Lead Software Engineer
London – Hybrid
We’re working with a growing, international technology business at a pivotal stage of its scale-up journey. With a high-performing team of around 40 people and ambitious growth plans, the company is now seeking a Lead Software Engineer to help shape the evolution of its systems and support the next phase of scale.
Reporting to the VP of Engineering, this is a senior technical leadership role focused on building reliable, scalable software and improving how systems are designed and delivered. While not a people management position, it carries significant influence across engineering and plays a central role in technical direction, delivery, and engineering standards.
What you’ll be doing
Technical leadership & system reliability
* Owning the design, reliability, and scalability of production systems
* Leading improvements across application architecture, delivery pipelines, and cloud environments
* Driving best practices in observability, testing, and operational resilience
* Ensuring systems and services support continued growth and product development
Technical direction & architecture
* Partnering with the VP of Engineering on architectural decisions and long-term technical strategy
* Guiding design patterns and engineering practices across the codebase
* Helping the team make pragmatic trade-offs between speed, quality, and maintainability
* Embedding best practice in system design and software engineering
Delivery & engineering excellence
* Contributing hands-on through coding and end-to-end ownership of features and systems
* Improving developer workflows, tooling, and engineering efficiency
* Supporting system scalability, performance, and reliability as usage grows
* Enabling teams to deliver features quickly, safely, and with confidence
Collaboration & influence
* Mentoring engineers and raising technical standards across the team
* Leading through code reviews, technical discussions, and hands-on contribution
* Collaborating closely with engineers across product and platform areas
What we’re looking for
* 5+ years of software engineering experience
* Strong experience building and operating systems in cloud environments (e.g. AWS)
* Solid understanding of software architecture, system design, and scalable services
* Experience delivering production systems and owning problems end-to-end
* Broad technical depth across backend systems and modern development practices
* Influence built on credibility and technical expertise rather than authority
* Clear communication and pragmatic decision-making
* Hands-on, delivery-focused, and team-oriented
What you’ll get
* A senior technical leadership role in a business entering its next growth phase
* High visibility across engineering and executive leadership
* Real influence over system architecture, engineering practices, and technical direction