At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead AI-native teams, code, review, and manage stakeholder expectations.
- Company: Join OakNorth, empowering businesses and communities since 2015.
- Benefits: Enjoy 25 days holiday, personalised benefits, and wellbeing events.
- Other info: Dynamic culture that embraces diversity and encourages continuous improvement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on personal savings while shaping innovative financial products.
- Qualifications: Experience in software engineering and strong collaboration skills required.
The predicted salary is between 75600 - 92400 £ per year.
At OakNorth, we're on a mission to empower ambitious businesses and the communities they serve. Since 2015, we've lent over $21 billion across the UK and US, helped create more than 58,000 new homes and 36,000 new jobs, and supported hundreds of thousands of personal savers - all while driving economic growth in the markets we serve.
About the team: Personal Savings and Wealth exists to make saving simple, personal and rewarding, helping families build financial confidence from everyday savings to long-term plans. We own the full product lifecycle, from spotting customer needs and shaping propositions through to design, build, launch and growth. That means the end-to-end experience across mobile and web, the secure, resilient systems behind it (money movement, identity and customer servicing), and working closely with marketing, operations and commercial teams to take products to market and measure what lands. We've constantly improved our core savings products while bringing new ones to life, combining thoughtful design, strong engineering and a sharp commercial focus.
The role involves:
- Leading multiple AI-native pods while staying hands-on: coding, reviewing and pairing.
- Managing stakeholders at every level, from product and commercial to risk and senior leadership, setting expectations and negotiating trade-offs.
- Turning customer and business needs into products that land, bringing stakeholders with you from idea to launch.
- Owning technical delivery and measuring success by business impact, not lines of code.
- Designing simple, resilient, scalable event-driven systems: you build it, you run it.
- Breaking complex problems into incremental, shippable steps with clear domain boundaries.
- Shaping platform-wide architecture with an eye on wider business impact.
- Coaching and mentoring engineers by example.
- Using GenAI to move faster and decide better and help set the direction for how it's embedded across the organisation.
Technology: We're pragmatic about our technology choices. These are some of the things we use now: Python, NodeJS, TypeScript, React, styled components, PostgreSQL, BigQuery, MySQL, Jest, React Testing Library, Cypress, pytest, AWS, GCP, Docker, Terraform, GitHub, CircleCI.
How we expect you to work:
- Collaborate - We work in cross-functional, mission driven, autonomous squads that gel over time. We pair program to work better through shared experience and knowledge.
- Focus on outcomes over outputs - Solving a problem for users that translates to business results is our goal. Measurements focused on that goal help us to understand if we are succeeding.
- Practice continuous improvement - We optimise for feedback now, rather than presume what might be needed in the future and introduce complexity before it will be used. This means we learn faster. We share learnings in blame-free formats, so that we do not repeat things that have failed, but still have confidence to innovate.
- Seek to understand our users - We constantly seek understanding from data and conversations to better serve our users' needs, taking an active part in research to hear from them directly and regularly.
- Embrace and enable continuous deployment - Seamless delivery of changes into an environment - without manual intervention - is essential for us to ensure that we are highly productive; consider resiliency; and practice security by design.
- Test outside-in, test first - TDD keeps us confident in moving fast and deploying regularly. We want to solve user problems, and so we test with that mindset - writing scenarios first, then considering our solution; coupling tests to behaviour, rather than implementation.
- You build it, you run it - We embrace DevOps culture and end-to-end ownership of products and features. Every engineer, regardless of their role, can lead delivery of features from start to finish.
- Be cloud native - We leverage automation and hosted services to deliver resilient, secure services quickly and consistently.
How we expect you to behave:
- We embrace difference and know that when we can be ourselves at work, we are happier, more motivated, and creative.
- We want to be able to bring our whole selves to work, have our own perspectives and know that we belong.
- Through your behaviours at work, we expect you to reflect and actively sustain a healthy engineering environment that looks like this: A wide range of voices heard to the benefit of all, teams that are clearly happy, engaged, and laugh together, perceivable safety to have an opinion or ask a question, no egos - people listen to and learn from others at all levels, with strong opinions held loosely.
Benefits & Perks:
- 25 days holiday
- Personalised benefits - opt-in to what matters to you
- Subsidised Private Medical Insurance with Bupa
- Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
- Wellbeing and social events
- In-house Barista Bar - London office
- Volunteering time off - support causes that matter to you
- Salary sacrifice schemes - cycle to work, nursery, gym, electric car scheme
Lead Engineer - Personal Savings employer: OakNorth
OakNorth Bank is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work environment in the heart of London where innovation meets finance. With a strong emphasis on employee growth and development, we provide ample opportunities for professional advancement while fostering a collaborative culture that values diverse perspectives. Join us to be part of a forward-thinking team that is dedicated to delivering impactful financial solutions.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Engineer - Personal Savings
✨Tip Number 1: Tap Into Professional Networks
The finance world loves a good connection, so jump into industry-specific groups on platforms like LinkedIn where you can find discussions on financial controlling. Engaging in these communities can expose you to hidden job leads that aren't openly advertised!
✨Tip Number 2: Attend Finance Events and Conferences
Make it a mission to attend finance-related events and conferences, even virtual ones! This is a golden opportunity to network face-to-face with people from companies like OakNorth. You never know who might be your next boss or a crucial contact!
✨Tip Number 3: Showcase Your Expertise
Consider writing articles or sharing insights related to financial controlling or industry trends. Publish these on platforms like LinkedIn to establish yourself as a knowledgeable player in the field. This not only increases your visibility but also catches the attention of recruiters from OakNorth.
✨Tip Number 4: Apply Directly on Company Websites
Since you're going for a full-time gig, don't forget to keep an eye on the careers page of companies you're interested in, like OakNorth. Many companies prefer candidates who apply through their website as it shows genuine interest and makes your application stand out!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Engineer - Personal Savings
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Numbers Game:In financial controlling, detail is everything! Make sure your CV showcases your proficiency with numbers—highlight any relevant experience in budgeting, forecasting, or working with financial software. Quantifying your past achievements will make you stand out, so don’t be shy about flaunting those impressive percentages or cost savings you've implemented.
Tailored Cover Letter is Key:Your cover letter is a chance to shine, especially for a full-time role. Use it to express your genuine interest in OakNorth and the specific impact you hope to make in financial controlling. Mention any relevant qualifications or experiences that align with the company’s goals, and don’t forget to show that you're ready for a long-term commitment!
Certifications Matter:List relevant certifications such as ACCA or CIMA on your CV. These qualifications not only showcase your dedication to the field but also your technical competence in financial principles. If you have any ongoing training or courses, make sure to mention those as well to demonstrate your commitment to continual learning in financial controlling.
Don’t Overlook Soft Skills:While numbers are crucial, so are those soft skills! Financial controllers need strong communication and analytical reasoning abilities. We recommend embedding examples of these skills in your CV and cover letter, like how you’ve successfully delivered financial reports to stakeholders or collaborated with teams to improve processes. Let’s show OakNorth how you can be a team player!
How to prepare for a job interview at OakNorth
✨Brush Up on Technical Skills
Make sure you're comfortable with key financial concepts, especially around forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis. Sometimes, interviewers may throw in technical questions or case studies, so practicing these types of scenarios will help you shine!
✨Showcase Your Financial Acumen
If you've had experience with specific financial software like SAP or Oracle, make it known! Be ready to discuss how you used these tools to improve processes or reporting, as this hands-on knowledge can really set you apart in a full-time role with OakNorth.
✨Know Your Numbers
In full-time interviews, especially in financial controlling, be prepared for numerical reasoning tests or questions. Brush up on your mental maths and understand how to interpret and analyse financial statements on the spot, as this may come up during the assessment.
✨Connect with Company Goals
Familiarise yourself with OakNorth's financial objectives and any recent developments. During the interview, try to weave your understanding of their business model and challenges into your answers—this shows your genuine interest and alignment with their goals!
