal Java Engineer (AWS / Microservices)Salary: Up to £105,000 + Bonus + BenefitsLocation: Coventry or Central London - Hybrid (2 days per week onsite)Working Hours: 40 hours per week - Full timeJob Type: Permanent

A globally established organisation is seeking an experienced Principal Java Engineer to shape the future of large-scale digital platforms used by millions of customers.

This role will focus on driving engineering excellence, defining technical standards and leading the design of scalable, high-availability systems across a modern cloud-native environment.

Responsibilities for the Principal Java Engineer:

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• Define and evolve engineering strategy, standards and best practices across your domain
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• Lead technical direction across multiple engineering teams (on and offshore) and programmes
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• Design and oversee delivery of large-scale, distributed systems using modern technologies
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• Provide expert guidance on technical risk, architecture decisions and prioritisation
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• Support Staff Engineers and development teams with deep technical leadership
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• Drive adoption of DevOps, CI/CD, automation and modern engineering practices
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• Leverage AI and intelligent automation to improve productivity and delivery outcomes
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• Mentor engineers and contribute to a strong engineering culture and community of practice
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• Work closely with senior stakeholders to align technology with business goals
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Essential Skills for the Principal Java Engineer:

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• Deep hands-on expertise in Java, Spring Boot, Microservices, Kafka and AWS
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• Experience managing on and offshore teams
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• Strong understanding of software architecture and scalable system design
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• Experience leading development of high-performance distributed systems
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• Experience defining and governing technical standards and engineering practices
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• Strong leadership, mentoring and stakeholder engagement skills
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Desirable Skills for the Principal Java Engineer:

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• Strong advocate of Agile delivery and modern engineering ways of working
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• Experience building collaborative engineering communities
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• Comfortable making data-driven technical decisions at scale
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• Experience working closely with senior engineering leadership teams
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If you are a senior Java engineering leader looking to shape modern platforms at scale while remaining close to technology, this role offers strong influence, complex challenges and long-term impact.