Principal Engineer

Who you are

• Extensive background in senior engineering leadership within a complex technology organisation, including management across multiple enterprise platforms, products or technology capabilities
• Solid knowledge of enterprise SaaS ecosystems and the engineering methods necessary to integrate, operate, and develop business-critical platforms effectively
• Experience with leading enterprise platforms like Oracle Fusion, Workday, or similar People, Finance, or ERP systems
• Solid grasp of contemporary integration methods, APIs, data flows, and cloud technologies
• Experience leading technology through significant transformation, implementation or modernisation programmes
• Experience establishing clear technical ownership and sustainable operating models for business-critical platforms
• Solid grasp of reliability, security, operational risk, and technology lifecycle management
• Experience working effectively with third-party technology vendors, implementation partners and managed service providers while maintaining strong internal ownership
• Experience leading and developing Engineering Leads, senior engineers or other experienced technical professionals, including coaching leaders and creating clear decision rights and accountability
• A track record of influencing senior business and technology collaborators and translating complex technical considerations into clear, pragmatic decisions
• Experience formulating technology strategies and roadmaps spanning multiple platforms or capabilities
• Strong technical judgement, with the ability to balance longer-term technical direction with delivery and business priorities
• Experience with Oracle Fusion, Workday, and their broader technology environments
• Experience working with Finance, People, Procurement or other enterprise business capabilities

What the job involves

• Corporate Technology is part of Internal Products and manages the technology solutions that support several of the FT’s key internal business functions, including People, Finance, and Procurement. This area encompasses significant enterprise platforms like Oracle Fusion and Workday, as well as specialized platforms, integrations, data flows, and in-house developed tools
• As Principal Engineer – Corporate Technology, you will lead senior engineering efforts across this area. You will define the engineering strategy for the domain and collaborate with Engineering Leads and senior engineers. Together, you will ensure our platforms and services remain secure, resilient, scalable, well managed, and adaptable to business needs
• A key part of the role is to establish and enhance a solid engineering leadership approach across Corporate Technology. You will assign clear ownership and accountability to individual platforms. You will also offer technical direction, mentoring, and oversight to maintain a unified and sustainable technology infrastructure
• Partnering with Product, Architecture, Security, Data, and senior participants from People, Finance, and Procurement, you will develop technology strategy and roadmaps. You will find opportunities to simplify and modernise the estate. You will lead engineering for large-scale transformation efforts
• Define the engineering vision for Corporate Technology covering People, Finance, and Procurement platforms and services, converting FT and Internal Products technology strategy into specific priorities and roadmaps
• Deliver senior technical direction across enterprise platforms, integrations, data flows, and internally developed capabilities
• Work with Architecture and Engineering Leads to establish appropriate technical standards, patterns and guardrails, ensuring significant decisions consider security, resilience, scalability, operability, maintainability and cost
• Recognize systemic technical risks, lifecycle challenges, technical debt, and possibilities to simplify the technology estate, cut down on duplication, and boost interoperability
• Ensure Engineering Leads have clear accountability for the engineering, operation and continuous improvement of their platforms, with consistent expectations for engineering quality and technical ownership
• Support complex technical decisions and issues spanning multiple platforms, while creating appropriate autonomy for Engineering Leads
• Direct and cultivate Engineering Leads and senior engineers, improving technical judgement, platform ownership, succession, and specialist capability across the domain
• Offer senior engineering direction for key People, Finance, and Procurement technology efforts, ensuring new capabilities are transferred into lasting internal stewardship
• Support platform selection, implementation and major technology investment decisions, challenging approaches that introduce unnecessary complexity, operational risk or long-term dependency
• Maintain oversight of operational performance and technology risk, including reliability, observability, incident and change management, disaster recovery and business continuity
• Ensure platforms meet relevant FT security, data governance, compliance and technology standards
• Strengthen internal capability and knowledge to reduce unnecessary reliance on individual specialists, vendors and implementation partners
• Build strong relationships across People, Finance, Procurement, Product and Technology, helping collaborators understand technical trade-offs, risks and investment requirements
• Collaborate with Architecture, Security, Data, and other engineering leaders on decisions that span organisational or technology boundaries, representing Corporate Technology in relevant FT engineering and technology forums

Benefits

• A range of training courses as well as confidential career coaching and mentoring
• Flexibility - working from home, job sharing, compressed weeks, and flexible working hours
• Enhanced parental leave, flexible leave allowance and paid volunteer leave
• Pension contribution
• Local health coverage plans
• Gym memberships and healthcare schemes, professional counselling sessions, 24-hour employee wellbeing helpline, weekly meditation classes
• Financial wellbeing products and services