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- Tasks: Lead and mentor engineers while tackling high-priority business challenges.
- Company: Join Hastings Direct, a forward-thinking company committed to inclusivity.
- Benefits: Attractive salary, flexible working, health plans, and generous annual leave.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with opportunities for professional growth and development.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping project outcomes and driving engineering excellence.
- Qualifications: Strong leadership, Agile experience, and expertise in React or React Native required.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 ÂŁ per year.
As a Principal Engineer within the Technology Engineering team (CIO), you will play a key role in developing engineers through line management, mentoring, sponsorship, and delivering clear, constructive feedback. You will tackle high‑priority business challenges, resolve complex issues, and help the organisation learn how to prevent them in the future. You will provide strategic and technical input to improve project outcomes, shape the delivery pipeline, and influence the company's direction through high‑impact delivery.
Responsibilities
- Lead line management and provide mentoring, sponsorship, and constructive feedback.
- Deploy to the highest‑priority business challenges and resolve complex issues.
- Provide strategic and technical input to improve project outcomes.
- Shape and improve the delivery pipeline by identifying gaps and leading solutions to increase speed, reliability, and consistency across the SDLC.
- Identify opportunities to reuse and enhance existing platforms to maximise engineering investment.
- Lead the Centre of Excellence for your domain, driving tooling improvements, establishing best practices and controls, and embedding continuous learning.
- Champion high standards, link technical decisions to business impact, and foster a high‑performance engineering culture.
Qualifications
- Strong transformational leadership skills, with the ability to influence decisions and implement new processes aligned to business goals.
- Excellent mentoring and people development capability.
- Extensive experience in application and/or web development within an Agile environment.
- Strong experience with at least one Agile methodology (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and tools such as Jira or Octane.
- Expert knowledge of cloud platforms.
- Advanced coding expertise in React or React Native.
- Expert use of GitHub for source control.
- Strong understanding of build, release, and deployment automation.
- Proven ability to design and integrate CI/CD pipelines using tools such as Azure DevOps or Jenkins.
- Deep experience with continuous integration platforms (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, or equivalent).
- Experience in customer‑facing web and mobile e‑commerce, document templating and production systems, distributed n‑tier architectures, web services and API‑driven architectures, operational reporting platforms.
- Desirable: experience with monitoring tools such as Grafana, Dynatrace, or equivalent.
Tools & Technologies
- Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe)
- Jira, Octane
- Cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP, etc.)
- React / React Native frameworks
- GitHub source control
- Build, release and deployment automation
- CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, Jenkins)
- Continuous integration platforms
Application Domains
- Customer‑facing web and mobile e‑commerce
- Document templating and production systems
- Distributed n‑tier architectures
- Web services and API‑driven / service‑oriented architectures
- Operational reporting platforms
Benefits
- Attractive salary based on experience + Car Allowance (pay reviews annually)
- Annual 4Cs performance bonus, usually paid in March
- Flexible working – hybrid approach
- Health and wellbeing: healthcare cash plan, mental health support, physical wellbeing programs
- Financial wellbeing: life assurance cover, income protection, pension contribution match up to 10%, award‑winning package including discounts and cashback, mortgage advice, financial support
- Annual leave: 27 days + bank holidays, option to buy or sell a contracted week
- Private healthcare, dental plans, discounted health assessments, cycle to work, tech schemes, onsite facilities, social events
Equal Opportunity
At Hastings Direct, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to let us know so we can support you.
Principal Engineer (Front-End) employer: Hastings Insurance Services Limited
Contact Detail:
Hastings Insurance Services Limited Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Engineer (Front-End)
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend meetups, and engage in online forums. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can refer you directly.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your best projects, especially those that highlight your expertise in React or cloud platforms. This will give potential employers a taste of what you can bring to the table.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by practising common technical questions and scenarios related to Agile methodologies and CI/CD pipelines. The more comfortable you are with these topics, the better you'll perform when it counts.
✨Tip Number 4
Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take the initiative to connect with us directly.
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Engineer (Front-End)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Leadership Skills: As a Principal Engineer, we want to see your transformational leadership skills shine through. Make sure to highlight any experience you have in mentoring and developing others, as well as how you've influenced decisions in past roles.
Be Specific About Your Technical Expertise: We’re looking for someone with strong coding expertise, especially in React or React Native. Don’t just say you know these technologies; give us examples of projects where you’ve used them and the impact they had on the outcomes.
Demonstrate Your Agile Experience: Since we work in an Agile environment, it’s crucial to mention your experience with Agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban. Share specific instances where you’ve successfully implemented these practices to improve project delivery.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates during the process!
How to prepare for a job interview at Hastings Insurance Services Limited
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of React, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile methodologies. Be ready to discuss how you've used these technologies in past projects and how they can be applied to the role you're interviewing for.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Principal Engineer, you'll need to demonstrate strong transformational leadership. Prepare examples of how you've mentored others, influenced decisions, and implemented new processes that align with business goals. This will show your potential employer that you can lead effectively.
✨Prepare for Scenario-Based Questions
Expect questions that ask you to solve complex issues or improve project outcomes. Think about specific challenges you've faced in previous roles and how you approached them. This will help you illustrate your problem-solving skills and strategic thinking.
✨Understand the Company Culture
Research the company's values and culture, especially their commitment to inclusivity and high-performance engineering. Be ready to discuss how you can contribute to fostering this culture and driving tooling improvements within the team.