Principal Engineer

Blacklane • London, UK • 2w ago

Blacklane is looking for an experienced and innovative Principal Engineer to lead our technical efforts in the Guest domain. In this role, you’ll shape the future of our platform’s architecture and technology, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, scalable solutions that enhance the guest experience.

Our environment is composed of Ruby, Go, Typescript and Java services, designed using DDD. These services are deployed to our Kubernetes cluster and communicate via domain events using SQS and Kafka. We use diverse data storage technologies such as Postgres, MySQL, Elasticsearch, Redis, and DynamoDB. As for infrastructure and cloud resources, we predominantly use AWS and manage provisioning through Terraform.

YOUR CHALLENGE:

Envision: Develop and drive the technical vision for our platform. Collaborate with stakeholders, document your plan, and guide engineers through execution.
Enable: Empower the engineering team to improve flexibility, agility, and productivity across the company.
Support: Provide high-level and hands-on support, assess the platform’s architecture, and build strong relationships across teams.
Learn & Innovate: Stay on the cutting edge of technology, explore new ideas, and bring them to life. Participate in conferences and share your insights.
Continuous Improvement: Define and monitor key technical metrics, using data-driven insights to improve system performance and engineering processes.

ABOUT YOU:

Technical Expertise: Hands-on experience in transforming monolithic architectures into event-driven microservices, ideally in large e-commerce or marketplace platforms.
Hands-On Approach: You enjoy collaborating with engineers and solving complex problems, even if you're not coding daily.
Strategic Vision: Ability to align technical strategy with business goals.
Data-Driven Mindset: Analytical thinker with the ability to use data to drive technical decisions and process improvements.

About Blacklane
Our mission is simple but powerful: to become the world’s leading premium, global chauffeur service. Operating in 50+ countries, we reimagine chauffeur-driven rides by prioritizing reliability, innovation, and first-class service at every step. Blacklane is also at the forefront of sustainable mobility efforts, continuously working to reduce our operational impact on the planet.

Our Company Culture
Blacklane has grown from a two-person startup in Berlin to a global team of over 300 people representing 54+ nationalities. Powered by our commitment to care, inclusion, innovation, and collaboration, we support employees through initiatives like Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), mentorship programs, and more.

Here are just a few examples of the ERGs fostering connection:

LGBTQIA+ Network – Advocating for inclusivity and championing allyship.
Bookclub – Encouraging cultural exchange, fostering discussion, critical thinking, and team engagement through shared reading and analysis.
Blacklane Cares Leave – Spend up to eight paid hours annually volunteering for causes meaningful to you.

We welcome—and actively support—employees to create or join the communities that are important to them.

Why join us in a Blacklane on the fast lane?

Fair Pay & Shared Success → We provide good salaries and automatically enroll all employees in our Virtual Stock Options Plan (VSOP). Your shares vest over four years, with full transparency on their value growth through Ledgy.
Blacklane Mystery Rides → As a valued contributor to our success and growth, we are pleased to offer you one complimentary ride per quarter to experience and evaluate our chauffeur services firsthand.
Learning & Development at Blacklane → We value the person beyond the CV, which is why we are committed to your continuous growth—not just for the company’s success, but for your own professional development. We believe that when our employees stay ahead, so does Blacklane. That’s why you have free access to thousands of online courses on LinkedIn Learning, tailored to your career aspirations, along with a unique learning experience designed for those stepping into leadership roles.
The way to your heart goes through your stomach? → If so, we’ve got something special for you, in Berlin: our weekly homecooked, quality office lunches. Not only do they fuel your mind and body, but they also provide the perfect opportunity to connect with colleagues from all departments, fostering stronger bonds beyond your own division.
Your Health, No Compromise → with Nilo Health & WHOOP
We prioritize both your mental and physical well-being because a healthy team creates a thriving culture. That’s why we offer access to the Nilo Health platform for mental wellness and the WHOOP bracelet, after one year to support your fitness—available for you to use as you choose.
Social responsibility → We Care: Learn more about Miracle flights and the meaningful impact behind our commitment to making a difference.
Share your ideas with Blacklane’s C-Level - Our approachable C-Level team values your insights. Once a month, they host a consultation day where you’re invited to share your ideas, feedback, and constructive criticism—because your voice shapes our future.
Thrive Together: Our Hybrid Office Culture: At Blacklane, we believe in the power of in-person collaboration and connection. That’s why we follow a hybrid, 3 office day focused approach. This supports both our fast-paced growth and the building of strong, engaged teams. We know everyone’s situation is unique, so our hybrid setup still allows for flexibility when needed. If you’re excited about contributing in a dynamic, people-driven environment and value both teamwork and personal accountability, we’d love to hear from you!