Principal Backend Engineer at Monzo

Cardiff, London

true · full-time · Visa sponsorship

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Responsibilities:
- Partner with engineering and product leaders to shape technical and product direction across large collectives (100+ engineers).
- Lead architecture and platform decisions for complex, high-risk distributed systems, promoting reuse and consistency.
- Remain hands-on: contribute to code and design where it yields highest leverage.
- Identify and prioritise high-impact opportunities; mobilise and align teams to deliver them with clarity and momentum.
- Set and maintain high standards for reliability, scalability, and code quality through reviews and technical guidance.
- Mentor senior engineers and support cross-company knowledge sharing and technical growth.

Requirements:
- Proven experience leading complex, high-impact backend or data-intensive systems across multiple teams.
- Strong technical background in distributed systems, system design and operational concerns (reliability, scalability, observability).
- Familiarity with technologies in the stack (Go, Kafka, Cassandra, Kubernetes, Docker, AWS/GCP) and pragmatic architecture trade-offs.
- Demonstrated ability to influence product and engineering strategy, operate in ambiguity, and drive company-level outcomes over 1–5 year horizons.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and mentoring skills.
- 10+ years of relevant engineering experience and evidence of delivering at scale.