At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a small team of engineers and shape technical direction.
- Company: Join a growing tech company with a collaborative culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy remote work, bonuses, health care, and training budgets.
- Other info: High-impact role with excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact while developing your leadership skills.
- Qualifications: Strong software engineering experience, ideally in Python and React.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 60000 € per year.
Location - Fully Remote (Must be UK resident with RTW)
Salary - Up to £60,000 + bonus + benefits
Role purpose
We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer to help shape the technical direction of our growing engineering team. This is an ideal role for a strong mid-level or senior engineer who is ready to take their first formal step into technical leadership. You may already be the person others go to for technical guidance, design decisions or support, but you are now looking for a role where you can grow into line management, coaching, architectural ownership and broader technical decision-making.
You will manage a small team of software engineers, with up to five direct reports. You will report directly to the Head of Technology, who has a software engineering background with over 20 years of experience. This gives the role strong support, direct visibility and real influence over how the technology function develops. The business is growing, and this is a high-impact role. You will help shape our systems, tooling, architecture and engineering practices as we scale.
Key responsibilities
- Technical leadership
- Lead technical delivery across a small team of software engineers.
- Help engineers break down problems, make good technical choices and deliver high-quality work.
- Set clear technical direction while still staying close enough to the code to guide and support the team.
- Contribute directly where needed, especially on complex or high-impact work.
- Architecture and system design
- Own architectural thinking across our application systems.
- Make or guide decisions around system design, technical patterns, tooling and platform direction.
- Ensure our systems are scalable, maintainable, secure and reliable.
- Work closely with the Platform Engineer on infrastructure direction, cloud architecture and CI/CD approach.
- Line management and coaching
- Line manage up to five software engineers.
- Support engineers with regular feedback, coaching and development.
- Create a team environment where people learn, share knowledge and improve together.
- Help engineers grow their technical judgement and confidence.
- Engineering standards
- Own and improve engineering standards across the team.
- Promote good practices around testing, code quality, documentation, observability and release safety.
- Support a healthy code review culture where anyone can review anyone's work.
- Encourage pragmatic, thoughtful engineering rather than process for its own sake.
- Cloud, infrastructure and delivery
- Provide technical direction on cloud architecture and infrastructure design.
- Work with the Platform Engineer on CI/CD, infrastructure as code and cloud best practices.
- Help shape how we use Azure, Pulumi and related tooling.
- Ensure infrastructure decisions support reliability, security, scalability and developer productivity.
- AI-assisted engineering
- Help the team use AI tools effectively and responsibly as part of modern software development.
- Use and guide others on tools such as OpenCode, Claude Code and OpenAI Codex.
- Bring experience of other AI coding tools and workflows where useful.
Skills and experience
Essential
- Strong software engineering experience, ideally across Python and React.
- Good system design and architectural thinking.
- Experience contributing to technical decisions beyond individual tickets.
- Good understanding of Git, feature branching, pull requests and code reviews.
- Comfortable coaching, mentoring or supporting other engineers.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical trade-offs clearly.
- Comfortable working with AI tools as part of engineering delivery.
- Able to balance hands-on delivery with leadership responsibilities.
Desirable
- Previous experience as a senior engineer, technical lead or informal team lead.
- Exposure to line management or mentoring.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines.
- Experience with infrastructure as code.
- Experience with Pulumi.
- Good understanding of cloud architecture and cloud best practices.
- Experience with Azure.
- Experience with Shopify.
- Experience working closely with platform, DevOps or infrastructure engineers.
- Awareness of security, observability and reliability best practices.
What we are looking for
This role is not necessarily for someone who has already been a long-standing engineering manager. It is for someone with strong technical capability who wants to step into leadership properly. You should enjoy helping other engineers improve, thinking about architecture, making technical decisions and creating the conditions for a team to do good work. You will need to be pragmatic, hands-on and comfortable with ownership. The team is small, so this is not a detached management role. It is a technical leadership role with real influence, real responsibility and direct access to the Head of Technology.
Benefits
- Bonus scheme.
- Fully remote working.
- Home office setup allowance.
- Training and development budget.
- BUPA health care plan.
- Birthday off.
- Volunteer days.
- High-impact role in a growing business.
Lead Software Engineer in Leeds employer: LinkedIn
Join a dynamic and innovative team as a Lead Software Engineer, where you will have the opportunity to shape the technical direction of our growing engineering department. Enjoy the flexibility of fully remote work while benefiting from a supportive culture that prioritises employee growth through coaching, training budgets, and a collaborative environment. With a competitive salary, bonus scheme, and unique perks like birthday off and volunteer days, this role offers a meaningful and rewarding career path in a high-impact position.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Software Engineer in Leeds
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the tech world, especially those who might know someone at the company you're eyeing. A friendly chat can sometimes lead to a referral, which is a golden ticket in landing that Lead Software Engineer role.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or GitHub with projects that highlight your software engineering prowess, make sure to share it during interviews. It’s a great way to demonstrate your technical capabilities and architectural thinking.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the technical interview! Brush up on your Python and React skills, and be ready to discuss system design and architectural decisions. We want to see how you think through problems and make technical choices, so practice explaining your thought process.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are proactive about their job search!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Software Engineer in Leeds
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV reflects the skills and experiences that align with the Lead Software Engineer role. Highlight your technical leadership experience, system design skills, and any coaching or mentoring you've done. We want to see how you can contribute to our growing team!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're excited about this role and how your background makes you a perfect fit. Don’t forget to mention your experience with Python, React, and any relevant cloud architecture knowledge. We love seeing genuine enthusiasm!
Showcase Your Technical Projects:If you've worked on any interesting projects, especially those involving AI tools or cloud infrastructure, make sure to mention them. We’re keen to see how you’ve applied your skills in real-world scenarios. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your hands-on experience!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website for the best chance of getting noticed. It’s super easy, and you’ll be able to submit all your materials in one go. Plus, it helps us keep track of your application better. We can’t wait to hear from you!
How to prepare for a job interview at LinkedIn
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you’re well-versed in the technologies mentioned in the job description, especially Python and React. Be ready to discuss your past projects and how you've used these technologies to solve problems or improve systems.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
Even if you haven't held a formal leadership position, think of examples where you've guided others or made technical decisions. Prepare to share how you can support and coach a team, as this role is all about helping others grow.
✨Understand System Design and Architecture
Brush up on your system design skills and be prepared to discuss architectural patterns. You might be asked to solve a design problem during the interview, so practice explaining your thought process clearly and logically.
✨Be Ready for AI Tool Discussions
Since the role involves using AI tools, think about your experience with them. Be prepared to discuss how you’ve used AI in your work and how you can help your team leverage these tools effectively and responsibly.
