Principal IS Engineer in Dartford

Join us, be part of more. We're so much more than an energy company. We're a family of brands revolutionising how we power the planet. We're energisers. One team of 21,000 colleagues that's energising a greener, fairer future by creating an energy system that doesn't rely on fossil fuels, whilst living our powerful commitment to igniting positive change in our communities. Here, you can find more purpose, more passion, and more potential. That's why working here is #MoreThanACareer. We do energy differently - we do it all. We make it, store it, move it, sell it, and mend it.

An opportunity to play your part - Ready to step into a role where you can truly shape the future of engineering at scale? At Centrica, we're looking for a Principal Engineer to take the lead in driving architecture, innovation and delivery across our technology landscape within our Product and Engineering Shared Services organisation. This is a brilliant opportunity to combine hands-on technical leadership with strategic influence guiding design decisions, mentoring talented engineering teams and working closely with stakeholders to build scalable, reliable solutions that power real customer outcomes. If you thrive on solving complex challenges and elevating those around you, you'll feel right at home here.

Location: UK-based hybrid role, Occasional travel to site.

Day to day:

• Define and drive the technical vision, aligning engineering direction with business goals while shaping product and technology roadmaps.
• Champion best engineering practices, fostering a collaborative culture and raising technical standards across teams.
• Design and evolve scalable, high-performance architectures for complex, enterprise-level systems.
• Mentor and guide engineers while remaining hands-on through coding, code reviews and technical leadership.
• Partner with product, design and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality, customer-focused outcomes.
• Ensure reliability, security and continuous improvement, while translating complex technical concepts into clear business value.

What are the must haves:

• Provide clear technical leadership and guidance across architecture, design standards and implementation, acting as a trusted expert across the organisation.
• Lead the design of high-level solutions and support teams in building scalable, modern services using best-in-class patterns.
• Act as the go-to authority on architecture and engineering practices, setting direction while staying hands-on where it matters.
• Mentor and develop engineers, aligning long-term technical direction with business goals and building strong, future-ready teams.
• Collaborate seamlessly across product, engineering and business teams to deliver cohesive, high-quality solutions.
• Tackle complex challenges with strong problem-solving skills, bringing data-driven thinking and objective reasoning to decision-making.
• Communicate with impact, translating technical detail into clear business value and influencing stakeholders at all levels.
• Thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment, confidently navigating ambiguity, context-switching and driving continuous improvement.

Core Competencies & Technical Skills (AI and emerging technology):

• Designs, integrates and operates AI-enabled solutions within enterprise environments, including prompt driven workflows, retrieval-augmented systems and AI agents.
• Applies structured evaluation, testing and monitoring practices to ensure AI outputs are reliable, secure and compliant with organisational guardrails.
• Prepares and manages data used in AI workflows and takes responsibility for the responsible lifecycle of AI features from experimentation through deployment and continuous improvement.

What's in it for you?

• Enjoy a generous market salary, along with fantastic growth opportunities and a vibrant work environment!
• Added Car Allowance program to make your commute and adventures even better.
• Power up your pay with a 15% Employee Energy Allowance, surpassing the government's price cap!
• Secure your future with our comprehensive pension plan, designed for peace of mind.
• Elevate your health with our fully-funded company healthcare plan, prioritising your well-being.
• Recharge with a generous 25-day holiday allowance, plus public holidays, and even purchase up to 5 extra days for extended relaxation!
• Experience unparalleled work-life balance with an exceptional selection of flexible benefits, from tech treats and eco-friendly car leases to travel insurance for your adventures!

Why should you apply?

We're not a perfect place - but we're a people place. Our priority is supporting all of the different realities our people face. Life is about so much more than work. We get it. That's why we've designed our total rewards to give you the flexibility to choose what you need, when you need it, making sure that you and your family are supported not only financially, but physically and emotionally too. Visit the link below to discover why we're a great place to work and what being part of more means for you. If you're full of energy, fired up about sustainability, and ready to craft not only a better tomorrow, but a better you, then come and find your purpose in a team where your voice matters, your growth is non-negotiable, and your ambitions are our priority.

Help us, help you. We would love for you to share any information about yourself throughout our recruitment process so that we can better understand you and help shape your journey.