Principal Engineer - Director

About the role

The role requires a senior technology leader with deep expertise in enterprise Java and corporate banking platforms, strong architectural authority, and a security-first mindset. The ideal candidate combines hands-on technical mastery with the ability to design, govern, and modernise complex, regulated systems, while also influencing engineering culture and aligning technology strategy with business and regulatory priorities.

Essential Skills

• Expert-level proficiency in modern Java (Java 17+), Spring Boot, and Spring Cloud within large-scale, mission-critical banking environments
• Proven experience designing and operating high-volume corporate banking platforms (payments, cash management, trade finance, liquidity, treasury)
• Strong command of distributed systems, event-driven architectures, APIs, data consistency, and streaming technologies (e.g. Kafka)
• Demonstrated leadership in enterprise and solution architecture, including microservices, cloud-native design, and legacy modernisation
• Ability to make and defend complex architectural trade-offs balancing performance, resilience, speed, risk, and regulatory compliance
• Deep understanding of security, risk, and regulatory controls, with security embedded across design, development, and deployment

Desirable Skills

• Strong corporate banking domain knowledge, translating business strategy and product needs into scalable technical solutions
• Strategic mindset to align technology roadmaps with growth, cost efficiency, and regulatory change
• Experience partnering with product, risk, operations, and senior architecture stakeholders
• Proven ability to mentor senior engineers and act as a technical role model across teams
• Drives engineering excellence through CI/CD, testing, observability, and operational best practices
• Influences engineering culture and maturity through leadership and example rather than formal authority

Purpose of the role

To drive technical excellence and innovation by leading the design and implementation of robust software solutions, providing mentorship to engineering teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and contributing to strategic planning to ensure the delivery of high-quality solutions aligned with business objectives.

Accountabilities

• Provision of guidance and expertise to engineering teams to ensure alignment with best practices and foster a culture of technical excellence.
• Contribution to strategic planning by aligning technical decisions with business goals, anticipating future technology trends, and providing insights to optimize product roadmaps.
• Design and implementation of complex, scalable, and maintainable software solutions, considering long-term viability and business objectives.
• Mentoring and coaching to junior and mid-level engineers to foster professional growth and knowledge sharing, elevating the overall skillset and capabilities of the organization.
• Collaboration with business partners, product managers, designers, and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions and ensure a cohesive approach to product development.
• Innovation within the organization by identifying and incorporating new technologies, methodologies, and industry practices into the engineering process.

Director Expectations

To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide.

Pay

Salary Range: $225,000 - $300,000

Schedule

Full-time

Benefits

Barclays offers a suite of competitive and generous employee benefits, including medical, dental and vision coverage, 401(k), life insurance, and other paid leave for qualifying circumstances. This position is eligible for an incentive award.

Location

Whippany, United States

Qualifications

Candidates must have at least 15 years of experience.

Skills

Expert-level proficiency in modern Java (Java 17+), Spring Boot, and Spring Cloud within large-scale, mission-critical banking environments

Proven experience designing and operating high-volume corporate banking platforms (payments, cash management, trade finance, liquidity, treasury)

Strong command of distributed systems, event-driven architectures, APIs, data consistency, and streaming technologies (e.g. Kafka)

Demonstrated leadership in enterprise and solution architecture, including microservices, cloud-native design, and legacy modernisation

Ability to make and defend complex architectural trade-offs balancing performance, resilience, speed, risk, and regulatory compliance

Deep understanding of security, risk, and regulatory controls, with security embedded across design, development, and deployment