Principal Java Engineer

Principal Java Engineer

🌏 London, Manchester or Oxford (Hybrid)

💷 Discretionary Company Bonus Scheme

⏰ Monday – Friday (37.5h pw)

💖 Our perks 💖

• 🌏25 days holiday (rising to 28 after 3 years’ service) pro rated, plus bank holidays, to take time to recharge and do something you love.  
• 🤒 Private Medical - via vitality, with reward schemes paid for you and your family.
• 🤒 Health cash plan - via Simply Health for employee's and children claiming money back for dental, optical, etc
• 👍Pension – Oodle will contribute 5% of your salary into your pension pot to help you save for the future
• 🪙Life Assurance - 4 x annual salary - benefit funded by Oodle 
• 🥝Free breakfast, drinks and fruit in the office – you can help yourself to cereals, toast, fizzy drinks and lots of fruit. 
• 🤟Employee discounts – discounts you can access anywhere, anytime for all major shops. 
• 👌1 day volunteer day per year – an opportunity to give back to the community each year. 
• ⭐Mental health care – 6 free counselling sessions via our EAP (Employee Assistance Programme). 
• 🤧Paid sick leave – enhanced company sick pay.   
• 👨‍Enhanced family leave – we provide enhanced family leave for primary and secondary caregivers.

🚗 Oodle – who are we? 🚗  

Our mission is to empower our customers by delivering simple experiences, straightforward lending products, and compassionate support, from application to final payment – and beyond.

Upgrading. Growing a family. Fresh starts. Big moves. Bumps in the road. - we finance cars, but more importantly, we finance people. Over the past 6 years, we’ve supported tens of thousands of customers on their car buying journey

As an employer, your career is important to us. We’re committed to creating an environment where you can thrive as yourself. We celebrate diversity and inclusion, actively working to make sure every team member feels supported on their journey with us. Our Talent Development team is here to support your growth, providing opportunities for learning, development, and career progression.

🙌 The Role 🙌

Principal Java Engineer at Oodle Car Finance.

As a Principal Java Engineer, you will be a technical leader and subject matter expert in Java-based software development. You will architect, design, and implement scalable, high-performance systems while mentoring engineering teams and driving best practices. This role requires a deep understanding of Java, modern software architecture, and a passion for innovation and quality.

What you'll be getting up to:  

• • Lead the design and development of complex Java applications and backend services

  • Define and uphold coding standards, architecture, and engineering best practices

  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to turn business requirements into technical solutions

  • Mentor and support engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and technical guidance

  • Drive continuous improvement in tools, technologies, and team processes

  • Write clean, efficient, and well-documented Java code

  • Contribute to all phases of the development lifecycle—from planning to deployment

  • Ensure system reliability, scalability, and performance through proactive monitoring and optimisation

You'll be a great fit if:  

• 10+ years of experience in Java development, with at least 3 years in a senior or principal role.

  • Strong knowledge of Java 17+ and frameworks such as Spring Boot, Hibernate, etc.

  • Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

  • Proficiency in RESTful API design, microservices architecture, and distributed systems.

  • Solid understanding of databases (SQL and NoSQL), caching, and messaging systems.

👩‍💻 Hiring Process

• ☎️ Preliminary Interview (30 mins)
• 📲 Technical Interview (1 Hour)
• 🔦 Final Interview (1 hour) with the hiring manager and a member of the team.  

💚 Our Values

Our values are our personal brand and lay the foundation of what we care about the most. They provide us with guidance, so we can work towards the same goals. They are our DNA and are kept at the forefront of our Oodler’s mind when making business decisions.

• Embrace being human – empathy and diversity make us stronger
• Strive for awesome – it’s awesome when we do better every day
• Everyone’s a builder – we’re in this together and we win as a team
• Bravely honest – we’re honest with ourselves and everyone else
• Think customer – they’re at the heart of everything we do

To find out more about our culture and what happens at Oodle check out our LinkedIn and Instagram. 

Oodle is proud to be an inclusive workplace, and we recognise diversity of experience, thoughts and backgrounds leads to better customer outcomes and an environment where our colleagues can thrive. We have several DEI networks which are made up of our ‘Oodlers’ who strive to make positive impacts to our cultures.  

We’d love if you could submit your application online, but if you need an alternative method or need reasonable adjustments to take part in the interview process, please email [email protected] .

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