Principal Software Engineer - Retail Technology

About us

We’re the team behind digital retailer Very.

Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do.

And we want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high‑performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, building and running front‑end and/or back‑end software solutions in an agile delivery squad. This role is hands‑on; you’ll be actively involved in designing, implementing and running the products and services that your squad are responsible for. You’ll help shape best practices in software engineering and coach other squad members into driving and ensuring high‑quality solutions.

• Lead the full software development lifecycle, including coding practices, frameworks, technical debt, and operations within your squad.
• Collaborate with Engineers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, and Architects to design and deliver industry‑leading systems.
• Influence and implement engineering standards and tools, driving adoption across squads and tribes.
• Design and build software that balances commercial needs with the future tech roadmap.
• Take ownership of code quality, non‑functional requirements (performance, security, scalability), and best practices for logging, monitoring, and alerting.
• Drive improvements in continuous integration and deployment processes.
• Identify and mitigate risks, obstacles, and issues impacting technical products.
• Provide run support for technical products within your squad.
• Mentor and coach other engineers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Champion engineering successes internally and externally to build our brand and attract talent.
• Stay ahead of the curve by understanding the external technology landscape and applying insights to enhance our engineering practices.

• Extensive experience in building, integrating, and managing complex software architectures, ideally across multi‑cloud environments.
• Strong hands‑on experience with Java, AWS components, and CI/CD tools (e.g., Git Lab CI).
• Proven ability to mentor and guide less experienced engineers.
• Passionate about code quality, testing, and engineering best practices.
• Skilled in building applications with security, reliability, scalability, and high availability from the ground up.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills.
• Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
• Comfortable sharing knowledge and stories internally and externally to strengthen our engineering brand.

• Flexible, hybrid working model
• Inclusive culture and environment
• £1,000 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• 30 days holiday + bank holidays
• Udemy learning access
• Up to 25% discount on
• Matched pension up to 6%

• Agile, AWS, Java, Software Architecture, Unit Testing, CI/CD, Microservices, Git Lab, APIs.
• English language proficiency.

We’re building a culture of everyday inclusion, and welcome applications from anyone who believes they can do the job. We don’t discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview, or perform a role, let us know via talen We’ll be happy to support you.

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have nine brilliant colleague networks – including DAWN (Disability Awareness at Very) and Think (Neurodiversity at Very) – that are helping us make Very an even more inclusive place to work.