At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design and delivery of innovative backend systems using Java.
- Company: Join a forward-thinking tech company that values collaboration and innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, 35 days leave, private medical insurance, and a 5% pension match.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by shaping engineering culture and driving AI adoption.
- Qualifications: Extensive experience in Java, Spring ecosystem, and backend engineering leadership.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
We're looking for an exceptional Lead Backend Java Engineer to define technical direction, inspire engineering teams, and build world‑class backend systems. This role combines deep technical expertise with engineering leadership, enabling you to influence architecture, delivery, AI adoption, and engineering culture across multiple teams and client engagements. You will be a recognised technical leader who enjoys solving complex challenges, mentoring engineers, and ensuring every solution delivers measurable business value.
What You’ll Do
- Define and evolve the technical strategy for backend engineering across projects and teams.
- Lead the design and delivery of scalable, secure and resilient distributed systems using Java and the Spring ecosystem.
- Provide architectural leadership across multiple client engagements, ensuring consistency, maintainability and long‑term scalability.
- Act as the technical authority for backend engineering, supporting teams in solving complex engineering challenges.
- Establish and continually improve engineering standards, coding practices, testing strategies and development processes.
- Mentor Senior, Mid‑level and Junior Engineers, building capability across the engineering function.
- Drive technical planning, estimation and delivery, ensuring engineering excellence while balancing commercial objectives.
- Partner with Product, Delivery and Client stakeholders to align technology decisions with business outcomes.
- Champion AI and automation to improve productivity, engineering quality and client value.
- Evaluate emerging technologies and shape engineering roadmaps that keep the organisation at the forefront of modern software development.
What You’ll Bring
Technical Expertise
- Extensive commercial experience in:
- Modern Java (Java 8+) and advanced language features
- Spring Boot and the wider Spring ecosystem
- Spring Security, Spring Data JPA and Spring Cloud
- Designing and delivering RESTful APIs
- Microservices, event‑driven architecture and distributed systems
- Relational and NoSQL databases
- Messaging platforms such as Kafka or RabbitMQ
- Docker and containerisation
- Kubernetes and cloud‑native deployments
- Cloud platforms including AWS, Azure or GCP
- CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices
- Observability, monitoring and distributed tracing
- JVM performance tuning and concurrency
- Automated testing strategies across all testing layers
- Build tooling including Maven or Gradle
- Experience with reactive programming, WebFlux or platform engineering would be advantageous.
What Success Looks Like
Technical Leadership
- Define engineering standards that improve quality across multiple teams.
- Make architectural decisions that enable scalable, maintainable solutions.
- Lead the resolution of complex technical challenges.
- Drive continuous improvement across engineering practices.
Engineering Excellence
- Champion clean architecture, testing, security and performance.
- Create an engineering culture focused on craftsmanship and continuous learning.
- Ensure consistent adoption of modern development practices.
- Raise technical capability through coaching and mentoring.
Strategic Delivery
- Align engineering decisions with client objectives and commercial priorities.
- Lead delivery across multiple programmes or workstreams.
- Identify opportunities to improve client platforms and introduce innovative solutions.
- Balance technical excellence with pragmatic delivery.
People Leadership
- Coach and develop engineers at every stage of their careers.
- Build high‑performing, collaborative engineering teams.
- Foster knowledge sharing and create opportunities for growth.
- Lead by example through humility, integrity and technical credibility.
AI & Innovation
- Define the engineering strategy for responsible AI adoption.
- Lead initiatives that automate repetitive work and improve developer experience.
- Explore emerging technologies and identify opportunities to create competitive advantage.
- Enable teams to use AI confidently, ethically and effectively.
What we’ll offer you
- Flexible working, including hybrid and remote options.
- Office hubs in Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, London and Bulgaria, with occasional travel to client sites or CreateFuture offices when needed.
- 35 days leave (including bank holidays).
- Private medical insurance.
- Enhanced parental and adoption leave.
- Financial coaching and 5% pension match.
- 40 hours of paid learning and development.
Our culture supports professional and personal growth, with a focus on impact over activity and trusting employees to manage their time. Candidates must be eligible to live and work in the UK.
Lead Software Engineer (Java) in Manchester employer: CreateFuture
As a Lead Software Engineer at our company, you will thrive in a dynamic environment that champions innovation and technical excellence. We offer flexible working arrangements, generous leave policies, and a strong commitment to professional development, ensuring you have the resources to grow your career while making a meaningful impact. Our collaborative culture fosters mentorship and knowledge sharing, empowering you to lead engineering teams and drive transformative solutions across diverse client engagements.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Software Engineer (Java) in Manchester
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at CreateFuture or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to CreateFuture.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like CreateFuture.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like CreateFuture that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Software Engineer (Java) in Manchester
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at CreateFuture.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at CreateFuture and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at CreateFuture
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If CreateFuture uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
