Principal Engineer

As a Principal Engineer, you'll shape the technical direction and architecture of our Java-based CRM domain, working across multiple engineering squads to build scalable, resilient, and future-ready platforms. Reporting to the Engineering Manager, you'll partner with different teams. These teams include Tech Leads, Product, Architecture, and Engineering teams. Together, you'll define domain-level technical strategy, solve complex cross-cutting challenges, and lead engineering excellence. This excellence will be led across the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). You'll help modernise our platforms, accelerating the use of AI-assisted engineering practices, and identifying opportunities to apply AI and experienced automation across our technology landscape. Are you ready to influence engineering at scale and help shape the future of CRM technology for one of the world's biggest online gaming and entertainment groups?

Responsibilities:

• Define and lead the technical strategy and architecture for Java-based CRM platforms across multiple squads.
• Design strategic, complex, and cross-cutting technical solutions aligned with business and product roadmaps.
• Provide architectural leadership to Tech Leads and engineering teams, ensuring scalable, resilient, secure, and maintainable solutions.
• Partner with Architecture, Product, and Engineering leadership to align domain architecture with wider technology strategy.
• Lead platform modernisation programs, including microservices, event-driven architectures, cloud-native technologies, and legacy system transformation.
• Create AI-assisted engineering practices across the domain to improve developer productivity, software quality, testing, observability, and delivery efficiency.
• Evaluate opportunities to embed AI, intelligent automation, and AI-enabled capabilities into engineering platforms and business solutions.
• Establish engineering standards, reference architectures, technical guardrails, and reusable patterns across squads.
• Develop domain-level architectural documentation, technical roadmaps, RFCs, and important architectural decisions.
• Lead technical discovery, proofs-of-concept, and evaluation of latest technologies to solve complex engineering challenges.
• Improve system performance, reliability, scalability, and observability.
• Influence technical decisions across teams and identify and address architectural risks and technical debt.
• Mentor Tech Leads and senior engineers, building technical leadership and engineering capability across the domain.
• Collaborate across domains to manage technical dependencies and ensure engineering practices.
• Contribute to technical hiring, talent development, and the wider engineering community.

Requirements:

• 12+ years of experience with Java and the Spring ecosystem, including Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Data/JPA, and Spring Security.
• Architecture and large-scale systems design experience within distributed and available systems.
• 10+ years' experience with microservices and event-driven architectures, including technologies such as Kafka or similar messaging platforms.
• Experience with domain-driven design, API design, integration patterns, and distributed data architectures.
• Experience designing scalable, resilient, secure, and enterprise platforms.
• 8+ years of experience with relational and NoSQL databases, caching strategies, and data consistency patterns.
• 8+ years of experience with cloud-native architectures, containers, Docker, Kubernetes, and modern CI/CD practices.
• Operational awareness with experience in observability, monitoring, performance optimisation, and production reliability.
• 8+ years of experience leading cross-team technical plans and influencing architectural decisions across multiple engineering squads.
• Experience defining engineering standards, architectural patterns, technical roadmaps, and modernisation strategies.
• Experience with secure coding practices, vulnerability management, and security-by-design principles.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted software engineering tools and practices across coding, testing, documentation, debugging, and developer productivity.
• Experience with Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI APIs, and common AI integration patterns.
• Identify practical AI and automation opportunities and evaluate solutions based on value, scalability, security, and responsible AI principles.
• Experience building scalable, resilient, and observable distributed systems with the ability to navigate complex technical and architectural challenges.
• Experience communicating updates and resolutions to customers and other partners, with engineers, Tech Leads, architects, product teams, and senior leadership.
• Technical leadership and mentoring experience, with experience developing engineering capability across teams.
• Delivery-focused mindset with a commitment to continuous improvement and engineering excellence.

Desirable:

• 5+ years of experience working within CRM, Rewards, Loyalty, Promotions, or customer engagement platforms.
• Experience modernising large-scale legacy Java platforms into distributed or cloud-native architectures.
• Experience with AI-enabled developer platforms, agentic workflows, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), or enterprise AI integrations.
• Experience operating systems in high-volume, regulated, or real-time environments.