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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 ownership over platform direction.
- Qualifications: Experience in cloud architecture, system design, and delivering production services.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team shaping the future of a high-quality ad-funded internet.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
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 are a fast-growing, founder-led startup. Over the last couple of years, we have built a strong platform foundation and developed clear conviction around our product direction. We are now entering a new stage where execution, reliability and scale matter as much as innovation. To support this next phase, we are 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?
- 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 are 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.
What can Picnic offer you?
- 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
Contact Detail:
Picnic 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 and give you insights that a job description can't.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you’ve got a portfolio or projects that demonstrate your technical prowess, make sure to share them during interviews. It’s all about proving you can deliver.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the technical deep dive! Brush up on your knowledge of cloud architecture and system design. Be ready to discuss how you’d tackle real-world challenges at Picnic.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to 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 team.
We think you need these skills to ace Engineering Lead
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Technical Skills: When you're writing your application, make sure to highlight your hands-on experience with complex systems. We want to see how you've tackled challenges in a startup or scaleup environment, so don't hold back on the details!
Tailor Your Application: Make your application stand out by tailoring it to our mission at Picnic. Show us how your experience aligns with our goal of building reliable and scalable systems. We love seeing candidates who understand our vision and can contribute to it.
Be Clear and Concise: Keep your application clear and to the point. We appreciate straightforward communication, especially when it comes to technical concepts. Make it easy for us to see your qualifications without wading through unnecessary fluff.
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 shows us you’re keen on joining the Picnic team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Picnic
✨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
Even though this role isn't purely about people management, showcasing your technical leadership is crucial. Prepare examples of how you've led teams through complex projects, made key technical decisions, and ensured high-quality outcomes. This will help them see your potential to drive engineering excellence.
✨Prepare for Scenario-Based Questions
Expect questions that assess your judgement around trade-offs, technical debt, and operational risk. Think of scenarios where you had to balance short-term delivery with long-term maintainability. Practising these responses will help you articulate your thought process clearly during the interview.
✨Communicate Clearly with All Stakeholders
You'll need to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Practice explaining complex concepts in simple terms. This will not only show your technical prowess but also your ability to bridge gaps between different teams, which is vital for the role.
