Principal Engineer, On the Beach

Search

Salary not provided

+ Share Incentive Plan

AWS

Java

Elasticsearch

Kotlin

Senior and Expert level

Manchester

Remote from UK

More information about location

A product led tech company specialising in the travel sector

Open for applications

A product led tech company specialising in the travel sector

201-500 employees

B2CHospitalityRetailTravelArtificial IntelligenceBig dataDeep TechMachine Learning

Open for applications

Salary not provided

+ Share Incentive Plan

AWS

Java

Elasticsearch

Kotlin

Senior and Expert level

Manchester

Remote from UK

More information about location

201-500 employees

B2CHospitalityRetailTravelArtificial IntelligenceBig dataDeep TechMachine Learning

Company mission

To become Europe’s biggest and most loved online retailer of beach holidays.

Job

Company

Role

Who you are

Experienced in shaping technical direction and influencing engineering outcomes at scale
Skilled in designing and optimising search technologies (e.g., Elasticsearch, Solr, OpenSearch, or similar)
Proficient in Kotlin or Java, and comfortable modernising C# legacy systems
Knowledgeable in distributed systems, cloud-native architectures (AWS preferred), and modern web technologies
Adept at leading teams through change and transformation, promoting collaboration and continuous improvement
A clear and confident communicator, capable of translating complex technical concepts for diverse audiences

What the job involves

As a Principal Engineer, you’ll play a key role in transforming how millions of people discover, book, and experience travel through our platforms
This is an opportunity to drive technical innovation at scale while working with cutting-edge technologies across our full stack
You’ll architect and influence technical decisions that extend beyond individual teams, shaping the foundation of our technology platform
Your work will directly impact the experiences of our customers while building scalable, reusable patterns that accelerate development across the business
This role is pivotal in supporting our Head of Engineering to define and deliver the next phase of our technology strategy
You’ll help lead transformation initiatives, modernise legacy systems, and enhance our search functionality — ensuring performance, scalability, and innovation across the platform
Partner with the VP of Product Engineering to define the technical strategy, architectural direction, and transformation roadmap
Lead the design and optimisation of search systems, ensuring relevance, scalability, and reliability
Oversee the evolution of existing systems — maintaining and refactoring C# codebases while building and migrating services in Kotlin or Java
Champion engineering best practices across security, performance, testing, and continuous delivery
Provide architectural leadership across multiple teams, establishing standards and reusable patterns that scale
Mentor and empower engineers to grow their technical and leadership capabilities
Collaborate closely with Product, Data, and Platform teams to deliver complex change with measurable impact
Lead transformation and modernisation initiatives, balancing technical ambition with business priorities

Our take

With around 80% of UK citizens’ holidays booked online, On The Beach has become a challenger brand in the beach and package holiday sector. With around two million people using its platform to book their holidays abroad, it utilises brand partnerships to provide a wealth of discounts and deals for holidaymakers.

Having entered the London Stock Exchange in 2015, On The Beach has grown its brand since 2004. It shows no signs of slowing down either, with revenue surging in 2025 to set the company up for a new objective. It will now use its growing AI toolkit to disrupt the cruise holiday market, a fast-growing travel sector that the company has not yet capitalised on.

Freddie

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Insights

Glassdoor (3.8)

Trustpilot (4.1)

Company

Company benefits

📅25 days holiday
🥳 An extra day off on your birthday!
💷Option to buy extra annual leave
Discount on holidays.. Plus two bonus days off (a take-off and landing day) to start and end your On the Beach holiday in the right way!
Flexible working hours and hybrid working
Access to Learnerbly learning platform
With a personal allowance to support your own personal development
Family friendly policies
Including enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental leave and adoption pay, plus other family friendly support
Employee Assistance Programme
Including access to free counselling and GP appointments
Share Incentive Plan (SIP)
Onsite subsidised coffee shop
Sandbox (our very own bar)
Gym discounts
Food and drink discounts
Regular social events
Cycle to work scheme
Simplyhealth Optimise Health Plan

Company HQ

Manchester, UK

Articles

On the Beach profits surge by 20% to £35m as it moves to ‘disrupt’ cruise market

Consumers ‘protecting their holidays’, says On The Beach

On the Beach confident as 2025 momentum surges into new financial year

Leadership

Shaun Morton

(CEO)

Previously CFO at On The Beach, Director of Finance at ghd and a Senior Manager of Commercial Finance at Asda.

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