Technical Lead - Backend Pune in Edinburgh

Are you curious, excited by experimentation and always looking for a better way of doing things? Do you want to keep learning and developing whilst getting hands‑on, payment‑building experience? Do you want to join the Engineering powerhouse of Modulr, constantly challenging the status quo to push our technology to the extraordinary? If so, we would love to hear from you!

We are looking to hire innovative, value‑adding talent to join Modulr, the fastest growing payments business in the UK and Europe, to lead and shape our agile squads to deliver excellence in all they do, driving efficiency, ensuring high‑quality product delivery and ultimately enabling us to continue transforming how our customers work. We are looking for a London or Edinburgh‑based candidate to leverage our office‑first strategy.

About Us

At Modulr, our vision is a world where all businesses are powered by embedded payments. Modulr enables thousands of businesses, from SMEs to Enterprise, across the UK and Europe to efficiently pay‑in, collect and disburse funds instantly via a range of payment methods, accounts, and card products. We’ve created an industry‑leading platform with comprehensive online tools and API access, to meet the demands of daily business payments.

We are connected to an expanding network of accounting and payroll platforms, including Sage, Xero, BrightPay and IRIS. Our payments expertise and extensive product capability also enables us to build tailored solutions to solve complex payment problems for hundreds of clients in a range of industries, including Travel, Merchant Payments, Lending, Wage Advance and Investment & Wealth. We are deeply integrated into the payment eco‑system.

In the UK, we are direct participants of Faster Payments and Bacs, and hold settlement accounts at the Bank of England. Our payment network connectivity includes CHAPS, Open Banking, SEPA, SWIFT and account issuance in 11 currencies. We are principal issuing members of Visa and Mastercard across UK and Europe. Our regulatory permissions and governance structure underpin our business. We are regulated and supervised as an Authorised Electronic Money Institution (AEMI) in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and in the Netherlands by De Nederlandsche Bank.

Our founding team has a wealth of experience in the payments industry and growing successful businesses. Modulr is backed by the venture arms of payments giants PayPal and FIS, as well as growth investors Blenheim Chalcot, General Atlantic, Frog Capital and Europe. Modulr now has over 400 employees spread globally across offices in London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Mumbai.

Modulr Values

• Building the extraordinary and going that extra mile
• Owning the opportunity, be passionate and proud of the time you invest
• Move at pace, reach your goals faster with us supporting you each step of the way
• Achieve it together, working as a team and being a Modulite

The Team

The Engineering team at Modulr is a dynamic and innovative group that is at the core of our technology stack. This role will report to the Engineering Manager and will work closely with Product Managers, QA Engineers and other cross‑functional teams. The Engineering team collaborates regularly with the DevOps and Data teams to deliver cohesive and cutting‑edge payment solutions.

At Modulr we are focused on building autonomous squads that are committed to working in the best possible way. We operate in a tribes and squad model with, each area focused on a particular growth area and each squad being small and cross‑functional. We have big ambitions and have many interesting challenges ahead. Our strategy is to provide our customers with seamless connectivity into payment schemes both domestically and overseas no matter where they're based.

The Role

The Engineering Squad Lead is a vital role within Modulr, where you will be responsible for building an autonomous, high performing squad to foster an environment where decisions are delegated, made and communicated effectively. You will actively work to create focused environments for your squad and you will work closely with our Engineering Managers to communicate progress and achievements. The role is a blend of technical leadership, people management, process improvement and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and lead a squad of approximately six software engineers, leading people development activity through team meetings, 1‑2‑1s and performance reviews.
• Squad planning and delegation to ensure the team have clearly defined responsibilities and are set up for success with delivery/project work.
• Facilitate and lead agile ceremonies (stand‑ups, sprint planning, reviews and retros) to promote a culture of continuous improvement.
• Set and track individual/team performance goals, providing direction, feedback and recognition to foster growth and high performance.
• Promoting high standards of code quality through code reviews, technical direction and implementing best practice.
• Play a key role in the hiring process, including interviewing, candidate assessments; representing Modulr’s mission, strategy, and culture throughout the process.
• Foster a culture of experimentation within the squad to facilitate continuous learning and improvement across engineering standards, tooling and processes.
• Regular reporting on the squad's progress, outcomes and achievements to the wider Engineering organisation, actively sharing knowledge and experiences within the org to promote cross‑team learning and collaboration.
• Proactively identify and address issues, bottlenecks and areas for increased efficiency and effectiveness.

About You

A successful Squad Lead will have a track‑record in delivering results in a fast‑moving business and hence be comfortable with change and ambiguity. Excellent stakeholder management experience is essential to being successful in this role.

The Ideal Candidate

• Expertise in Java (or similar object‑orientated languages with a willingness to learn Java) and experience with open‑source technologies, including Spring and Hibernate.
• Experience in designing, building and maintaining RESTful APIs.
• Demonstrated ability to work with Microservices architecture.
• Strong understanding of cloud computing and AWS systems and frameworks.
• Previous experience in designing, optimizing, and managing relational databases, particularly with PostgreSQL.
• Proven knowledge of DevOps practices and processes (including CI/CD and IaC), with the ability to streamline development processes and enhance operational efficiency.
• Strong understanding of testing methodologies (TDD & BDD) including unit, integration and acceptance testing.
• Previous experience managing/mentoring multi‑site technical teams in an agile environment.
• Proven experience in software development and technical team leadership, with a strong understanding of engineering practices and processes.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in managing code reviews, conducting performance reviews and providing feedback.
• As a strong problem‑solver, you have the ability to apply analytical, critical thinking to identify key solutions.

ModInclusion

We believe that by seeing Modulr, and the world, from all sorts of angles, we can make life better for all. We want you to know that the things that make you, you — like your identity, age, ability, and background — are things that we will always celebrate and support with open arms. As such, we are keen to maximise the diversity of our workforce and actively encourage applications from anyone and everyone.