Principal Engineer (Java) - up to £100,000 + Bonus - Hybrid

Principal Java Engineer (AWS / Microservices)Salary: Up to £100,000 + 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:

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

Essential Skills for the Principal Java Engineer:

• Deep hands-on expertise in Java, Spring Boot, Microservices, Kafka and AWS
• Strong understanding of software architecture and scalable system design
• Experience leading development of high-performance distributed systems
• Proven experience in a Principal, Lead or Senior Engineering role
• Experience defining and governing technical standards and engineering practices
• Experience influencing strategy across multiple teams or domains
• Practical experience using Generative AI tools to improve engineering productivity
• Strong leadership, mentoring and stakeholder engagement skills

Desirable Skills for the Principal Java Engineer:

• Strong advocate of Agile delivery and modern engineering ways of working
• Experience building collaborative engineering communities
• Comfortable making data-driven technical decisions at scale
• Experience working closely with senior engineering leadership teams

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.