Principal Engineer - Law Enforcement Cloud Platform in Sheffield

Salary: £76,117 (National) or £80,237 (Croydon) plus skills allowance of up to £19,483 pending assessment.

Location: Croydon, Manchester or Sheffield on a hybrid basis.

Advert Close: 11:55 pm Tuesday 24th February 2026.

Please note that this role requires Security Check (SC) clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years.

What you'll bring to the role

This is a pivotal and highly influential leadership position at the heart of the Shared Applications Service. As the Principal Engineer for the Law Enforcement Cloud Platform (LECP), you will play a defining role in shaping the future of cloud computing across the Home Office. LECP underpins critical national capabilities, supporting police forces across the UK, and the scale, sensitivity and mission‑critical nature of this platform make this one of the most important engineering leadership opportunities in government.

You will lead and inspire multiple engineering teams, setting the technical direction for a platform that must remain resilient, scalable, secure and ready to meet the evolving demands of modern law enforcement. Your decisions will directly influence how the Home Office adopts, builds and operates cloud‑native services—ensuring the systems we deliver are sustainable, innovative and aligned with the Government Digital and Data Profession strategy.

As the central engineering authority for your area, you will shape architectural approaches, guide technical standards, and act as a trusted partner to senior leaders across architecture, delivery, cloud technology, and security. You will also be a key voice in project and programme decision‑making, ensuring our cloud capabilities are future‑focused, well‑resourced and engineered to the highest standard.

You’ll have a demonstrable passion for software development, with the following skills or strong experience in:

• Leading large-scale engineering teams within complex environments.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms, DevOps practices, and secure infrastructure.
• Ensuring teams have appropriate practices in place and are meeting required organisational quality levels.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and collaborate across senior leadership and multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, recruitment, and commercial management.
• Excellent communication and strategic thinking skills.
• Expertise in modern platform engineering practices, including designing, reviewing, and guiding development in a security first environment.

What's in it for you?

A civil service pension with employer contribution rates of at least 28.97%. In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements. The ability to potentially adopt flexible working options that suit your work/life balance, plus the opportunity in future to take a career break. 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service. Eight days public holidays, plus one additional privilege day. 26 weeks maternity, adoption or shared parental leave at full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid, after qualifying service. Maternity and adoption support leave (also known as paternity leave) of two weeks full pay, after qualifying service. Paid leave for fostering approval processes, support when a child is substantively placed with you plus a foster to adopt policy. Support for guardians and kinship carers. Corporate membership of ‘Employers for Carers’ providing additional information and advice for carers, plus a ‘Carer’s Passport’ to discuss workplace needs and underpin supportive conversations. Time off to deal with emergencies and certain other unplanned special circumstances.