Principal Engineer

UK, Hybrid

️ Our Perks

Values-driven culture – we’re really proud of our culture.

Drive Your Own Experience

• Personalised Learning and Development Budget
• Hybrid working hours – Each team has their own Smart Working Charter that empowers you to do your work in the best way you can
• Technology – Your choice of Mac or Windows
  
  

Empowering you to be your most authentic self

• 25 Holiday Days + your local bank holidays
• 1 Birthday day – it only happens once a year!
• 3 So Giving Days - spend these days giving back to your chosen cause
• Religious Celebrations Leave
• Mental Healthcare – Sessions with Unmind
• Enhanced Family Leave
  
  

So Energy

Who we are

So Energy was created in 2015 because we knew energy suppliers could be better. Since then, we’ve grown rapidly but sustainably, with 350,000 customers and over 450 Energists (what we call our people). But we’re not done. We’re on the road to a net zero future, and thanks to our partnership with ESB, we’re well on the way. We’re customer-centric, tech-led, and passionate about sustainability.

We want to do the best we can for our customers, each other, and our planet, so we’ve created a workplace that's encouraging, supportive, and offers the opportunity for growth. As a company, we live by six core values that guide everything we do:

• Clear
• Honest
• Ambitious
• Inquisitive
• Caring
• Sustainable
  
  

The Role

Principal Engineer at SO ENERGY

As a Principal Engineer, you will be a polyglot at the forefront of our technological advancements, driving the development of cutting-edge solutions across multiple stacks. Reporting to the Director of Technology, you will drive an innovative engineering culture, balancing future needs with daily priorities. Your strategic vision and expertise will position So Energy as an industry leader by overcoming complex challenges and delivering impactful solutions.

This role aligns Engineering, Product, and Data under a unified vision, solving challenges with AI-driven innovations in contact centres, operations, and energy solutions. Your work will shape So Energy's AI strategy, advancing customer communication and operational efficiency.

As a visionary technologist, you will remain at the forefront of AI and emerging technologies, fostering innovation to transform our technological and operational landscape. Your efforts will align with So Energy's mission to deliver best-in-class, customer-centric energy solutions and position the company as an industry leader

Your Impact

In this high-impact, leadership-oriented role, you will tackle the biggest challenges, create transformative technology strategies, and ensure all aspects of engineering, product, and data remain aligned to So Energy’s vision. You will champion the integration of technology to solve critical business problems and drive the company’s ambition to be the best-in-class customer-centric energy supplier.

Reporting to our Muhammad Khan (Tech director)

What you’ll be getting up to:

• Collaborating with the Director of Technology to define and deliver So Energy’s technology strategy, aligning engineering, product, and data initiatives.
• Leading architectural decisions across the technology landscape, balancing the build vs. buy approach to deliver scalable and impactful solutions.
• Driving innovation through AI strategies, particularly in contact centre optimization, operational efficiency, and dynamic energy solutions.
• Solving the company’s most complex challenges, identifying cutting-edge technology opportunities, and implementing impactful solutions.
• Acting as a technical advisor and mentor for Staff Engineers and the Solution Architect, fostering a high-performance culture.
• Championing Agile and modern XP software engineering practices, including TDD, BDD, risk-based testing, and secure coding principles.
• Ensuring alignment across engineering, product, and data teams on a unified vision for technical and business objectives.
• Leading the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, focusing on innovation in renewable energy and customer experience.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of technology solutions, driving customer satisfaction and operational excellence.
• Building scalable, resilient, and secure applications while simplifying and optimising frameworks, libraries, and systems.
• Utilising analytics, performance metrics, and customer feedback to inform and refine technical strategies.
• Acting as a champion for So Energy’s values and culture, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment
  
  

This role will be a great fit if:

• Proven track record as a Principal Engineer, Technical Architect, or similar role, with over 10 years of experience in software engineering.
• Strong leadership experience, managing senior technical staff and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
• Expertise in polyglot development across multiple stacks, with hands-on experience in Java, Python, JavaScript, Kotlin, or similar languages, as well as frontend frameworks like Vue.js or React.
• Deep understanding of system design, architecture, and engineering best practices for scalable, resilient, and secure applications.
• Experience with platform engineering, continuous integration, continuous deployment (CI/CD), and infrastructure automation.
• Knowledge of GCP serverless infrastructure, cloud-native architecture, and microservices design principles.
• Familiarity with cross-platform mobile development frameworks and technologies.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven mindset.
• Experience with AI-driven solutions, particularly leveraging large language models for customer communication and operations.
• Experience in designing innovative solutions for the energy sector or other highly regulated industries is advantageous.
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Passion for renewable energy, sustainability, and driving impactful change through technology
  
  

Research shows that some people are less likely to apply for a role unless they are 100% qualified. Your experience, skills and passion will set you apart so tell us about your achievements, irrespective of whether they are personal or work-related, tell us about your journey, and about what you learnt.

So, if this role excites you, don’t let our role description hold you back, get applying!

Want to tailor your application?

Hiring Process

• Talent Interview with Head of Talent
• Technical interview with an Engineering manager and Solutions Architect
• Culture Interview with our Product Lead and Tech Director
  
  

Support – If you have a medical condition or an individual need for an adjustment to our process, and you believe this may affect your ability to be at your best – please let us know so we can talk about how we can best support you and make any adjustments that may be needed.

Our Values

We look for people who share our values and can add to our culture. Values are shared beliefs that guide our decision-making, culture is how we function as a group and how we live our values as individuals.

Clear - The energy industry can be pretty complex so we strive to provide clear communication to our customers and colleagues

Honest - Transparency is key, Whether that's providing clear bills to our customers or trusting our staff to do the right thing.

Ambitious - All of us are ambitious about the future of So Energy and what we can contribute to it.

Inquisitive - We are also questioning the Status Quo to see if there is a better way to do things for our customers

Caring - We care about the work we are doing, our customers and our colleagues

Sustainable - As a renewable energy company we are providing sustainable products but we also care about sustainable careers. That's why learning and continuous development is so important to us.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

At So Energy, we’re committed to cultivating an environment that promotes diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We are a global community and we believe our unique qualities should be celebrated as they are critical to our innovation. It’s essential to us that you bring your authentic self to work every single day, no matter your age, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, caring responsibilities, neurodiversity, or otherwise. Inclusion isn’t just an initiative at So Energy. We strive to embed it not just into our values but throughout our entire culture.