Principal Engineer Director, Tide
Quality & Reliability
Salary not provided
Plus share options
AWS
Docker
Kubernetes
GCP
Python
Java
C++
Azure
Expert level
London
Remote from UK
Business accounts for SMEs
Job no longer available
Business accounts for SMEs
1001+ employees
FintechB2BBankingAccounting
Job no longer available
Salary not provided
Plus share options
AWS
Docker
Kubernetes
GCP
Python
Java
C++
Azure
Expert level
London
Remote from UK
1001+ employees
FintechB2BBankingAccounting
Company mission
To save businesses time and money - so they can get back to doing what they love.
Role
Who you are
- This role is designed for a "player-coach" who combines strong technical skills with leadership capabilities
- Extensive experience in a senior technical leadership role with a strong foundation in software engineering, systems engineering, or a related field
- Proven track record of leading SRE, QA, or engineering productivity teams, ideally in a fintech or similarly demanding environment
- Strong technical proficiency in programming languages (e.g., Python, Java, C++, etc.) and hands-on experience in software development, debugging, and optimisation
- In-depth understanding of cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), containerisation technologies (Docker, Kubernetes), and modern platform engineering practices
- Demonstrated success in driving quality, reliability, and productivity improvements in complex engineering environments
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience leveraging data to drive strategic decision-making
- Exceptional leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams
- A proactive, hands-on approach with a strong focus on innovation and continuous improvement
What the job involves
- As the Principal Engineer (Director) - Quality & Reliability, you will be a hands-on leader
- You will oversee several key engineering teams, including Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Quality, Client Platform, and Engineering Productivity
- Your primary goal will be to develop and implement strategies that enhance system reliability, streamline engineering processes, and ensure the highest quality of our software products
- You will be expected to engage deeply with technical challenges, contributing directly to code and architectural decisions, while also guiding your teams toward achieving strategic goals
- Strategic Vision and Leadership: Develop a strategic vision for quality, reliability, and productivity across Tide. Set clear, measurable goals for each team and drive initiatives that align with our business objectives
- Hands-On Technical Leadership: Engage directly in technical discussions and decisions, contributing to the design and architecture of complex systems. Lead by example through active participation in code reviews, debugging sessions, and development of critical software components
- Quality Assurance and Testing Strategy: Lead the QA team in creating robust automated testing frameworks and integrating these into our CI/CD pipelines. Promote a proactive quality mindset, ensuring that all software releases are rigorously tested and meet the highest standards
- Site Reliability Engineering: Guide the SRE team in developing and maintaining scalable, highly available, and secure systems. Implement effective monitoring, logging, and alerting mechanisms to ensure rapid detection and resolution of issues, minimising downtime and improving system reliability
- Client Platform Enablement: Oversee the Client Platform team in building and optimising tools, frameworks, and libraries that accelerate the work of web and mobile client engineers. Ensure that these internal tools are easy to use, well-documented, and enhance the overall developer experience and productivity
- Engineering Productivity Improvements: Lead initiatives to enhance engineering productivity, such as improving development workflows, optimising build and deployment processes, and automating repetitive tasks. Work closely with teams to identify bottlenecks and implement solutions that improve overall efficiency
- Data-Driven Optimisation: Utilise data and analytics to assess engineering performance and identify areas for improvement. Implement metrics and KPIs that drive continuous improvement in quality, reliability, and productivity
- Mentoring and Development: Act as a mentor and coach to engineering managers and team members, promoting a culture of continuous learning and development. Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing across teams to build a high-performing engineering organisation
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with Product, Infosec, Cloud, and other cross-functional teams to ensure alignment on priorities and strategies. Foster an environment of open communication and teamwork to achieve shared goals
- Incident Response and Management: Support the response to major incidents, coordinating efforts across teams to quickly resolve issues, conduct thorough root cause analysis, and implement preventive measures to avoid recurrence
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Small businesses and sole traders are still underserved by most traditional banks. Tide is solving that problem by offering speedy, affordable and effective financial services tailored to SMEs.
Since its launch, Tide has gained considerable traction among small businesses. This is largely thanks to its fast onboarding times, low fees and the diversity of products, which include a number of accountancy tools. And headed up by a former RBS, C&A and Optanus executive, it is certainly in a unique position within the financial services market.
Having built a strong user base of over 1M customers globally, with 650,000 members in the UK. Through further expansion across Europe and continual addition of 'first-of-its-kind' features, Tide is well set to secure a larger market share.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Top investors
40% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Sep 2025
$120m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Jan 2023
$24.5m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Total funding: $407.9m
Company benefits
- Flexible working:A flexible working policy that allows most teams to work from home when they need to
- Family-friendly leave: We go above and beyond the statutory requirement for maternity and paternity leave
- Paid volunteering leave: You’re encouraged to take three days a year as paid volunteering leave for your chosen charity or organisation
- Holiday leave: 25 days a year of paid holiday leave, plus bank holidays
- Sabbatical leave: Take a well-deserved break and come back refreshed
- Extra unpaid leave: Extra time off is available beyond your annual leave allocation
- We keep the team fed: Breakfast, snacks and hot drinks are provided daily, along with regular morning teas and catered events
- Personal development: Personal development budget is available for each Tidean to pursue additional training related to their role
- Private health cover: Private healthcare from Vitality, that includes the ability to earn discounts and rewards for having a healthy lifestyle
- Mental wellbeing : 24/7 Employee assistance, unlimited cognitive behavioural therapy, subsidised mindfulness and relaxation app
Company HQ
City of London, London, UK
Articles
Leadership
Dr Oliver Prill
(CEO)Began their career as a Consultant at McKinsey. They also held the role of CEO at both C&A Bank and Optanus, and was COO of Kreditech Holding before joining Tide in 2018.
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