Senior Principal Software Engineer

Senior Principal Software Engineer (FTC, 20-months)2

About Indra Group UK & Ireland

Indra is a leading global technology and consulting company, and a trusted technological partner for the core business operations of its clients worldwide. It stands at the forefront of key sectors including Transport, Defence, Air Traffic Management and Space, alongside advanced Information Technology services delivered through Minsait, and cutting-edge capabilities in Sovereign AI, Cybersecurity, and Cyberdefence via IndraMind.

The company’s business model is built around a comprehensive portfolio of proprietary products, combining strong innovation with a high-value focus for customers.

With more than 2,500 projects implemented across 50 countries and over 100 cities, Indra is a global benchmark in innovative transportation and mobility solutions. It is recognised as one of the world’s top three companies in public transportation management systems. Indra’s technology supports the daily journeys of over 78 million people, helping to reduce more than 10 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, and helping save nearly 3,000 lives through improved traffic management and road safety.

Indra Group is paving the way to a more secure and better-connected future through innovative solutions, trusted relationships and the very best talent. Sustainability sits at the heart of its strategy and culture, driving efforts to address current and future social and environmental challenges.

In the 2024 financial year, Indra achieved revenues of €5.5 billion, over 60,000 professionals, maintained a local presence in 46 countries, and operated across more than 140 countries worldwide.

As the technological partner for its customers’ key operations, Indra is at the core of their business, and Indra’s four values guide everything we do:

Innovation - Our capacity for innovation, cutting-edge solutions, and specialised team of professionals enables us to drive a safer, more connected future through technology.

Trust - We work with strength, commitment, and reliability, delivering quality solutions to build trust with customers, employees, partners, investors, and society.

Connection - We harness the power of collaboration, connect ideas and solutions, and adapt to our customers’ needs, supporting them on the path to a better future.

Foresight - We anticipate future needs to make the world safer and more connected, transforming our experience and knowledge into solutions for a better tomorrow.

About the Project

Transport for London (TfL) has awarded Indra a long-term contract to operate, develop, enhance and expand ticketing and access control systems across London’s transport network through to 2034, with extension options to 2039.

This programme covers the maintenance, operation and evolution of a large-scale, complex ecosystem, including turnstiles, validators, ticket machines, sales terminals, back-office systems, payment gateways, IT infrastructure and cybersecurity that supports over 8.6 million daily journeys.

Therefore, Indra will become TfL’s strategic technology partner to guarantee the operation and evolution of the world’s largest and most sophisticated ticketing system. Following a transition period of approximately two years, Indra will serve as the sole provider across the network that includes more than 8,500 buses, nearly 400 Underground stations, around 300 rail stations (Overground, DLR, Elizabeth Line and suburban services), 4,000 Oyster Card outlets, seven customer service centres, and 24 river boat boarding points.

Drawing on over 30 years of experience in urban public transport solutions, Indra will manage and evolve all aspects of the system. The project also envisages, in partnership with TfL, the implementation of new technologies to develop the system, make it more efficient and automate key processes; in short, to jointly create the next generation of the ticketing system for London.

Role overview

As we continue to expand our operations in the UK, we are strengthening our Back Office support capability with a Senior Principal Software Engineer. The role provides senior technical expertise across Back Office applications, supporting the Back Office Support Manager and working closely with Application Support, Fraud Management and the 24x7 BOSS team to ensure effective investigation and resolution of technical issues.

The role provides technical guidance to the application team, facilitates collaboration across support teams and supports escalation to Level 3 where further specialist expertise is required.

Key duties include:

• Ability to interpret technical and operational data, identify trends and contribute to appropriate improvement actions.
• Strong understanding of incident, problem, change and release management processes, ideally aligned with ITIL practices.
• Experience providing technical guidance and support within software engineering and/or application support teams.
• Ability to build strong working relationships across application, database, infrastructure, cybersecurity, engineering and project teams.
• Strong problem-solving and prioritisation skills in time-critical situations, with sound judgement on when technical issues require escalation.
• Experience working effectively across Level 2, Level 3 and 24x7 operational support teams during incident investigation and resolution.
• Proven experience in software engineering, application support or technical support within a complex, business-critical environment.
• Committed to continuous improvement, knowledge sharing and efficient ways of working.
• Customer-focused, approachable and able to support and guide other team members.
• Strong attention to detail, follow-through and adherence to agreed processes.
• Experience working with customers and technical stakeholders, with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Calm, responsive and solution-oriented when dealing with incidents, deadlines and technical challenges.
• Self-motivated, organised and able to manage multiple competing priorities.
• Reliable and collaborative, with the confidence to provide senior technical guidance while maintaining clear communication with the Back Office Support Manager and other support teams.

Professional Career

Required Skills and Experience:

• Ability to interpret technical and operational data, identify trends and contribute to appropriate improvement actions.
• Strong understanding of incident, problem, change and release management processes, ideally aligned with ITIL practices.
• Experience providing technical guidance and support within software engineering and/or application support teams.
• Ability to build strong working relationships across application, database, infrastructure, cybersecurity, engineering and project teams.
• Strong problem-solving and prioritisation skills in time-critical situations, with sound judgement on when technical issues require escalation.
• Experience working effectively across Level 2, Level 3 and 24x7 operational support teams during incident investigation and resolution.
• Proven experience in software engineering, application support or technical support within a complex, business-critical environment.
• Committed to continuous improvement, knowledge sharing and efficient ways of working.
• Customer-focused, approachable and able to support and guide other team members.
• Strong attention to detail, follow-through and adherence to agreed processes.
• Experience working with customers and technical stakeholders, with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Calm, responsive and solution-oriented when dealing with incidents, deadlines and technical challenges.
• Self-motivated, organised and able to manage multiple competing priorities.
• Reliable and collaborative, with the confidence to provide senior technical guidance while maintaining clear communication with the Back Office Support Manager and other support teams.

Desirable:

• Exposure to application development, scripting, automation or operational tooling.
• Experience working in PCI DSS or ISO 20000 environments.
• Knowledge of databases, information security, access technologies and fraud-management principles.
• Experience supporting transport, payments, ticketing or other high-volume transactional platforms.
• Experience working across application support and software engineering teams in complex operational environments.

Academic Background & Desirable Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.

• ITIL Foundation or equivalent service-management knowledge.

• Holidays: 25 days per annum + 8 days bank holidays (options to buy/sell days).
• Pension – 4% employee and 4% employer.
• Private medical insurance (including dental & optical).
• Life assurance.
• Income protection.
• Employee assistance programs.
• Flexible/remote working options.
• Charitable initiatives.
• Social events (formal & informal).
• Learning and development programs.
• Innovative & collaborative work environment.

Indra is an equal employment opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, origin, disability or other characteristics protected by law.