Lead Software Engineer

The Role

As a Lead Software Engineer, you'll lead a cross-functional squad in delivering high-quality, scalable software that supports our Operations team and drives business efficiency. You'll combine hands-on technical expertise with people leadership, project delivery, and stakeholder collaboration. From guiding architecture and writing code to prioritising work and mentoring engineers, you'll create a high-performing team aligned with our company's goals.

Engineering Environment

• Frontend: Vue.js
• Backend: Python
• Data & Messaging: Postgres, SQL, and Kafka
• Infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes, and Cloud API

Your Responsibilities

Technical leadership & architecture

• Provide clear technical direction and architectural input for squad initiatives
• Own the design of scalable, secure, and high-performing systems
• Conduct comprehensive code reviews and contribute hands-on when needed
• Research and propose relevant new technologies or tools to improve outcomes
• Ensure comprehensive documentation for systems owned by the squad

People leadership

• Conduct regular 1:1s and career conversations
• Support the personal and technical development of engineers in the squad
• Set clear priorities and expectations for team members
• Create a collaborative, inclusive, and feedback-driven engineering culture

Delivery & execution

• Drive sprint ceremonies (planning, refinement, retrospectives, standups)
• Work with Product Managers and Product Designers to plan and deliver high-impact features for the Operations team.
• Provide high-level and low-level estimates during discovery and planning
• Be accountable for sprint commitments and velocity tracking
• Coordinate with other squads to manage dependencies
• Ensure support requests are triaged and actioned appropriately

Stakeholder management & cross-functional collaboration

• Provide context to engineers on how their work contributes to company OKRs
• Communicate squad progress and risks to wider stakeholders
• Help prioritise and sequence work based on business impact

About You

• You've led cross-functional engineering teams in a fast-paced, product-led environment
• You're comfortable balancing hands-on coding with coaching, planning, and delivery
• You have experience architecting scalable systems and working in distributed environments
• You're highly collaborative, able to partner with Product, Design, and other stakeholders
• You're passionate about engineering excellence, team growth, and continuous improvement
• You're excited about the opportunity to help shape the future of tech in a scale-up environment

What's in it for you?

• Competitive salary, reviewed annually
• Annual bonus, based on company performance
• Flexible core hours, giving you true work life balance
• Hybrid role to ensure this role works for you
• 25 days of holiday (excluding bank holidays) which increases over time to a max of 27 days
• 9/10 day working week to enhance your wellbeing without a reduction in pay and leave allowance
• Optional 5 days unpaid leave and 1 paid volunteer day each year
• When you need a change of scenery, you can work from abroad 2 weeks every 6 months
• Health insurance for you, paid by [Employer hidden]
• Extended maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay. 6 months at 70% pay
• Flexible paid care leave to support immediate dependants, people close to you and pets
• In house L&D team, with access to year round courses to help drive your development
• 50% discount on all [Employer hidden]
• Discounted gym membership

Our Commitment

We're proud to be an active equal opportunity employer. We want to give everyone a fair chance to join us in changing the world of pet food for good. We do this by conducting a structured recruitment process for all candidates, as well as actively promoting our roles to communities that are under-represented at [Employer hidden].