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.