Principal Software Engineer in Leeds

Hippo is a rapidly growing digital consultancy passionate about building and delivering transformative digital solutions for a diverse range of Public and Private sector clients. We are recruiting for a Principal Software Engineer to support our mission. We work at the intersection of strategy, design, and technology to solve complex problems and create lasting value. Our collaborative and agile culture empowers our teams to make a genuine impact.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be a strategic technical leader and a hands‑on practitioner. Your scope extends beyond individual features; you will be responsible for shaping the engineering vision, defining technical standards, and driving the delivery of high‑quality, scalable software. You will mentor and guide senior engineers, lead our technical thought leadership, and act as a key contributor to business growth. You will influence C‑suite level stakeholders and drive our technical direction in a high‑impact, influential capacity. Our solutions empower our customers to build and support secure, scalable, and well‑engineered systems. We leverage deep data insights and continuous innovation to deliver platforms that allow our customers to get the most from their digital services. The Principal Software Engineer is a key player and implementer in this mission, bridging the gap between high‑level architecture and robust, production‑ready code.

Your Role in a Nutshell

• Define and evangelise engineering standards, coding best practices, and CI/CD maturity across the entire Hippo Digital delivery practice.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, including C‑level executives, guiding their long‑term technical roadmap and digital transformation initiatives.
• Lead the most complex and strategic engineering engagements, providing oversight on system design, code quality, and performance optimisation.
• Coach and mentor our team of senior engineers and developers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical mastery.
• Drive pre‑sales activities by leading technical responses to bids, conducting technical due diligence, and shaping new opportunities with potential clients.
• Represent Hippo Digital in the wider tech community through public speaking, blogging, and contributing to open‑source or community initiatives.
• Act as the final point of escalation for complex technical decisions, ensuring our solutions are secure, sustainable, and scalable.

Essential Experience

• Extensive experience in software development with a deep, expert‑level command of at least two of the following: Python, Node or Java.
• A proven track record of leading large‑scale, enterprise‑level engineering projects and digital transformations.
• Demonstrated experience building and deploying applications on major public cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), with a deep understanding of cloud‑native patterns.
• Hands‑on experience with containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes) and designing advanced CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions).
• Strong proficiency in Infrastructure‑as‑Code (IaC), specifically using Terraform for complex, repeatable deployments.
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to C‑suite and executive‑level stakeholders.
• Experience in a consultancy environment, including contributing to pre‑sales, proposals, and project scoping.
• Expert‑level knowledge of application security, distributed systems, and performance tuning in a cloud context.
• Experience building, scaling, and managing high‑performing engineering teams, with a focus on fostering an inclusive culture and driving delivery excellence.

Highly Desirable Experience

• Proven expertise in implementing robust identity solutions, including deep knowledge of OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, and integrating modern CIAM providers (e.g. Auth0, ForgeRock, or Azure AD).

What Makes Us Great

• Contributory pension scheme (Hippo 6% with employee contributions of 2%)
• 25 days holiday plus UK public holidays
• Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts
• Critical illness cover
• Life assurance and death in service cover
• Volunteer days
• Cycle‑to‑work scheme for the avid cyclists
• Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme
• Season ticket loans
• Financial and general wellbeing sessions
• Flexible benefits scheme with options of: private health cover, private dental cover, additional company pension contributions, additional holidays (up to an extra 2 days), wellbeing contribution, charity contributions, tree planting

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo

At Hippo, we are dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio‑economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.

We are headquartered in Leeds and have offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Bristol. We’re on the lookout for top talent nationwide but you need to be located within reasonable travelling distance from one of our offices, which will be your contracted office location. Given the dynamic nature of a consulting business, you may be required to work on‑site at a Hippo office or at an in/out of town client location for a number of days per week (client dependent) and therefore candidates will need to be open/flexible to travel. Plus, we offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8k (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Leeds LS1 4HT