Why Join Us
At Sainsbury’s Tech, you’ll help power one of the UK’s largest and most-loved multi-channel, multi-brand retailers. As a Principal Engineer, you will drive engineering excellence, shape modern technology standards, and influence the future of retail technology for millions of customers. You’ll work in a supportive, inclusive, and collaborative engineering community—one that values experimentation, innovation, and evidence-based decision making. If you’re passionate about modern engineering practises and want the freedom to explore, lead, and deliver at scale, this is the place to thrive.
What You’ll Do
Setting and evolving engineering strategy, standards, and best practises across your domain.
Influencing innovation, modern ways of working, and technical direction across engineering teams.
Leading by example through deep technical expertise, supporting Staff Engineers and teams to deliver scalable, highperformance technology solutions.
Guiding engineers and senior leaders with expert insight on technical risk, impact assessment, and prioritisation.
Designing and overseeing the delivery of largescale, highavailability systems using cuttingedge technologies.
Driving the adoption and continuous improvement of engineering practises, using data and evidence to support decisionmaking.
Leverage AI and intelligent automation to modernise our systems, streamline decision making, and ensure the organisation remains future fit in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
Shaping engineering culture by developing talent, mentoring engineers, and contributing to a thriving community of practise.
Essential Criteria
Technical Excellence
Deep handson expertise in at least one modern backend language (e.g., Java, .NET, Golang, Node.js, Python, Kotlin).
Strong understanding of engineering ecosystems, software architectures, and scalable system design.
Experience leading the development of complex, highperformance, distributed systems.
Proven ability to define, evolve, and govern technical standards and engineering best practises.
Leadership & Influence
Proven experience in a senior or principal engineering role within a modern technology organisation.
Proven ability to influence engineering strategy and shape technology direction across multiple teams or domains.
Experience working with Senior Engineering Managers and technical leaders to guide engineering vision and delivery.
Ways of Working
Strong advocate for agile methodologies and modern engineering practises.
Proven ability to build collaborative, inclusive relationships across engineering communities.
Comfortable making datadriven decisions and evaluating trade-offs at scale.
Culture & Mentorship
Strong experience developing colleagues, mentoring engineers at all levels, and contributing to engineering culture.
Passion for innovation, continuous improvement, and enabling others to succeed.
Why Sainsbury’s Tech?
Influence technology used by millions of customers every day
Freedom to innovate, experiment, and drive real change
Supportive engineering community and careerlong development
Be part of shaping the future of retail technology
What’s in It for You
Flexible working with a balanced approach to home and office
Colleague discounts across Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat
Private health cover
Generous holiday allowance
Bonus scheme
Car allowance
Pension plan
Discounts on gyms, restaurants, holidays, retail and more
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