At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of Encore's platform, enhancing user experience for musicians and clients.
- Company: Join Encore Musicians, a vibrant team passionate about live music and supporting artists.
- Benefits: Enjoy autonomy, competitive salary, and the chance to solve real-world challenges in the music industry.
- Other info: Be part of an exciting journey as we expand into the USA and evolve our product.
- Why this job: Make a direct impact on the music scene while working with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Strong full-stack experience with TypeScript/JavaScript and a passion for problem-solving.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
- Description
- Encore Musicians
Encore Musicians is a company that was recently acquired by Mixcloud and is one of the world’s leading online platforms for booking live musicians, bands, and DJs.
Since 2014, we’ve helped over 50,000 clients bring live music to life’s biggest moments, from weddings to corporate events, and more.
We’re passionate about supporting musicians and have helped them earn over £27 million through Encore gigs.
By joining Encore, you’ll be joining a bright, friendly and ambitious team on a mission to bring more great live music into the world.
Encore was acquired by Mixcloud in Autumn 2024, which has marked the beginning of an exciting new chapter in our story.
Together, we’re solving meaningful challenges in our industry such as, how can we make live music accessible to everyone while enabling musicians to build sustainable careers?
And how do we make the booking process an intuitive and enjoyable digital experience?
We're excited to execute these ideas and are looking for an experienced engineer to join us on the journey.
The Role
We're looking for a Lead Engineer to join our small, full-stack engineering team.
You'll be working alongside our other Senior Engineer as one of just two developers responsible for the entire Encore platform — from the customer-facing web app to our React Native mobile app, backend services, and infrastructure.
You'll join at a pivotal moment: we're mid-way through launching Encore in the USA, evolving our core product, and rolling out a rebrand across the site.
There's a lot of green-field, high-impact work on the table, alongside the day-to-day of keeping a live, revenue-generating marketplace running smoothly.
- What You’ll Do
- Transform Encore into a more focused, intuitive self-serve platform for both musicians and customers, making it seamless and delightful to use.
- Bring systems-level understanding and stewardship of strategy to the tech/product team (and across the company)
- Pastoral mentorship of another full-stack engineer
- Maintenance of our tech infrastructure (keeping downtime to a minimum, and fixing critical bugs/team requests in a prioritised and timely manner)
- Continuous formation/refinement of tech projects of strategic importance (e. g, tech debt, stack modernisation)
- Deliver on the release cadence for tech/product projects of strategic importance
- Improve Encore key features including messenger, job listings, search and musician admin panels
- Continued build-out of the USA platform — SEO landing pages, musician-side functionality, and bringing the US experience up to parity with the UK platform
- Keep technical output closely and visibly aligned with commercial priorities, and always identify the highest-impact work and the next bottleneck to remove
- Keep the platform reliable — minimising downtime and resolving critical bugs and team requests in a timely, well-prioritised way
- Work with bespoke payment integrations, including Stripe for the US market
- Reduce tech debt on an ongoing basis — including migrating toward a more formalised meta framework and moving our Word Press blog off Digital Ocean and onto Railway
Requirements
Who you are
- Lead-level engineering ownership in a production software environment
- Strong full-stack experience with Type Script/Java Script — comfortable across the stack rather than specialised in just one layer
- Experience with React for frontend and Node. js/Express for backend services
- Comfort moving between frontend web work and infrastructure/Dev Ops tasks (containers, cloud configuration) — at Encore, engineers regularly jump between the two
- Experience working with AI-assisted coding tools, such as Claude Code Skills, MCP servers and Routines.
- A product and commercial mindset: the ability to weigh technical work against business impact, prioritise ruthlessly, and know what to cut to ship faster
- Strong communication skills — you'll work closely with product, design, non-technical stakeholders, and leadership on technical priorities across the company
- Comfort operating with autonomy as an individual contributor; we don't micro-manage, and you'll be trusted to make day-to-day technical decisions independently
- Experience with (or willingness to quickly get up to speed on) our stack: React Native/Expo, Railway, Git Hub (incl.
- CI and end-to-end testing), Playwright, Vite/Vitest, Google Cloud, AWS, Twilio, and Stripe
- Eligible to work in the United Kingdom
Nice to Have
- Tan Stack Start/Router experience
- A passion for music — not essential, but the whole team shares a genuine love of it, and many of us are musicians or DJs ourselves
- Experience working in a two-sided marketplace business
- Experience navigating a codebase that has evolved and grown over several years, with an eye for where to simplify, unify, or replace legacy pieces
- Degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering
Benefits
- What Makes This Role Special
- Zero-to-one impact: Be at the forefront of solving some of the music industry’s most intriguing challenges.
- Real problem-solving: You’ll work on complex, meaningful challenges that impact thousands of musicians and event organisers.
- True ownership: Take the lead in shaping product direction and enjoy a high level of autonomy in your work.
- Direct impact: Work in a small, dynamic team where your contributions directly affect our users’ experiences.
Lead JavaScript Engineer - Encore Musicians in London employer: Mixcloud
Encore Musicians, now part of Mixcloud, is an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and innovative work culture. As a Lead Full-Stack JS Engineer, you'll enjoy significant autonomy while working on impactful projects in the vibrant live music industry, with ample opportunities for professional growth and mentorship. Located in a dynamic environment, this role not only allows you to shape the future of our platform but also to be part of a passionate team dedicated to enhancing the live music experience.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead JavaScript Engineer - Encore Musicians in London
✨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 Mixcloud 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 Mixcloud.
✨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 Mixcloud.
✨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 Mixcloud 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 JavaScript Engineer - Encore Musicians in London
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 Mixcloud.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Mixcloud 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 Mixcloud
✨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 Mixcloud 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.
