At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a dynamic software team, tackling complex technical challenges and driving innovative solutions.
- Company: Join Leidos, a passionate tech company committed to making a difference.
- Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, flexible working, generous leave, and a supportive work culture.
- Other info: Embrace a diverse and inclusive environment with excellent growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on critical national infrastructure while advancing your career in tech.
- Qualifications: Extensive software engineering experience, especially with Java and strong leadership skills.
Location: Farnborough, with flexibility to work from home dependent on business demands
Salary: £61,500 - £78,800
The Role: The Lead Software Engineer will play a critical role in both the sustainment of the current environment and the delivery of new capabilities. The selected individual will develop solutions to complex technical issues and problems that impact multiple areas or disciplines; regularly employ ingenuity and creativity to develop new technical solutions and systems to achieve functional objectives. This is a technical leadership role. The individual will drive delivery, lead technical decision‑making, collaborate with engineers and architects, and act as the visible technical representative of the software team.
What will I be doing?
- Provide technical leadership for the software team collaborating with architects to contribute to and understand solution approach, guiding implementation, and making sound engineering decisions that balance delivery, quality, and operational risk.
- Provide technical leadership across delivery and engineering practices, ensuring agreed standards and processes are applied consistently throughout the project lifecycle.
- Develop, debug, test, document, and deploy software enhancements aligned with the Software Development Strategy.
- Lead delivery, covering Java-based backend services and APIs that process system business events and workflows, integrating with downstream systems and data services in a secure, highly available environment.
- Drive strong engineering practices across the team.
- Ensure adherence to established code review standards.
- Ensure defined quality gates are consistently met for the project.
- Promote clean, maintainable, well‑documented code.
- Guide system design and development by analysing information needs, system flows, data usage, and work processes, and translating these into practical implementation approaches.
- Own technical oversight for ensuring the build and deployment pipeline is continuously validated and fit for purpose for the project, working with engineers and supporting roles to ensure defined CI/CD processes, quality gates, and security scanning requirements are consistently met.
- Determine operational feasibility by evaluating requests, requirements, problem definitions, solution options, and their impact on operational systems.
- Lead engineers and collaborate closely with architects and the test team to ensure new and modified software is fully verified prior to promotion.
- Breakdown the design into workable, and reportable, tasks for developers to incrementally deliver against in a Scrum/Agile fashion.
- Oversee and enable test automation within the scope of the project: Ensure engineers deliver unit and integration tests as a standard part of development.
- Support and coordinate automation activities, with the test team retaining ownership of overall outcomes.
- Support and continuously improve Agile delivery practices, including planning, estimation, backlog refinement, and delivery cadence.
- Ensure effective use of development tooling and processes, including CI/CD pipelines and integrated security scanning.
- Mentor and support other engineers, helping to raise technical capability and consistency across the team.
- Effectively communicate with internal stakeholders, influencing technical decisions through clear, concise, and well‑reasoned input.
What essential skills does Leidos need from me?
- Extensive software engineering experience, including substantial hands‑on delivery using Java (Java 8 and modern Java versions such as 17 and 21).
- API design and implementation.
- Proven experience operating as a technical leader, including leading technical decision‑making, guiding and mentoring engineers, and representing the software team in customer and stakeholder engagements.
- Strong understanding of design patterns and a solid, structured approach to software development.
- Strong understanding of git/Bitbucket branching strategies on large projects with moderately sized teams contributing.
- Familiarity with Relational Databases (PostgresSQL), SQL and JDBC.
- Demonstrated experience writing unit and integration tests as a normal part of delivery.
- Familiarity with Agile software development processes and working within iterative delivery models.
- Familiarity with the Atlassian tool suite (e.g. Jira, Bitbucket, Bamboo), or equivalent tooling, with a solid understanding of CI/CD concepts, workflows, and practices.
- Experience ensuring compliance with code review standards, quality gates, CI/CD pipelines, and security scanning processes.
Desirable Skills and Experience:
- Familiarity with integration and architectural patterns (e.g. adapters, orchestration patterns such as saga).
- Experience with SOAP, REST webservices.
- Experience with IBM Web Application Server or JBoss.
- Familiarity with Unix, Linux or other variants.
- Perl, Python, and/or bash scripting experience.
- Experience with C, C++.
- Strong performance debugging skills.
- Experience contributing to or supporting test automation initiatives (UI and/or API).
This will be a customer‑facing role therefore the successful individual must be able to clearly communicate status, risks, trade‑offs, and technical recommendations, and represent the software team in technical discussions and reviews.
Clearance Requirements: The successful applicant will be required to hold and maintain UK Security Clearance and additional programme clearances.
What we do for you: At Leidos we are PASSIONATE about customer success, UNITED as a team and INSPIRED to make a difference. We offer meaningful and engaging careers, a collaborative culture, and support for your career goals, all while nurturing a healthy work-life balance. We provide an employment package that attracts, develops and retains only the best in talent.
Our reward scheme includes:
- Contributory Pension Scheme
- Private Medical Insurance
- 33 days Annual Leave (including public and privilege holidays)
- Access to Flexible benefits (including life assurance, health schemes, gym memberships, annual buy and sell holidays and a cycle to work scheme)
- Flexi-Time Working
Commitment to Diversity: We welcome applications from every part of the community and are committed to a truly diverse and inclusive culture. We foster a sense of belonging, welcoming all perspectives and contributions, and providing equal access to opportunities and resources for everyone. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages please let us know, and we will respond in a way that best fits your needs.
Who We Are: Leidos UK
Lead Software Engineer in Hampshire employer: Leidos
Leidos is an exceptional employer that prioritises employee growth and well-being, offering a collaborative culture where innovation thrives. With a strong commitment to work-life balance, competitive benefits including a contributory pension scheme and private medical insurance, and opportunities for professional development, Leidos fosters an environment where technical leaders can make a meaningful impact on critical national infrastructure while enjoying the flexibility of working from Farnborough and home.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Software Engineer in Hampshire
✨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 Leidos 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 Leidos.
✨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 Leidos.
✨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 Leidos 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 in Hampshire
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 Leidos.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Leidos 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 Leidos
✨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 Leidos 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.
