Principal Engineer

This Principal Engineer role sits within a large-scale, regulated, enterprise environment and focuses on designing, building, and operating private cloud and platform engineering solutions. You will apply strong engineering fundamentals, lead complex technical initiatives across virtualisation, containers, Kubernetes, and event streaming platforms, and drive automation and operational excellence. The position requires a strategic mindset, hands-on technical depth, and a strong awareness of risk, security, and production readiness.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of private cloud and platform engineering solutions in a large-scale, regulated, enterprise environment.
• Own the technical direction for virtualisation technologies, such as VMware or equivalent, ensuring robust, scalable, and secure infrastructure.
• Architect, deploy, and operate container platforms and Kubernetes clusters, including upgrades, networking, multi-tenancy, and policy management.
• Design and govern event streaming platform architectures, overseeing operations and ensuring appropriate governance and compliance.
• Apply strong distributed systems and networking fundamentals to build resilient, fault-tolerant, and high-performance platforms.
• Conduct performance tuning and capacity planning to ensure platforms meet current and future demands.
• Promote and implement an automation-first approach using Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD practices across the platform stack.
• Embed security controls, change management processes, and production readiness standards into all platform engineering activities.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define platform requirements and translate them into reliable technical solutions.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and mentorship to engineering teams, fostering best practices in cloud and platform engineering.
• Troubleshoot complex platform issues, driving root cause analysis and implementing long-term improvements.
• Contribute to and maintain documentation, standards, and governance frameworks for platform operations and engineering practices.

Essential Skills

• Proven experience as a Principal Engineer, Lead Engineer, Senior Staff Engineer, or equivalent role in large-scale, regulated, enterprise environments.
• Strong background in private cloud and platform engineering.
• Deep hands-on expertise in at least two of the following areas: virtualisation technologies (e.g., VMware or equivalent), containers and Kubernetes (including cluster operations, upgrades, networking, multi-tenancy, and policy), and event streaming platforms (architecture, operations, governance).
• Solid engineering fundamentals in distributed systems, networking concepts, performance tuning, fault tolerance, and capacity planning.
• Demonstrated automation mindset with practical experience in Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience with CI/CD practices and pipelines (tooling can vary).
• Strong operational awareness, including security controls, change management, and production readiness for cloud and platform environments.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, regulated enterprise settings with a focus on risk management and compliance.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience working specifically with private cloud and cloud engineering initiatives.
• Hands-on experience with VMware or similar virtualisation platforms.
• Practical experience with Kubernetes-based container platforms in production environments.
• Exposure to event streaming platforms, with understanding of governance and operational best practices.
• Ability to influence and drive engineering standards and best practices across multiple teams.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to a variety of stakeholders.
• Track record of leading large-scale platform transformations or modernisation projects.

Location: Birmingham, UK