Principal Engineer - Java - £110,000

Principal Engineer (Payments) Our long-term trusted partner, a leading financial services corporation, is hiring a Principal Engineer who has strong hands on capabilites in Java (17/21) &amp; payment product experience who can contribute to real-time architectural decision making leading vision &amp; strategy across Faster Payments, Real-Time Payments, Card payments, BACS, mobile wallets and APIs. Our client is paying a basic salary up to £110,000 (circa) + 25% bonus + benefits to be based in London, Chatham (Kent) or Wolverhampton onsite 2 days per week.<br />Our client is seeking experienced Principal Engineer with recent retail / digital banking experience who is happy to be hands on (80%) and 20% architectural leadership by leading through example. Your responsibilities will include: Lead the development and implementation of a modern cloud foundation and data platform that is robust, scalable, fully automated, secure, and can support the growth of the business.<br />Build Scalable Architectures: Leverage modern technologies to design and implement scalable, secure, and high-performing cloud-native solutions.<br />API Development and Integration: Design and build secure RESTful and GraphQL APIs, ensuring seamless integration with core banking systems (e.g., Mambu) and external services like Open Banking platforms.<br />Data Engineering and Analytics: Work closely with data teams to define robust data pipelines and scalable cloud-based data platforms using tools like Apache Kafka, Snowflake, or Databricks.<br />Monitoring and Performance Tuning: Implement advanced monitoring and observability solutions using tools like Prometheus, Grafana, or Datadog to proactively identify and resolve performance bottlenecks.<br />Code and System Optimisation: Proactively analyse and optimise existing systems for improved performance, scalability, and maintainability. Core skill set for this position: Strong experience building and scaling banking payment systems including either Faster Payments, Real-Time Payments, Card payments, BACS, mobile wallets and APIs is a must have.<br />Experience leading upon architectural challenges, system scalability, and guidance of engineering teams is a must.<br />A background in Java, C#, Python, or React development with experience providing hands-on technical leadership is a must.<br />Strong background in core banking systems/platforms (Mambu), cloud-native architectures, microservices and DevOps practices<br />Solid understanding of regulatory, risk and compliance requirements (e.g. PSD2, PCI DSS, GDPR)<br />Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure or GCP) and modern data platforms

Benefits:

£110,000 crica / 25% bonus / 28 days holiday / Holiday Purchase Scheme / Occasional travel / Health Insurance / 13% pension / plus much more. Principal Engineer (Payments)