Principal Engineer (Engineering Manager) — Data Platform (FT Core)

About Us

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide.

At the FT, curiosity thrives and ambitious thinking is rewarded. Together, we help audiences stay better informed and deepen their understanding of the world around them.

Our Product & Technology teams drive us forward in an ever-evolving digital landscape, delivering cutting-edge products to over one million digital subscribers daily. Our growth relies on a diverse, dedicated and dynamic group of product, tech, delivery and data specialists.

With a supportive culture, entrepreneurial spirit and opportunities at every turn, there are no limits to where your FT career can take you.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced technology leader to join our Core Platforms (FT Core) group and lead the Data Platform — a cornerstone of FT’s broader Data Modernisation programme.

The Data Platform provides the foundation for how we produce, manage and consume data across the Financial Times. It underpins the creation and distribution of data products that support analytics, personalisation, reporting, and insight generation across the business.

You will lead multiple engineering teams responsible for designing, building and operating our cloud-native data services. Working closely with the Principal Technical Architect, you will ensure the platform’s design and delivery align with FT’s strategic direction for data — enabling trusted, discoverable and reusable data products across all business domains.

This is a senior technical leadership role that combines strategic thinking, hands-on guidance, and people leadership. You will play a key role in defining and realising the future of data at the FT, while nurturing and empowering a high-performing engineering team.

This role is a Principal Engineer (People Manager) position according to our competency framework. Please review further competencies and job family via link available here.

Main Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering and operational development of the FT’s cloud-native Data Platform, ensuring it provides scalable, secure, and high-quality data capabilities across the organisation.
• Shape and deliver the platform roadmap in alignment with FT’s data architecture, in close partnership with the Product Managers, Data and Technical Architects and other technical leaders across FT Core.
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement — supporting engineers in developing mastery of data engineering and platform operations.
• Champion best practices in modern data management, including automation, observability, cost efficiency, and platform resilience.
• Drive data product enablement, ensuring teams across the FT can easily publish, discover, and consume data through the platform.
• Collaborate with Product and Delivery peers to ensure outcomes are aligned with business goals and deliver tangible value.
• Represent the Data Platform within the wider FT data community, working closely with teams in Data & Analytics, Subscriptions, and Content.
• Mentor and develop engineers and technical leads, aligning their growth and progression with FT’s Engineering Competency Framework.
• Advocate for diversity and inclusion, helping build balanced teams that thrive on collaboration and different perspectives.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Demonstrable experience leading teams responsible for building and operating data platforms or distributed data systems in a cloud environment.
• Strong understanding of data engineering, pipelines, and cloud-native architectures (AWS preferred).
• Proven ability to influence architecture, design, and delivery decisions that balance quality, speed, and sustainability.
• Experience creating a learning culture, mentoring engineers, and supporting professional growth.
• Proven skill in communication and collaboration across diverse teams and stakeholders, both technical and non-technical.
• Ability to connect engineering decisions to broader business outcomes, demonstrating strategic awareness and pragmatic judgment.
• Passion for data as a product, and for enabling others to create, own, and use data responsibly.
• Commitment to continuous improvement — both in technical delivery and in developing inclusive, high-performing teams.

Additional Skills and Experience (Non-essential but Advantageous)

• Background in software engineering or data engineering, with hands-on experience in modern cloud data tooling and practices (e.g. dbt, Airflow, streaming, IaC).
• Familiarity with data governance, quality, and cataloging concepts (e.g. DataHub, Collibra, Alation or their AWS equivalents).
• Experience working in a federated or domain-oriented organisation, supporting cross-functional delivery.
• Strong interest in emerging technologies and their potential to evolve how the FT manages and leverages data.
• Experience collaborating with architectural peers to drive end-to-end alignment between design, delivery, and operational excellence.

What’s in it for you?

We offer a flexible, inclusive working culture and a generous range of benefits, tailored to your location. Our benefits include:

• Annual bonus scheme
• 25 days paid leave
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program
• Life Insurance
• Enhanced Parental Leave policy
• Food Allowance
• Multisport Card
• Comprehensive in-house training, and external training programs (subject to approval)

Further Information

At the FT, we embrace innovation and the use of technology, and we appreciate that individuals may leverage AI tools as part of their job application process. Whilst we are happy for you to use AI to assist with your application, it is essential that all information provided is authentic and accurately represents your skills, experience, and qualifications.

Candidates should be aware that the use of AI throughout the application process may be monitored to ensure a fair and transparent hiring process for all.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. A supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups.