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- Tasks: Lead technical execution and ensure reliable, scalable systems for our innovative platform.
- Company: Join Picnic, a fast-growing startup revolutionising digital advertising.
- 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 your engineering expertise.
- Qualifications: Experience in cloud architecture, system delivery, and strong technical leadership skills.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team shaping the trajectory of a pioneering business.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ 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.
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.
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 employer: Picnic Media
Contact Detail:
Picnic Media Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Engineering Lead
✨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. Use LinkedIn or attend industry events to make those connections.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or projects that demonstrate your technical prowess, share them. It’s a great way to showcase what you can bring to the table beyond just your resume.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the interview like it’s a big game! Research Picnic’s tech stack and be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their needs. Think about how you can contribute to their mission of improving digital advertising.
✨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 being part of the Picnic team.
We think you need these skills to ace Engineering Lead
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV reflects the skills and experiences that align with the Engineering Lead role. Highlight your hands-on experience in delivering systems, especially in a startup or scaleup environment, to show us you’re the right fit.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Use your cover letter to tell us why you’re passionate about building reliable and scalable systems. Share specific examples of how you've driven technical execution and improved platform quality in your previous roles.
Showcase Your Technical Leadership: In your application, emphasise your ability to lead technical projects and make key decisions. We want to see how you've balanced short-term delivery with long-term maintainability in complex systems.
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 don’t miss out on any important updates from our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Picnic Media
✨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 improved systems in previous roles. Highlight your experience in balancing short-term delivery with long-term maintainability.
✨Communicate Clearly
You'll be working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, so practice explaining complex concepts in simple terms. Think of examples where you successfully communicated technical decisions to diverse audiences, ensuring everyone was on the same page.
✨Prepare for Scenario Questions
Expect questions that assess your judgement around trade-offs, technical debt, and operational risk. Think through scenarios where you've had to make tough decisions and be ready to explain your thought process. This will show your pragmatic approach to engineering challenges.
