At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead our engineering culture, deliver features, and improve our payroll platform.
- Company: Fast-growing payroll platform revolutionising UK businesses since 2021.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, remote work, and a supportive team environment.
- Other info: Fully remote with a focus on diversity and inclusion.
- Why this job: Join us to shape the future of payroll tech and advance your career.
- Qualifications: Experience in a lead engineer role, adaptable to new technologies.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 110000 £ per year.
Fresh Pay is a next-generation payroll platform built for UK businesses.
We were founded in 2021 and we’re growing fast: last year we grew by 187% and we handle ~40,000 payslips every month for around 9,000 companies.
We make payroll super easy for our clients in an easy-to-use interface which is integrated with Xero, Quick Books, Telleroo, Modulr and various pensions including NEST.
As UK payroll and tax are increasingly digitised, most UK businesses will need to adopt a platform like ours, so it’s a great time to be doing what we do.
Our platform has been built to a high standard by a trusted outsourced provider and we’re now looking to bring in our first in-house technical leader.
We’re looking for somebody to show us the way.
You’ll develop our engineering culture and practices directly with our leadership team, outsourced provider and fractional CTO.
You’ll blend hands-on delivery with prioritisation.
You’ll set a high bar for the quality of our work and lead by example in meeting it.
The perfect candidate will bring high impact within a high level of autonomy - they’ll immerse themselves in our domain and make daily calls on what’s important and how we move our product forward.
Of course they will have strong technical judgement and engineering skills, but this is more than a hands-on role: you will work at the leadership level too, to translate strategy into delivery.
You’ll help us grow the team through coaching, mentoring and hiring.
This is a challenging, career-defining role with a very clear path to a Head / CTO position in the future.
You'll work on...
- Setting our engineering standard and culture, leading by example.
- Hands-on delivery of new features, updates and bug fixes. Our stack is Ruby on Rails, Hotwire, React, Postgres, hosted on AWS.
- Bringing agentic development into our workflows - our dream is that all of our team can make changes to our platform!
- Technical improvements and refactoring of our code - it’s in a great state but we know that ongoing maintenance and improvement is crucial.
- Building out our roadmap and priorities, based on strategy.
You'll work with...
- Our leadership team, setting priorities and understanding needs.
- Our outsourced provider to prioritise work, set technical standards and to deliver technical initiatives.
- Our fractional CTO as a sounding board for ideas, strategy and next steps.
- You’ll bring…
- Experience in a lead engineer role in an early-stage startup where you’ve had a big impact.
- Experience working with Ruby / Rails / React is desirable but we know the best people are able to adapt to the technology at hand.
- Experience working with outsourced providers is a bonus, but not essential.
- Salary of £80k - £110k, plus standard workplace pension contributions
- Equity in the business via an EMI scheme
- Fully remote: our team is based in Bedford and Sussex but we work fully remotely. We collaborate on Slack and Google Meet and meet up in person occasionally.
- We’ll sort your home office setup with a Macbook Pro (or tech of your choice), large screen and budget for everything else you need
- 25 days holidays a year, plus bank holidays
Our women- led business is passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive team and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds.
Candidates must have the legal right to work in the UK.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Software Engineering Lead in Bedford employer: FreshPay UK
FreshPay is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic and inclusive work culture that prioritises employee growth and autonomy. As a rapidly growing startup in the payroll technology sector, we provide our team with the opportunity to make a significant impact while enjoying the flexibility of fully remote work. With competitive salaries, equity options, and a commitment to diversity, FreshPay is the ideal place for those looking to advance their careers in a meaningful way.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Software Engineering Lead in Bedford
✨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 FreshPay UK 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 FreshPay UK.
✨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 FreshPay UK.
✨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 FreshPay UK 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 Software Engineering Lead in Bedford
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 FreshPay UK.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at FreshPay UK 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 FreshPay UK
✨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 FreshPay UK 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.
