Principal Engineer

Barclays is looking for a Principal Engineer to join our Business Banking Technology function, aligned to the Architecture Team. This role sits at the heart of our CIO UK organisation and plays a critical part in delivering functionality that directly benefits our customers.

To be successful as a Principal Engineer, you should have:

• Ability to lead complex engineering initiatives across multiple teams.
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and a passion for tackling and owning the most challenging technical problems.
• Significant knowledge of software architecture paradigms and experience designing complex, scalable systems.

• Experience shaping and contributing to enterprise architecture and technology strategy.
• Extensive experience bridging technical and business communities, clearly communicating architectural trade-offs, risks, and decisions.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders through clear, evidence‑based reasoning.

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in the role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job‑specific technical skills.

This role will be located at our Knutsford office.

To drive technical excellence and innovation by leading the design and implementation of robust software solutions, providing mentorship to engineering teams, fostering cross‑functional collaboration, and contributing to strategic planning to ensure the delivery of high‑quality solutions aligned with business objectives.

• Provision of guidance and expertise to engineering teams to ensure alignment with best practices and foster a culture of technical excellence.
• Contribution to strategic planning by aligning technical decisions with business goals, anticipating future technology trends, and providing insights to optimise product roadmaps.
• Design and implementation of complex, scalable, and maintainable software solutions, considering long‑term viability and business objectives.
• Mentoring and coaching junior and mid‑level engineers to foster professional growth and knowledge sharing, elevating the overall skillset and capabilities of the organisation.
• Collaboration with business partners, product managers, designers and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions and ensure a cohesive approach to product development.
• Innovation within the organisation by identifying and incorporating new technologies, methodologies and industry practices into the engineering process.

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change, plan resources, budgets and policies; manage and maintain policies/processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalates breaches of policies/procedures.
• If managing a team, define jobs and responsibilities, plan for the department’s future needs and operations, counsel employees on performance and contribute to employee pay decisions/changes. May also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, aligning with strategic and tactical priorities while balancing short‑ and long‑term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements.
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
• For an individual contributor, they will be a subject‑matter expert within their discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi‑year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long‑term profits, organisational risks and strategic…