Lead Engineer - Full Stack in Manchester

hackajob is collaborating with Dunnhumby Ltd to connect them with exceptional professionals for this role.

dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science, partnering with the world’s most ambitious retailers and brands to put the customer at the heart of every decision. We combine deep insight, advanced technology, and close collaboration to help our clients grow, innovate, and deliver measurable value for their customers.

dunnhumby employs nearly 2,500 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas working for transformative, iconic brands such as Tesco, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever and Metro.

At dunnhumby, we’re building a unified intelligence layer, a modern platform designed for AI, real‑time data, and scale. This new architecture replaces heritage products that worked in isolation, enabling tailored experiences for different personas and workflows that span across silos. By democratizing our science and integrating richer data feeds, the platform will drive deeper collaboration between retailers and CPGs and deliver long‑term value. Joining this team means working on cutting‑edge technology that transforms how data, AI, and product innovation come together to shape the future of retail.

We’re looking for a Lead Engineer to join our Application Platform Team, who combines strong technical expertise with people leadership, capable of guiding teams delivering high‑quality, production‑ready solutions. You’ll bring hands‑on experience across modern engineering stacks and be comfortable working closely with platform, product, and data teams to deliver scalable systems. Alongside this, you’ll play a key role in developing and supporting engineers at different levels, fostering a collaborative, high‑performing environment, and ensuring best practices around code quality, reliability, and delivery are consistently upheld.

What We’re Looking For

• Hands‑on experience with .NET, Python, React/JavaScript, and Terraform. Knowledge of Go/Rust and willingness to adopt newer development frameworks.
• Comfortable with cloud‑native environments (Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps) and working alongside platform teams.
• Proven experience shipping production code, ideally in cloud environments.
• Solid CI/CD knowledge (pipelines, testing, deployment) with tools like GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or Octopus.
• Prioritises code quality, testing, and standards as a given.
• Familiar with Kubernetes patterns, ArgoCD with Crossplane, secrets management, and multi‑cloud (GCP/Azure).
• Good understanding of observability (e.g. New Relic) and what “good” looks like in production.
• Able to set direction, not just follow – comfortable working cross‑functionally.
• Experience managing engineers and supporting team growth.
• Works effectively in Agile teams and keeps processes pragmatic.
• Strong communicator, able to engage both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Ability to take high‑level requirements and translate them into sound technical designs — decomposing complexity into logical, implementable components that the team can build with confidence.
• Encourages knowledge sharing through practical approaches (pairing, documentation, etc.).
• Experience with Elasticsearch preferred — designing and operating search solutions in production, including indexing strategies, query optimisation, and relevance tuning. Familiarity with Elastic Cloud is a plus.

What You Can Expect From Us

We won’t just meet your expectations. We’ll defy them. So you’ll enjoy the comprehensive rewards package you’d expect from a leading technology company. But also, a degree of personal flexibility you might not expect. Plus, thoughtful perks, like flexible working hours and your birthday off.

You’ll also benefit from an investment in cutting‑edge technology that reflects our global ambition. But with a nimble, small‑business feel that gives you the freedom to play, experiment and learn.

And we don’t just talk about diversity and inclusion. We live it every day – with thriving networks including dh Gender Equality Network, dh Proud, dh Family, dh One, dh Enabled and dh Thrive as the living proof. We want everyone to have the opportunity to shine and perform at your best throughout our recruitment process. Please let us know how we can make this process work best for you.

Our approach to Flexible Working

At dunnhumby, we value and respect difference and are committed to building an inclusive culture by creating an environment where you can balance a successful career with your commitments and interests outside of work.

We believe that you will do your best at work if you have a work / life balance. Some roles lend themselves to flexible options more than others, so if this is important to you please raise this with your recruiter, as we are open to discussing agile working opportunities during the hiring process.

For further information about how we collect and use your personal information please see our Privacy Notice which can be found (here).