Software Engineering Team Lead

Backend Tech Lead / Hands-On Engineering Manager

This is an opportunity to step into a hands-on technical leadership role within a growing backend engineering team. The company is at a natural inflection point: the engineering group is expanding from 6 to 8 engineers, and there’s a clear need to introduce structure, mentorship, and delivery ownership — without losing technical momentum.

The role suits a senior backend engineer who enjoys leading by example, staying close to the codebase, and gradually taking ownership of team leadership and delivery.

This is not a people-only management role. Expect an ~80/20 split between hands-on engineering and leadership responsibilities.

The Role

• Act as the technical lead for backend development, contributing directly to architecture and feature delivery
• Provide day-to-day mentorship and technical guidance to backend engineers
• Introduce clearer reporting lines, ownership, and delivery structure as the team scales
• Partner closely with the CTO, gradually taking on leadership responsibilities currently consuming senior leadership time
• Own the delivery of backend projects, with responsibility for execution and technical quality
• Support future team growth, including hiring, onboarding, and longer-term team design

Team & Structure

• Current team: 6 engineers, scaling to 8 in the near term
• Planned split into focused teams, including a dedicated data pipeline / backend platform group
• This role becomes the primary technical and delivery owner for one of those areas
• Acts as a key bridge between engineers and senior leadership

What They’re Looking For

• 7+ years of backend engineering experience
• Strong hands-on backend expertise, ideally in Python
• Proven experience designing and maintaining production backend systems
• Comfortable mentoring engineers and acting as a technical authority
• Experience (or strong interest) in taking on people leadership responsibilities
• Exposure to financial services is a strong plus (security, change management, regulated environments)
• Pragmatic, delivery-focused mindset — someone who gets things shipped

Why This Role Stands Out

• Genuine hands-on leadership role — not management theatre
• Clear trust from the CTO to take ownership and step up
• Opportunity to shape team structure, culture, and delivery practices
• Real influence over architecture and backend direction
• Competitive salary around £100k, depending on experience

Contact Ciara Clarke at Harrington Starr for a confidential discussion on this role.