REF Agency
Principal Engineer (Go) – AI & Large-Scale Intelligence Systems

How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Role ID: TT-TEC-PE-UK-001
Location: United Kingdom (Remote)
Employment Type: Full-time
Experience Level: Senior / Principal
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
An innovative AI technology company is building a next-generation platform that helps organisations detect and respond to disinformation attacks in real time.
By combining machine learning, large-scale data processing, and advanced intelligence techniques, the platform enables customers to identify emerging threats and respond within minutes. This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage and shape both the product and the engineering culture.
This is a hands-on engineering leadership position focused on building production-grade systems rather than research.
The Role
We're looking for an experienced Principal Engineer with deep expertise in Go and large-scale distributed systems to help architect and build a high-performance intelligence platform from the ground up.
You'll work closely with senior technical leadership to define architecture, establish engineering standards, and deliver scalable solutions capable of processing massive volumes of internet-scale data.
This role combines technical leadership with hands-on software engineering and offers significant ownership over technical decisions.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, build and operate highly scalable backend systems.
- Develop distributed services capable of processing internet-scale datasets.
- Build and optimise data ingestion, enrichment and analysis pipelines.
- Architect reliable, resilient and high-performance production systems.
- Develop rich multi-tenant web applications.
- Balance immediate product delivery with long-term platform scalability.
- Establish engineering standards, testing practices and code quality.
- Mentor engineers and contribute to technical decision-making.
- Work closely with product, machine learning and threat intelligence teams.
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.
Start with a chat, not a search bar
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.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
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.
Requirements
Essential
- Extensive commercial experience developing software with Go (Golang).
- Proven experience scaling highly transactional production platforms.
- Strong background building distributed backend systems.
- Experience developing multi-tenant SaaS or enterprise web applications.
- Hands-on experience with streaming and batch data processing frameworks.
- Experience designing high-performance APIs and scalable architectures.
- Strong SQL knowledge and experience with relational databases.
- Excellent understanding of cloud-native development and production operations.
- Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
Highly Desirable
Experience within one or more of the following industries:
- Cyber Security
- National Security
- Threat Intelligence
- Financial Services
- KYC / AML platforms
- Fraud Detection
- Risk Intelligence


Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Experience building systems that process:
- Internet-scale datasets
- High-dimensional data
- High-throughput ingestion pipelines
- Real-time intelligence platforms
Tech Stack
Go · Python · SQL (Postgres) · NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis, Neo4J, ElasticSearch/OpenSearch) · Vector databases (Pinecone, Qdrant) · Streaming frameworks (Benthos, Flink) · Batch processing (Spark) · Airflow · Frontend (Go with Templ and HTMX)
What You'll Bring
- Strong systems design and architecture skills.
- Pragmatic approach to solving complex engineering challenges.
- Passion for building reliable, scalable production software.
- Ability to thrive in an early-stage, fast-moving environment.
- Ownership mindset with a bias toward execution.
- Collaborative leadership style and mentoring experience.
What's Offered
- Competitive salary
- Equity / Share options
- 25 days annual leave
- Additional day off on your birthday
- Private pension contributions
- Flexible remote working
- Quarterly team events
- Opportunity to shape a cutting-edge AI platform from its earliest stages
Interested?
If you're passionate about building highly scalable distributed systems, enjoy solving complex engineering challenges, and want to help create technology that has real-world impact, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply now with your CV and a brief overview of your experience with Go, distributed systems, and large-scale production platforms.
“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
Skills
Location