Principal Database Engineer
Posted Today by N Consulting Global
Negotiable
Undetermined
Hybrid
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
Summary: The Principal Engineer – Database Platform role is a senior technical leadership position focused on the strategy, architecture, and delivery of enterprise-scale database solutions within a banking environment. The successful candidate will influence platform strategy, drive engineering excellence, and co-design next-generation on-premise DBaaS platforms. This role requires a hands-on approach to lead the rollout and adoption of various database technologies. The position is based in Sheffield, England, and offers a hybrid working arrangement.
Key Responsibilities:
- Define and maintain the long-term database infrastructure strategy aligned with enterprise IT and business goals
- Act as SME and trusted advisor to senior leadership on database technologies
- Co-lead the architecture and implementation of shared DBaaS/PaaS solutions
- Drive engineering standards around availability, resiliency, security, and performance
- Lead the design and rollout of scalable, secure on-prem DBaaS platforms
- Oversee performance tuning, capacity planning, and infrastructure optimization
- Identify automation opportunities and reduce operational hand-offs
- Champion SRE, DevOps, and Infrastructure as Code practices
- Strengthen CI/CD/CT pipelines, automated testing, and code scanning
- Evaluate and recommend emerging database and platform technologies
- Ensure regulatory alignment within a financial services environment
- Partner with Product Owners, Architects, and Engineering teams
- Act as the key technical decision authority from engineering and risk perspectives
- Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Influence senior executives with credibility and technical gravitas
Key Skills:
- 10+ years of engineering experience (5+ years at Senior/Principal level)
- Deep expertise in Relational, NoSQL, and Distributed SQL databases
- IaaS-based and DBaaS database deployments
- Strong knowledge of Microservices architecture
- Infrastructure automation
- API development
- Application system design fundamentals
- Hands-on experience with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
- DevOps practices (CI/CD/CT, automation, testing)
- Infrastructure as Code
- Proven track record delivering enterprise-scale technology platforms
- Experience in global matrix organisations
- Strong understanding of financial services regulatory environments
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline
Salary (Rate): undetermined
City: Sheffield
Country: United Kingdom
Working Arrangements: hybrid
IR35 Status: undetermined
Seniority Level: Senior
Industry: IT
Job Title: Principal Engineer – Database Platform (DBaaS)
Location: Sheffield, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
Employment Type: Contract / Permanent (as applicable)
We are seeking an experienced Principal Engineer – Database Platform to lead the strategy, architecture, and delivery of enterprise-scale database solutions within a leading banking environment. This is a senior technical leadership role where you will influence platform strategy, drive engineering excellence, and co-design next-generation on-premise DBaaS platforms supporting critical banking services.
About the Role
The EI Database Platform team is accelerating the delivery and adoption of on-prem DBaaS solutions across four strategic database technologies by 2026. We are:
- Well-established with Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer (ExaCC)
- Making strong progress with PostgreSQL on containers
- Exploring platform solutions for Microsoft SQL Server
- Evaluating enterprise adoption of MongoDB
We’re looking for a hands-on, proactive Platform Engineering leader to co-design and drive the successful rollout and adoption of these platforms.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic & Technical Leadership
- Define and maintain the long-term database infrastructure strategy aligned with enterprise IT and business goals
- Act as SME and trusted advisor to senior leadership on database technologies
- Co-lead the architecture and implementation of shared DBaaS/PaaS solutions
- Drive engineering standards around availability, resiliency, security, and performance
- Platform Engineering & Delivery
- Lead the design and rollout of scalable, secure on-prem DBaaS platforms
- Oversee performance tuning, capacity planning, and infrastructure optimization
- Identify automation opportunities and reduce operational hand-offs
- Close engineering gaps through cross-functional capability development
- Engineering Excellence
- Champion SRE, DevOps, and Infrastructure as Code practices
- Strengthen CI/CD/CT pipelines, automated testing, and code scanning
- Evaluate and recommend emerging database and platform technologies
- Ensure regulatory alignment within a financial services environment
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Partner with Product Owners, Architects, and Engineering teams
- Act as the key technical decision authority from engineering and risk perspectives
- Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Influence senior executives with credibility and technical gravitas
Required Skills & Experience
- 10+ years of engineering experience (5+ years at Senior/Principal level)
- Deep expertise in: Relational, NoSQL, and Distributed SQL databases
- IaaS-based and DBaaS database deployments
- Strong knowledge of: Microservices architecture
- Infrastructure automation
- API development
- Application system design fundamentals
- Hands-on experience with: Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
- DevOps practices (CI/CD/CT, automation, testing)
- Infrastructure as Code
- Proven track record delivering enterprise-scale technology platforms
- Experience in global matrix organisations
- Strong understanding of financial services regulatory environments
- Qualifications
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline