At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a dynamic engineering team to shape the future of payments technology.
- Company: Join a fast-growing fintech startup revolutionising real-time payments.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, hybrid work, and generous learning budget.
- Other info: Enjoy a vibrant culture that values innovation and teamwork.
- Why this job: Make a significant impact in a pivotal leadership role at a thriving company.
- Qualifications: 8+ years in software engineering with strong leadership experience required.
We are a Series B fintech startup on a mission to make real-time payments seamless, secure, and accessible for businesses of all sizes. We are building the next generation of payments infrastructure and we need exceptional engineering leadership to take us there.
Our stack powers billions of pounds in transactions annually, and we are growing fast. This is a rare opportunity to shape the technical direction of a company at an inflection point.
We are looking for a Head of Engineering to lead our 40-person engineering organisation, set the technical vision, and partner closely with our CPO and CEO to drive product delivery. You will be the most senior technical voice in the company and a key member of the executive leadership team.
This is a hands-on leadership role. You will be expected to go deep when it matters while also operating at the strategic level bridging the gap between engineering execution and business outcomes.
What You'll Do
- Own the engineering roadmap and translate business strategy into actionable technical plans
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers across backend, frontend, platform, and data disciplines
- Drive architectural decisions for our core payments platform, ensuring scalability, security, and regulatory compliance (PCI-DSS, PSD2, FCA)
- Partner with Product, Design, and Commercial teams to ship high-quality, customer-facing features on time
- Establish and improve engineering processes, including delivery cadence, incident management, and on-call practices
- Own technical hiring — build a world-class engineering culture that attracts and retains top talent
- Define and track engineering KPIs: reliability, deployment frequency, lead time, and developer experience
- Represent engineering at board level and with key investors and enterprise clients
What We're Looking For
Essential
- 8+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 3 years in an engineering leadership role
- Proven track record of leading and scaling engineering teams (20+ engineers) in a high-growth technology environment
- Strong understanding of distributed systems, cloud-native architecture (AWS or GCP), and API design
- Experience in financial services, payments, or highly regulated industries is a strong advantage
- Excellent communication skills comfortable presenting to C-suite, board members, and enterprise stakeholders
- Experience running Agile/product-led engineering teams with a focus on outcomes over output
Nice to Have
- Familiarity with payments standards and compliance frameworks (PCI-DSS, Open Banking, ISO 20022)
- Experience with Kafka, Kubernetes, Go, or Python at scale
- Prior experience in a Series B–D growth-stage startup
- Exposure to security-first engineering practices and SOC 2 / ISO 27001 environments
What We Offer
- Competitive salary: £180,000 – £220,000 depending on experience
- Meaningful equity package (EMI options)
- Hybrid working: 3 days in our London Bridge HQ, 2 days remote
- £5,000 annual learning & development budget
- 25 days holiday + bank holidays + your birthday off
- Regular offsites, team events, and a culture that takes the work seriously but not itself
Engineering Principles
- Build for resilience: payments infrastructure is critical — we design for failure and own reliability
- Ship iteratively: we favour fast, safe releases over big-bang deployments
- Engineers own outcomes: our teams have full autonomy from design through production
- Psychological safety first: the best ideas win, regardless of seniority
Head of Engineering in London employer: Forsyth Barnes
As a Series B fintech startup based in London, we offer an exceptional opportunity for the Head of Engineering to lead a dynamic team in shaping the future of payments infrastructure. Our culture prioritises psychological safety and autonomy, fostering an environment where innovative ideas thrive. With competitive salaries, meaningful equity packages, and a strong commitment to employee growth through a generous learning budget, we are dedicated to building a world-class engineering organisation that not only values technical excellence but also promotes a healthy work-life balance.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Engineering in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the fintech space, attend industry meetups, and engage on platforms like LinkedIn. We all know that sometimes it’s not just what you know, but who you know that can land you that dream role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews by practising common questions and scenarios specific to engineering leadership. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or mentors to get comfortable discussing your vision and technical expertise.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your achievements! When you get the chance to chat with potential employers, highlight your past successes in leading teams and driving projects. We want to see how you’ve made an impact in previous roles, especially in high-growth environments.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are genuinely interested in joining our mission to revolutionise payments.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Engineering in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV speaks directly to the role of Head of Engineering. Highlight your leadership experience, especially in scaling teams and driving technical vision. We want to see how your background aligns with our mission in fintech!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to tell us why you're passionate about payments and how you can contribute to our growth. Be sure to mention any relevant experience with compliance frameworks or distributed systems.
Showcase Your Technical Skills:Don’t hold back on showcasing your technical expertise! Whether it's your experience with cloud-native architecture or your familiarity with payment standards, we want to know how you can lead our engineering team effectively.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother process. It helps us keep track of applications and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates from us. Plus, it’s super easy!
How to prepare for a job interview at Forsyth Barnes
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
As a Head of Engineering, you’ll need to demonstrate a deep understanding of distributed systems and cloud-native architecture. Brush up on your knowledge of AWS or GCP, and be ready to discuss architectural decisions you've made in the past that ensured scalability and security.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
This role is all about leading a team of engineers. Be prepared to share specific examples of how you've mentored and grown engineering teams before. Highlight your experience in building a strong engineering culture and how you’ve attracted top talent in previous roles.
✨Communicate Like a Pro
You’ll be representing engineering at board level, so excellent communication skills are a must. Practice articulating complex technical concepts in a way that’s easy for non-technical stakeholders to understand. Think about how you can convey your vision for the engineering roadmap clearly.
✨Align with Business Goals
Make sure you can connect engineering execution to business outcomes. Prepare to discuss how you’ve translated business strategies into actionable technical plans in the past. This will show that you understand the bigger picture and can bridge the gap between tech and business effectively.
