At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead software development teams and set the technical direction for innovative projects.
- Company: Join Imperial, a leader in tech solutions for public authorities and private sectors.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, health benefits, and opportunities for remote work.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with excellent career growth and mentoring opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by driving engineering excellence and adopting cutting-edge AI tools.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in software architecture and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Job Summary: The Technical Lead is responsible for setting the technical direction, ensuring engineering excellence, and guiding development teams in delivering secure, scalable, high‐quality software products. This role combines architectural ownership, hands‐on technical leadership, and people development to drive consistent engineering standards across the organisation. The Technical Lead acts as the authority on technical decisions and owns the long‐term technical roadmap.
Job Description: As the Technical Lead, you will be responsible for setting the technical direction, ensuring engineering excellence, and guiding development teams in delivering secure, scalable, high‐quality software products. This role combines architectural ownership, hands‐on technical leadership, and people development to drive consistent engineering standards across the organisation. You will act as the authority on technical decisions and own the long‐term technical roadmap. This is a hybrid role based in Bristol.
- Responsibilities
- Technical Architecture
- Define, document, and maintain the overarching technical architecture across all products.
- Evaluate and recommend technology choices aligned with business goals and long‐term scalability.
- Ensure architectural consistency, interoperability, and adherence to best practices across teams.
- Establish and maintain design patterns, coding standards, and architectural guidelines.
- Security & Quality
- Lead security architecture, including vulnerability remediation strategies and secure‐by‐design principles.
- Define and enforce code review standards, practices, and quality gates.
- Establish quality metrics, measurement frameworks, and continuous improvement cycles.
- Provide guidance on performance optimisation, scalability strategies, and system reliability.
- DevOps & Automation
- Architect and evolve CI/CD pipelines to support efficient, reliable delivery.
- Define standards for test automation frameworks and ensure adoption across teams.
- Champion infrastructure‐as‐code practices and modern deployment automation.
- Oversee deployment, release management, and environment strategy.
- AI Strategy & Tooling
- Lead the adoption and effective use of the organisation’s AI‐assisted development tool-chain across all engineering teams.
- Define best practices, standards, and guardrails for AI‐assisted development, including code generation, automated code review, and intelligent testing.
- Establish policies for responsible AI use within engineering workflows, aligned with organisational governance frameworks (e.g. ISO/IEC 42001).
- Drive measurable productivity improvements through consistent, disciplined use of AI tooling.
- Champion AI literacy and up-skilling across development teams, ensuring capability keeps pace with tooling.
- People & Team Development
- Provide technical mentoring, coaching, and support for developers at all levels.
- Facilitate knowledge sharing, engineering communities of practice, and cross‐team collaboration.
- Identify skills gaps, training needs, and development opportunities within engineering teams.
- Support technical hiring, including interviews, assessments, and on-boarding.
- Guide career development for technical staff, helping shape progression pathways.
- Decision Authority
- Hold decision‐making authority on technical architecture and design.
- Enforce coding standards, quality expectations, and engineering best practices.
- Mandate technical practices such as test coverage thresholds, documentation standards, and review processes.
- Own the technical roadmap, including technical debt prioritisation and long‐term platform evolution.
- Other Duties
- Assist in ad‐hoc projects.
- Travel to Company sites (Northampton and Bristol) and for events as required.
- Any other duties assigned by your line manager.
- Skills and Experience
- Essential
- Proven experience in a senior engineering or technical leadership role.
- Strong background in software architecture, system design, and modern engineering practices.
- Deep understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, cloud platforms, and automation tooling.
- Expertise in secure coding, performance optimisation, and scalable system design.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor, influence, and lead technical teams.
- Excellent communication skills, able to translate complex technical concepts for diverse audiences.
- Proven ability to lead adoption of AI‐assisted development practices, embedding best practice and driving consistent usage across engineering teams.
- Hands‐on experience with AI‐powered development tools and a clear understanding of their effective and responsible use in professional software delivery.
- C#/Java and Azure.
- Desirable
- Experience working in multi‐product or platform‐based environments.
- Familiarity with compliance frameworks, security standards, or regulated industries.
- Exposure to agile delivery models and cross‐functional team leadership.
- Experience defining AI governance policies aligned with frameworks such as ISO/IEC 42001.
- Track record of driving measurable productivity gains through AI tooling in CI/CD and development workflows.
- Strong prompt engineering skills and practical understanding of LLM capabilities and limitations in a software engineering context.
Software Engineer Tech Lead in Bristol employer: Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited
Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration in the software parking sector. With a strong focus on employee growth, we provide ample opportunities for professional development and leadership training, ensuring our team members thrive in their careers. Located in a vibrant area, we also offer competitive benefits and a supportive environment that values each individual's contributions to our collective success.
Contact Details:
Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited Recruitment Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Software Engineer Tech Lead in Bristol
✨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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited 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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited.
✨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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited.
✨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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited 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 Engineer Tech Lead in Bristol
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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited 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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited
✨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 Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions Limited 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.
