Principal Engineer - CPTO, BPL in London

Principal Engineer - CPTO, BPL in London

London Full-Time 80000 - 100000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
8120 Barclaycard UK

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead the design and implementation of innovative software solutions while mentoring engineering teams.
  • Company: Join a forward-thinking fintech company focused on technical excellence and collaboration.
  • Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, hybrid work model, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Work in a vibrant environment with excellent career advancement opportunities.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact in the fintech space with cutting-edge technology and a dynamic team.
  • Qualifications: Experience in software development, particularly in fintech, and strong communication skills.

The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.

This role is responsible for driving 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.

Accountabilities

  • Provide guidance and expertise to engineering teams to ensure alignment with best practices and foster a culture of technical excellence.
  • Contribute to strategic planning by aligning technical decisions with business goals, anticipating future technology trends, and providing insights to optimize product roadmaps.
  • Design and implement complex, scalable, and maintainable software solutions, considering long‑term viability and business objectives.
  • Mentor and coach junior and mid‑level engineers to foster professional growth and knowledge sharing.
  • Collaborate with business partners, product managers, designers and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions and ensure a cohesive approach to product development.
  • Identify and incorporate new technologies, methodologies and industry practices into the engineering process.

Key Responsibilities

  • Design and implement highly performant, fault‑tolerant distributed services that handle massive scale with grace.
  • Apply domain modelling principles to create clean, maintainable codebases that accurately represent complex business logic.
  • Champion comprehensive testing strategies – unit tests, performance testing and chaos engineering.
  • Build responsive web UIs that delight users while maintaining enterprise‑grade performance and reliability.
  • Participate in on‑call rotations, embodying the “you build it, you run it” philosophy.
  • Embed security into every layer of solutions, ensuring customer data protection and zero‑trust principles.
  • Leverage AI‑powered tools to accelerate development while maintaining production standards.

Required Skills

  • Experience in a payment acquiring, fintech or payment SaaS business.
  • Product‑thinking mindset – treating the platform as a product with engineers as customers.
  • Exceptional communication – explain technical trade‑offs to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
  • Polyglot mindset – expertise in at least two languages and a “right tool for the job” philosophy.
  • JVM mastery – deep expertise in Kotlin or Java, Scala or Clojure.
  • Cloud‑native mindset – hands‑on experience with AWS, Azure or GCP and cloud design patterns.
  • Messaging & events – solid grasp of Kafka, RabbitMQ, SQS, NATS and event‑driven architecture patterns.
  • Data layer expertise – SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB, DynamoDB, Redis).
  • API design – proven track record designing and implementing RESTful/GraphQL APIs at scale.
  • Systems programming – experience with Rust for performance‑critical services.
  • AWS mastery – advanced AWS knowledge.
  • Kubernetes – container orchestration, Helm and cloud‑native deployment strategies.
  • React – modern frontend development with React, TypeScript and state‑management libraries.
  • Observability – experience with monitoring, logging and tracing tools.
  • CI/CD wizardry – DevOps mindset and experience in automated deployment pipelines, infrastructure as code and GitOps practices.

Location: London (1 Churchill Place or 7 Westferry Circus – new BPL office) or Northampton. Hybrid working pattern with 3 days per week in‑office.

Principal Engineer - CPTO, BPL in London employer: 8120 Barclaycard UK

As a Principal Engineer at our London or Northampton office, you will thrive in a dynamic and innovative environment that champions technical excellence and collaboration. We offer a hybrid working model that promotes work-life balance, alongside robust mentorship opportunities to foster your professional growth. Join us to be part of a forward-thinking team that values your contributions and invests in cutting-edge technology to drive impactful solutions.

8120 Barclaycard UK

Contact Details:

8120 Barclaycard UK Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Principal Engineer - CPTO, BPL in London

Tip Number 1

Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend meetups, and engage with professionals on platforms like LinkedIn. We can’t stress enough how personal connections can open doors that applications alone can’t.

Tip Number 2

Prepare for those interviews by practising common questions and scenarios related to the role. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or using online resources to get comfortable discussing your experience and technical skills.

Tip Number 3

Showcase your projects! Whether it’s through a portfolio or GitHub, let your work speak for itself. We love seeing real examples of your coding prowess and problem-solving abilities, so make sure to highlight your best projects.

Tip Number 4

Don’t forget to follow up after interviews! A simple thank-you email can leave a lasting impression. We believe this shows your enthusiasm for the role and keeps you fresh in their minds as they make their decision.

We think you need these skills to ace Principal Engineer - CPTO, BPL in London

Technical Excellence
Software Design and Implementation
Mentorship
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Strategic Planning
Domain Modelling
Testing Strategies

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show Your Technical Prowess:When writing your application, make sure to highlight your technical skills and experience. We want to see how you've driven technical excellence in your previous roles, so don’t hold back on showcasing your achievements!

Tailor Your Application:Take the time to customise your application for this role. Align your experiences with the job description, especially around mentoring, collaboration, and strategic planning. This shows us you’re genuinely interested and understand what we’re looking for.

Be Clear and Concise:Keep your application clear and to the point. Use straightforward language to explain your past projects and how they relate to the responsibilities of the Principal Engineer role. We appreciate clarity and directness!

Apply Through Our Website:Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it gives you a chance to explore more about StudySmarter while you’re at it!

How to prepare for a job interview at 8120 Barclaycard UK

Know Your Tech Inside Out

Make sure you’re well-versed in the technologies mentioned in the job description, especially JVM languages like Kotlin or Java. Be ready to discuss your experience with cloud platforms like AWS or Azure, and how you've applied them in previous projects.

Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills

Prepare to share specific examples of how you've tackled complex software challenges. Highlight your approach to designing scalable solutions and how you’ve implemented testing strategies to ensure high-quality outcomes.

Communicate Like a Pro

Practice explaining technical concepts in simple terms. You’ll need to convey your ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, so think about how you can bridge that gap during your interview.

Emphasise Collaboration and Mentorship

Be ready to discuss your experience in mentoring others and fostering a collaborative environment. Share examples of how you’ve worked with cross-functional teams to align technical decisions with business goals.