Oliver Bernard
Principal Engineer

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Principal Engineer
I’m working with a fast-growing fintech business building financial technology that helps thousands of businesses across Europe.
They’re looking for a Principal Backend Engineer to take a leading role in shaping the architecture behind high-scale payments, merchant onboarding, and transaction-processing platforms.
This is a genuinely hands-on leadership role, combining architecture, technical strategy, and engineering across multiple teams and domains.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
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Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
What they’re looking for:
- 8+ years building distributed, production-grade backend systems
- Senior Staff / Principal-level experience
- Deep expertise in Java 17+, Spring Boot, and/or Kotlin
- Strong microservices & event-driven architecture experience
- Kafka, REST/gRPC, and DDD
- Experience with AWS, Docker & Kubernetes
- Strong understanding of scalability, resilience, performance, and observability
- Experience in fintech, payments, or high-volume transaction environments is highly desirable
- Excellent technical leadership and stakeholder management


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More information:
- Central London – 3 days a week ideal but might be able to flex to 1-2 days a week
- £150k-£180k + bonus
A great opportunity for a Principal Engineer who wants to have genuine architectural influence and help shape high-scale fintech platforms used across Europe.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
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