Principal Platform Engineer

Principal Platform Engineer

📍 London, UK (Hybrid)

⏱ Permanent | Full-time

Build platforms that power products used by millions

This is a senior, hands-on Principal Platform Engineer role at the heart of a global engineering organisation. You’ll define platform strategy, influence technical direction at scale, and enable engineering teams to deliver faster, safer, and more reliably.

The mission is simple but ambitious: remove complexity for development teams by building world-class platform infrastructure that “just works”.

You’ll collaborate with senior engineers, architects, and technology leaders across multiple countries, shaping the future of a global platform used by high-traffic consumer products.

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive platform strategy, architecture, and technical standards across teams
• Design and deliver end-to-end platform solutions that create real value for developers and SRE teams
• Champion innovation and modern engineering practices, influencing change at scale
• Partner closely with architects and external engineering teams to ensure alignment and delivery
• Build and strengthen the Principal Engineer community, providing technical leadership and mentorship
• Guide engineers in both technical excellence and career development
• Ensure security, reliability, data integrity, and governance across platform services
• Lead early-stage technical analysis and requirements definition before delivery begins

What You’ll Bring

• Proven experience working with product-led, agile delivery teams
• Strong backend and platform engineering background, including:
• Kubernetes
• Cloud platforms (AWS preferred)
• Hands-on development experience with Golang and/or TypeScript
• Deep understanding of building highly available, highly reliable systems at scale
• Excellent communication skills — able to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders
• Experience shaping requirements, documenting solutions, and influencing technical decisions
• Strong delivery experience, including:
• Writing user stories and acceptance criteria (BDD)
• Facilitating backlog refinement, planning, and estimation
• Maintaining technical documentation, APIs, and audit trails
• Prior experience in a Principal, Staff, or senior technical leadership role
• A collaborative mindset with the confidence to challenge, persuade, and lead through influence

Team & Environment

You’ll join a globally distributed platform engineering organisation spanning London and multiple international locations. The platform you help build enables teams to deploy applications securely, operate them reliably, and scale efficiently.

London plays a key role in:

• Platform architecture and strategy
• Kubernetes-based PaaS development
• CI/CD automation
• Developer tooling and observability platforms

Ways of Working

• Hybrid working model: a balance of office collaboration and remote flexibility
• Inclusive, supportive culture with a strong focus on engineering-led delivery
• Emphasis on quality, innovation, and continuous improvement

What’s On Offer

• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Generous pension contribution
• Private healthcare
• Employee discounts and reward programmes
• Clear progression and influence at senior technical level

Inclusion

Applications are encouraged from candidates of all backgrounds. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the hiring process to ensure a fair and accessible experience.