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IT Principal Engineer - Physical Infrastructure, Networking & Critical Applications
At Skipton Tech, every day is innovation day.
About the role
Job introduction
IT Principal Engineer – Physical Infrastructure, Networking & Critical Applications
We are recruiting for an IT Principal Engineer to play a key role in the development, optimisation and ongoing evolution of our physical infrastructure, networks, and critical application platforms. If you are a strategic yet hands‑on technical expert who thrives in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment where technology plays a central role in organisational success, this could be the opportunity for you.
Who Are We?
Not just another building society. Not just another job.
We’re the fourth largest building society in the UK, and what makes us different is that we’re a mutual organisation. We don’t have shareholders — we’re owned by our members.
Our colleagues say Skipton is a great place to work, and you could be one of them, bringing fresh thinking to help ensure our customers remain at the heart of everything we do.
Whatever your background and whatever your goals, we’ll support you to take the next step towards a better future.
You will join our IT function as a Principal Engineer specialising in Physical Infrastructure and Networking, helping to ensure our core platforms are resilient, secure and scalable in support of the Society’s most critical services. Acting as a key technical authority for a team of around 20 engineers, you will provide expert guidance, technical direction and decision support on complex engineering challenges. You’ll also work closely with teams across IT to ensure our data centre, network and platform capabilities meet the needs of our applications and services.
What’s In It For You?
Skipton values work–life balance, and we proudly support hybrid and flexible working wherever possible. Our newly refurbished head office provides a vibrant, modern and collaborative workspace.
We also offer a comprehensive range of benefits, including:
- Annual discretionary bonus scheme
- 25 days annual leave + bank holidays (rising by 1 day per year of service up to 30 days)
- Holiday trading scheme
- Matching employer pension contribution up to 10%
- Colleague mortgage (conditions apply)
- Salary sacrifice scheme for hybrid & electric vehicles
- Commitment to ongoing training and development
- Private medical insurance for all colleagues
- 3 paid volunteering days per year
- Inclusive colleague networks (e.g., Carers, Pride Alliance)
- Health and wellbeing support, including cycle‑to‑work and discounted gym membership
What Will You Be Doing?
As part of our modern infrastructure strategy, we are transforming and optimising the platforms that power the Society’s most critical services. Our physical technology estate spans compute, virtualisation, storage, networking and security — delivering the performance, resilience and protection our organisation relies on.
You will provide both strategic direction and hands‑on technical leadership across several key infrastructure domains, including:
- Enterprise compute and virtualisation platforms (currently Cisco UCS and VMware)
- Enterprise storage platforms (currently HPe Alletra SAN)
- Enterprise networking across data centre, campus and SASE environments (e.g., CATO)
- Network security technologies, including firewalls, load balancers and network access control
- Endpoint security technologies, such as EDR and antivirus
You will also support and guide our Critical Applications team, strengthening operational resilience, disaster recovery and cyber‑recovery capabilities. This includes expertise in enterprise backup and recovery platforms (e.g., NetBackup, Commvault), air‑gapped architectures, clean‑room recovery models, and wider resilience tooling.
In This Role, You Will:
- Act as the organisation’s senior technical authority for on‑premise and hybrid infrastructure, shaping the design and evolution of compute, storage, virtualisation, networking and security services.
- Define and embed engineering standards, architectural guardrails and best practices across physical infrastructure and critical platforms.
- Drive the Society’s resilience strategy across operational resilience, disaster recovery, backup, restoration and cyber recovery.
- Embed strong engineering discipline and SRE‑aligned principles to improve service reliability and reduce operational risk.
- Lead the lifecycle strategy for core infrastructure platforms, ensuring they remain performant, resilient and aligned to long‑term technology roadmaps.
- Partner closely with Senior Leadership, Architecture, IT Operations, Security and other engineering teams to influence direction and prioritise investment decisions.
- Provide technical oversight for the secure and highly available operation of business‑critical application platforms.
- Mentor and support engineers, promoting a culture of continuous improvement, technical excellence and accountability.
What Do We Need From You?
To succeed in this role, you’ll bring a strong track record of working across complex infrastructure environments and the confidence to act as a trusted technical authority. You will have experience navigating and solving challenging engineering problems across compute, networking, storage, virtualisation, security and resilience — ensuring platforms are reliable, secure and fit for purpose.
You’ll be comfortable working with a range of technologies, understanding how they integrate, and making sound technical decisions that balance performance, stability and long‑term maintainability.
You will also bring:
- Clear communication skills, enabling you to translate complex technical topics for a range of audiences
- A collaborative mindset, working effectively with engineers, stakeholders and leaders to drive shared outcomes
- The confidence to influence architecture and shape future technology direction
- A commitment to high‑quality engineering, continuous improvement and operational excellence
- A proactive approach to learning and staying current with emerging technologies, especially those that strengthen resilience and security
Plan your journey
The Bailey, Skipton, United Kingdom, BD23 1AP Google maps
Skipton core benefits
-
Pay
It's only part of the picture
Your salary is only part of your bigger rewards and benefits picture at Skipton. But we’ll make sure you’re rewarded for the role you do, the skills you bring and how you grow with us over time. -
Pensions
Paying the future you
We care about your future and want to help you really make the most of it. That’s why we pay up to an additional 10% into your pension whenever you contribute. -
Bonus
Recognising your part in our success
Many of our colleagues get a discretionary bonus as a thank you for the part they’ve played in our shared success. -
Life Assurance
Protect your loved ones
It’s a subject none of us like to think about, but it’s important to be ready for whatever life throws at us. Financial support for your loved ones in a worst case scenario, gives you extra peace of mind. -
Group Income Protection
Protection from the financial impact of long-term absence
Income Protection gives you a percentage replacement income if you’re off work because of long-term illness or injury. It’ll also protect a level of your income if you’re given medical advice to reduce your work hours following an accident or illness. -
Private Medical Insurance
Fast and effective medical treatment – open to everyone
Is there anything more important than the health of you and your family? Private Medical Insurance (PMI) provides you with quick access to high-quality medical care when it matters.
Why Skipton?
Because your career is more than just a ladder.
Founded on fairness
In 2026, we were named as one of the Financial Times Best Employers in the UK. We were also the highest placed building society on the list, too.
Not bad, right? But it’s much more than just another opportunity to blow our own trumpet. It truly reflects how our people experience working here.
Because at Skipton, we’re a mutual. We’re founded on fairness, built on shared effort, and committed to saying it straight. We’re curious, brave and always collaborative. We look out for each other. And we treat everyone like a grown-up - with respect, with understanding, with a level playing field at their feet.
Our Technology Team
You’ll join a Technology team that’s constantly focused on real challenges. That builds products and solutions which make a genuine difference. And which gets things done for our members - at pace.
And because we’re dead keen on development, it’s a place where you’re encouraged to try out new tech, sharpen your skills, or get hands-on with AI and automation.
Learning & Development
Learning is part of the everyday at Skipton. It’s woven into conversations and brought to life through hands-on experiences. You’ll pick up new skills as you go, and get tools and support that flex around your role and life.
Each month in Technology, we give you two days to focus on your own development. And we support certifications, apprenticeships, and training where it’s relevant, too. It’s a journey for all of us, and we’re working hard to build out a fully structured development programme. The investment is real, the intent is genuine, and most of all, we can’t wait to see where it takes you, your career, and your future.
Meet the recruiter
Nikolay Poyukov
Talent Acquisition Senior Specialist
I joined Skipton in May 2025 to lead recruitment across Tech. I specialise in hiring experts for Infrastructure, Cloud, Data, and Architecture.
At Skipton, the focus is always on people. It’s a collaborative space where you can make a real impact on transformation while being trusted to lead your own professional growth.
What happens when
1. Shortlisting
Once you’ve sent us your application and CV, we’ll review it using clear criteria. Our decisions are based on the skills, and experience you share with us.
2. Your Interview
Your interview might be by phone, over Microsoft Teams or in person, depending on the role and the circumstances. For some roles, there may also be more than one stage in the recruitment process - but we’ll always let you know what the plan is.
During your interview, we’ll ask you about your current and previous experience, and we’re very much interested in all of your skills and knowledge. This includes relevant things you might have learned through work, studies and voluntary activities
For some roles we could ask you to complete one or more tasks, or deliver a presentation. But don't worry, we'll support you throughout the process so you can do your best.
3. After your interview
At Skipton we always get in touch after your interview to let you know if you’re successful, or if you’re made it through to the next stage. And if you would like feedback on your interview we are always happy to share this. It’s all part of the Skipton experience, we value the time you’ve given us throughout the process.
4. Your offer
If you’re successful, we’ll get in touch to discuss your offer. When you accept we’ll send your contract and confirm the pre-employment checks you need to complete to get the ball rolling. You’ll need to successfully complete the checks before starting, so providing information quickly will help keep things on track. We aim to keep things simple and easy to follow.
5. Your Skipton Welcome
You’re in - welcome to the team!
We’ll be in touch regularly right up to your first day with lots of exciting info, details of what to expect when you’re here, and hints and tips to help you prepare for a great start.
And when it comes to the big day, there’ll be a warm welcome waiting for you as you begin your journey with us.