Lead Software Engineer (Python, Go, GCP)
Location: Remote / Ideally close to Manchester or Leeds
Permanent Salary: £90,000 – £110,000
Contract Day Rate: Negotiable (outside IR35), Immediate start needed
Clearance: You must be eligible for UK Security Clearance
We’re working with a fast-scaling, venture-backed business that’s making serious moves in the data and AI space. They’ve already gone through multiple funding rounds and they’re on track for even more this year. Their ambitions are bold: they’re aiming for unicorn status, and they’re building the engineering team that will get them there.
This is a team with real technical pedigree experts in data, machine learning, AI, and analytics now looking to strengthen their core engineering capability as they expand their platform.
The Role
As Lead Software Engineer, they're ideally looking for a permanent team member but this is an immediate role so they will consider a contractor as long as you can start asap. You’ll report directly to the CEO and play a key part in defining and delivering the company’s next generation of back end systems and APIs.
You’ll be responsible for, developing, and implementing scalable, secure, and high-performing backend solutions, the backbone of a platform already being used across both private and public sector organisations.
This is not a role for a passive contributor. You’ll be deeply involved in technical decision-making, shaping architecture, and guiding implementation. You’ll work with diverse data types (including geospatial datasets), collaborate closely with the AI and Machine Learning teams, and build products that have a genuine real-world impact.
What You’ll Be Doing
* Designing and developing high performance APIs and backend applications.
* Leading technical discussions and decision-making with the CEO and engineering team.
* Building secure, scalable, and reliable solutions that drive real-world outcomes.
* Working with varied and complex data, including geospatial and graph data.
* Collaborating with Data Science and AI teams to integrate intelligent capabilities into core products.
* Bringing a product mindset balancing innovation, performance, and scalability.
The Tech
* Languages: Python, with opportunities to explore Go, Rust, NextJS, TypeScript.
* Databases: SQL & NoSQL.
* Architecture: RESTful APIs and microservices.
* Cloud & DevOps: Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and related cloud-native tooling.
* Bonus: Big data experience, particularly with geographical or graph datasets.
What’s On Offer
This is an opportunity to join a business at a genuinely exciting moment in its growth story, well-funded, scaling fast, and building products that matter. You’ll have the freedom to make technical decisions, the trust to implement them, and the chance to shape the direction of a company with huge potential.
If you’re a senior or lead-level engineer who thrives in a fast-moving environment and wants to work on technology that makes a tangible difference this is worth a conversation.
Apply now, and we’ll arrange a time to tell you more.