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- Tasks: Lead engineering efforts to build reliable, scalable systems and drive technical excellence.
- Company: Join Picnic, a fast-growing startup revolutionising digital advertising technology.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, 33 days holiday, private medical insurance, and a vibrant office culture.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on the future of advertising technology with ownership over platform direction.
- Qualifications: Experience in cloud architecture, system delivery, and strong technical leadership skills required.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team with opportunities for growth and innovation.
The predicted salary is between 43200 - 72000 £ per year.
Who are Picnic & what do we do? Picnic's mission is to drive a higher quality ad-funded internet. Today, a large proportion of digital advertising is ineffective, intrusive and poorly optimised. Picnic builds technology that helps brands make better decisions about where and how their advertising is shown - improving outcomes for users, advertisers and publishers alike.
We're a fast growing, founder-led startup. Over the last couple of years, we've built a strong platform foundation and developed clear conviction around our product direction. We're now entering a new stage where execution, reliability and scale matter as much as innovation.
To support this next phase, we're looking for an Engineering Lead - someone who can take end-to-end ownership of technical delivery, system evolution and platform quality.
Requirements
What will you be doing as Engineering Lead? As Engineering Lead, you'll report to the Chief Product & Technology Officer and take ownership of Picnic's technical execution - ensuring we build reliable, scalable, production-grade systems as the platform grows. This is a hands on technical leadership role, focused on engineering excellence, architecture and delivery.
- Own execution of the engineering roadmap, taking optimisation and decisioning capabilities from prototype through to dependable production systems
- Provide technical leadership across platform infrastructure, data pipelines, applied modelling, real-time services and APIs
- Act as an architectural steward of the platform, ensuring scalability, reliability, performance and cost efficiency as complexity increases
- Drive best practices around system design, DevOps, observability, automation, CI/CD and production operations
- Ensure high standards around service guarantees, data freshness, versioning and operational correctness, especially as the platform becomes customer facing
- Stay close to the systems and codebase, making key technical decisions and unblocking execution across the stack
- Help evolve the platform to support external customers and partners with clear expectations around uptime, latency and trust
This is not a pure people management role - the focus is on building strong systems, raising engineering standards and delivering high quality technical outcomes.
Who are we looking for?
We're looking for an experienced, pragmatic technical leader - someone who has built and operated complex systems in production and wants broad ownership over platform execution.
- Have strong hands on experience delivering systems in a startup or scaleup environment
- Be deeply experienced in cloud architecture, particularly within AWS
- Have worked across product engineering, platform infrastructure and data systems
- Have built and operated production services with high requirements around reliability, latency, correctness and cost control
- Be confident designing systems that balance short-term delivery with long term maintainability
- Be comfortable moving from experimentation into robust production deployments
- Have strong judgement around trade offs, technical debt and operational risk
- Be familiar with machine learning concepts and the infrastructure required to deploy and run models in production
- Communicate clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders
Some team leadership experience is welcome, but the core requirement is technical strength, execution ownership and engineering excellence. Experience in advertising technology is a bonus, but not required.
Benefits
You'll be joining Picnic at a pivotal moment - where strong engineering execution can materially shape the trajectory and value of the business.
At Picnic:
- You'll have real ownership over platform direction and technical decision making
- You'll work closely with the founder and leadership team to translate strategy into reliable systems
- Ideas move quickly from concept to production - we value momentum, quality and impact
- You'll help build a platform used by external teams and systems to make high-value decisions at scale
What can Picnic offer you?
We're proud to have been recognised by Culture100 and Flexa as one of the best and most flexible small businesses to work for. We offer:
- Flexible, hybrid working setup (with regular time together in our London Bridge office)
- 33 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays), plus additional Christmas shutdown
- Private Medical Insurance through Vitality
- Picnic pension contribution
- Inclusive parental leave policy
- A great co-working space, regular socials and offsites, Picnic Thursdays, Summer Fridays, and 'Work from Roam' opportunities
Engineering Lead in London employer: Picnic Media Limited
Contact Detail:
Picnic Media Limited Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Engineering Lead in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in your industry, especially those at Picnic. A friendly chat can open doors that a CV just can't.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or projects that demonstrate your engineering prowess, make sure to share them during interviews. It’s all about proving you can walk the walk.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical challenges! Brush up on your coding and system design skills. Be ready to tackle real-world problems that showcase your ability to lead and innovate.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining the Picnic team.
We think you need these skills to ace Engineering Lead in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Engineering Lead role. Highlight your hands-on experience with cloud architecture and production systems, as well as any relevant projects that showcase your technical leadership skills.
Showcase Your Technical Skills: Don’t hold back on detailing your technical expertise! We want to see your experience with AWS, system design, and any machine learning concepts you've worked with. Be specific about the technologies you've used and the impact they had on your previous projects.
Communicate Clearly: Remember, we value clear communication! When writing your application, ensure you explain your technical decisions in a way that both technical and non-technical stakeholders can understand. This will show us you can bridge the gap between teams.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it gives you a chance to explore more about Picnic and what we stand for!
How to prepare for a job interview at Picnic Media Limited
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
As an Engineering Lead, you'll need to demonstrate a deep understanding of cloud architecture, particularly AWS. Brush up on your knowledge of system design, DevOps practices, and the specific technologies Picnic uses. Be ready to discuss how you've tackled similar challenges in the past.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
While this role isn't purely about people management, your ability to lead technical teams is crucial. Prepare examples of how you've driven engineering excellence and fostered collaboration in previous roles. Highlight your experience in making key technical decisions and unblocking execution.
✨Balance Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Picnic values both immediate delivery and long-term maintainability. Be prepared to discuss how you've successfully navigated trade-offs between quick wins and sustainable solutions in your past projects. This will show that you can think strategically while executing effectively.
✨Communicate Clearly with All Stakeholders
You'll need to interact with both technical and non-technical stakeholders at Picnic. Practice explaining complex concepts in simple terms and be ready to share how you've facilitated communication across different teams. This skill will be vital for ensuring everyone is aligned on project goals.
