Principal Engineer

Because we strive to put people first.  
Culture, our way. 

Technology at Primark

What’s a career at Primark all about? The positive impact you’re making, the experiences you’re having and the people you’re with. You’re our inspiration. Embrace what sets you apart, own your career and develop in ways you never expected. Leave your mark. And do it your way.  

What You’ll Get 

People are at the heart of what we do here, so it’s essential we provide you with the right environment to perform at your very best.

Let’s talk lifestyle: Healthcare, pension, and potential bonus. 27 days of leave, plus bank holidays and if you want, you can buy 5 more. Because Primark is all about tailoring to you, we offer Tax Saver Tickets, fitness centre, and a subsidised cafeteria.  

What You’ll Do as a Principal Engineer

We want you to feel challenged and inspired. Here, you’ll develop your skills across a range of responsibilities:

• Set and drive engineering best practices by defining the technical vision, aligning roadmaps to business goals, and championing engineering excellence across automation, observability, reliability, and resilience.
• Lead and mentor engineering leaders, coaching Engineering Managers, fostering talent growth, and promoting agile ways of working such as Kanban to improve flow, transparency, and delivery predictability.
• Enhance software delivery performance by managing technical debt, strengthening operational metrics, and promoting continuous improvement across teams and partners.
• Build strong stakeholder and partner relationships to ensure seamless software delivery across Primark Technology and Business domains, while overseeing vendor performance.
• Cultivate a high‑performance engineering culture grounded in security, GDPR, IT governance, disaster recovery readiness, cross‑functional collaboration, and communities of practice.
• Drive innovation and strategic insight by proactively scanning external trends and technologies, ensuring solutions remain best‑in‑class and balanced between commercial pragmatism and software quality.

What You’ll Bring

Here at Primark, we want everyone to feel valued  so please bring your authentic self to work, of course with some other key experience and abilities for this role in particular:

• Strong understanding of core engineering principles, system architecture, and modern software development practices.
• Hands‑on experience using the Atlassian Suite or equivalent engineering and workflow management tools.
• Working knowledge of scalable Agile SDLCs and distributed system patterns.
• Familiarity with high‑availability architectures, disaster recovery strategies, and business continuity frameworks.
• Proven track record leading teams through enterprise‑grade software delivery and operational excellence.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with strong communication, influencing, and negotiation capabilities.

Does this sound like you? Great, because we can’t wait to see what you’ll bring. You’ll be supported within a team of equally capable people, celebrating who you are and aiding you reach your potential. At Primark, we’re excited about our future - and we’re excited to develop yours

About Primark 

At Primark, people matter. They’re the beating heart of our business and the reason we’ve grown from our first store in Dublin in 1969 to a £9bn+ turnover business and over 80,000 colleagues and over 440 stores in 17 countries today. Our values run through everything we do. In essence, we're Caring and always strive to put people first. We're also Dynamic, bravely pushing the boundaries to stay ahead. And finally, we succeed Together.  

If you need any reasonable adjustments or have an accessibility request, during your recruitment journey, such as extended time or breaks between online assessments, a sign language interpreter, mobility access, or assistive technology please contact your talent acquisition specialist. 

All offers of employment are subject to background checks, including right to work, reference education and for some roles criminal, and financial checks. If you have any concerns, please reach out to our talent acquisition team to discuss.

Our fashion isn’t one-size-fits-all and neither is our culture. Primark promotes equal employment opportunity, we strive to create an inclusive workplace where people can be themselves, access opportunities and thrive together.