Senior Principal Software Engineer

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The BBC Dev Operations function is looking to appoint a Senior Principal Software Engineer to play a key leadership role responsible for Operational Excellence team and dedicated to defining, embedding, and measuring best-in-class operational standards across the BBC Product Group. 

This role will provide hands-on consultancy and support to engineering teams, driving continuous improvement and operational maturity through practical guidance, maturity assessments, and training. By owning the operational maturity roadmap, this role will ensure that engineering practices consistently evolve in line with Product strategy and achieve the highest levels of reliability, efficiency, and quality.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

• Define and Embed Operational Excellence Standards - lead the development, documentation, and implementation of operational standards and best practices to ensure consistent, high-quality engineering across all teams.
• Consultancy and Hands-On Support - provide expert guidance, leadership consultancy, and augmentation to engineering teams, supporting the adoption of operational excellence principles and resolving complex operational challenges.
• Operational Maturity Assessment - design and conduct operational maturity assessments for engineering teams, identifying strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Continuous Improvement Leadership - drive continuous improvement initiatives by analysing operational performance, facilitating retrospectives, and implementing actionable enhancements to processes and practices.
• Strategy Definition and Business Case Sponsorship - define and evolve the operational excellence strategy in alignment with BBC Product Group objectives. Sponsor and develop business cases for key operational excellence and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Roadmap Ownership - own and evolve the operational maturity roadmap, ensuring alignment with the BBC Product Group’s strategic objectives and supporting the ongoing evolution of operational capabilities.
• Industry Representation and Thought Leadership - represent the BBC Product Group in external forums, industry groups, and conferences, sharing best practices and contributing to the broader operational excellence community.
• Knowledge Sharing and Training - oversee the creation and delivery of training materials, documentation, and workshops to upskill engineering teams and foster a culture of operational excellence.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration - work closely with engineering, product, DevOps/SRE, and service management teams to ensure operational standards are understood, adopted, and measured effectively across the organisation.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL

• Significant experience in leading operational excellence initiatives within large-scale software engineering and/or SRE functions, ideally in digital media, broadcasting, or similar high-availability environments.
• Deep expertise in software engineering best practices, reliability engineering (SRE), and the implementation of operational standards for distributed, cloud-native, or broadcast-critical systems.
• Proven ability to deliver leadership consultancy, drive strategy definition, and sponsor business cases for operational improvements in broadcast or real-time media contexts.
  Demonstrated success in designing and executing operational maturity assessments, continuous improvement programs, and measurement frameworks for software delivery and platform reliability.
• Excellent skills in cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the creation and delivery of training or documentation for engineering teams, with an emphasis on operational excellence in broadcasting or media technology.
• Recognised industry presence, with experience representing a broadcast, media, or technology organisation in external forums, contributing to thought leadership, and staying current with emerging trends in software reliability and operational excellence.