Join us at Blue Light Card – where excellence meets collaboration!

About the Role and the Team

We are thrilled to announce an exceptional opportunity for a Principal Engineer to join our dynamic Engineering team at Blue Light Card. In this pivotal position, you will collaborate closely with the Director of Engineering and various cross-functional teams to create high-quality software solutions while ensuring optimal performance of our production systems. Your role will be instrumental in crafting technical strategies, setting design benchmarks, and fostering continuous improvement within our Engineering Community of Practice.

As a vital member of the Engineering Senior Management Team, your expertise will inform strategic decisions, steer engineering direction, and provide critical insights into technology selection. You will remain actively engaged in coding, develop proof of concepts, and assist with incident resolutions, bringing your technical acumen to the forefront to facilitate the team’s and technology’s ongoing success and evolution.

Key Responsibilities

1. Lead with inspiration, establishing high standards for technical excellence and collaboration across teams, providing mentorship and constructive feedback, and cultivating a culture of high performance.
2. Encourage a reflective and learning-oriented environment by promoting continuous improvement through Communities of Practice and fostering knowledge sharing and technical dialogues across all teams.
3. Be an advocate for best practices by defining, promoting, and upholding modern, scalable, and maintainable standards for software development, testing, and delivery that prioritize inclusivity and sustainability.
4. Pursue quality initiatives that elevate code standards, enhance testing coverage, and ensure system reliability, consistently aligning with established quality benchmarks.
5. Offer expert technical guidance, helping teams navigate complex challenges as a reliable subject matter expert while ensuring alignment with our long-term technical vision.
6. Enhance operational excellence by partnering closely with Platform Engineering to guarantee systems are reliable, efficient, and scalable; take charge during critical incidents to develop enduring solutions.
7. Work collaboratively with Product and Design management to align technical priorities with business objectives and assist in shaping the team’s roadmap and priorities.
8. Drive efficiency by coaching teams on creating solutions that maintain technical excellence across various projects.

Your Qualifications

1. Significant experience as a Principal Engineer, with extensive knowledge of Cloud Architectural Patterns, Microservice Patterns, and associated technologies.
2. Demonstrated ability to design and execute best practices across app, web, backend, and database technologies, delivering scalable, high-quality solutions.
3. Hands-on proficiency with Cloud Infrastructure and DevOps tools such as AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines, emphasizing the application of industry best practices.
4. A proven track record of success in fast-paced, agile environments, consistently achieving impactful outcomes.
5. Exceptional problem-solving prowess, with a knack for defining and implementing best practices across engineering teams.
6. A strong focus on contributing to the long-term success of engineering initiatives through strategic insight and technical knowledge.
7. Excellent communication and collaboration abilities, effectively bridging the gap between technical and non-technical teams.
8. A commitment to continuous learning and development, with a passion for mentoring and creating a cooperative, knowledge-rich environment.

Our Culture

At Blue Light Card, our members, partners, and colleagues are the driving force behind everything we do. We are dedicated to fostering an engaging work environment where our team can thrive, and others aspire to join. We believe in teamwork, enjoy our work, and understand the positive influence of a robust culture on performance—benefiting you, the team, our organization, and our members. We embrace talent from all locations, offering a hybrid working model with colleagues spread across London, the East Midlands, and beyond. We are proud to be recognized as a Top 100 Great Place to Work in the UK, one of the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing, and leading the way for Women, as well as being acknowledged for our commitment to wellbeing by Investors in People.

What We Provide

1. Flexible hybrid working arrangements.
2. 25 days of annual leave, plus public holidays, with the option to buy/sell additional leave and an extra day off for your birthday.
3. Participation in a company bonus scheme.
4. Exciting social events, including Christmas parties, family fun days, summer gatherings, and sports matches.
5. Opportunities for professional growth and development.
6. A comprehensive group auto-enrolment pension plan.
7. Enhanced benefits for maternity, paternity, and sick leave.
8. Company-funded private medical insurance.
9. Healthcare cashback program.
10. Employee assistance program featuring mental health support.
11. A modern office equipped with an onsite gym, access to free HIIT & stretch classes, recreational areas, a book club, and more when you are on site at our HQ in Cossington.