Lead Software Engineer, AI-Native in London

About The RoleWe’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer (AI-Native) to help us reimagine how software is built at FreeWill.About The RoleWe’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer (AI-Native) to help us reimagine how software is built at FreeWill.You Will Operate As An Orchestrator Of AI Development Systems — Leveraging Tools Like Claude Code,Codex,Cursor, And Other Emerging AI-native Toolchains — To Rapidly Rebuild And Evolve Our Existing Products. You Will Work In a Lean, 3-4 Person Development Pod Where Success Is Measured By How Effectively YouTranslate product requirements into clear, spec-driven development workflowsUse AI systems as a force multiplier for speed and qualityRapidly ship production-ready systems that improve user outcomesThis role reports into the R&D organization (Senior Engineering Manager) and will partner closely with product and design to deliver high-impact improvements to our existing user experiences. Together with your teammates, you will help define the AI-native playbook for how FreeWill builds software with AI going forward.FreeWill has set compensation bands for fairness and transparency. We don’t think that an individual’s pay should be determined by how comfortable they are negotiating, so we like to be up front. The salary range for this role is $190,000 to $210,000 (plus equity and benefits).Why This Role Is DifferentThis is a system orchestration engineering role. You are not just writing code — you are:Defining how engineering gets done in an AI-first worldDesigning systems that write code with high internal coherenceBuilding at 5x traditional speed with lean dev teamsIf you’re excited about redefining how software development is done—removing toil, increasing time in the zone, and leveling up our engineering department through mentorship—this role is for you.ResponsibilitiesLead AI-native software development workflows using tools like Claude Code/ Codex/ Cursor to generate, iterate on, and ship production codeMentor engineers across R&D on AI-native development practices — distill what you learn in your pod into patterns others can adoptTranslate product requirements into clear technical specs, prompts, and system instructions that guide AI-driven developmentOwn end-to-end delivery: from spec → agentic AI-written implementation → automated validation → production rolloutBuild the harness engineering practices — embedding learnings into a clear, repeatable structure for how AI code is developed at FreeWillPartner within a small pod to rapidly rebuild and improve existing product flowsDesign systems to proactively manage potential issues with code comprehension and technical debt that are robust, testable, and maintainableContinuously refine workflows for spec-driven development, agentic engineering, and AI-driven QA, documenting patterns and lessons learned into a repeatable playbookRequired Skills And Experience7+ years of experience as a software engineer, with strong experience building and shipping production systems across the full stackExperience cultivating a culture of mentorship and knowledge sharing across engineering teams, particularly around AI-native system orchestration best practices.Experience building development tooling and workflows that bake quality in from the startDemonstrated experience using agentic coding tools (e.g., Cursor, Copilot, Codex, Claude Code) in real development workflowsFamiliarity with LLM behavior, evaluation, and prompt iteration techniques (chain-of-thought, few-shot examples, agentic loops)Strong ability to write clear technical specifications and break down problems into structured, verifiable units of workExperience working in modern web stacks (e.g., React, Node.js, TypeScript, APIs, cloud infrastructure)Proven ability to ship quickly with high quality in ambiguous, fast-moving environmentsStrong debugging and systems thinking skills — able to validate, correct, and improve AI-generated outputs for correctness, security, and performanceComfort operating with high autonomy and minimal process on small teams, while maintaining rigor in outcomesStrong written communication skills since much of this role involves writing clear specifications, prompts, and documentationNice To Have But Not RequiredExperience rebuilding or refactoring existing systems or leading large-scale codebase migrationsExperience working in small, high-leverage teams (3–4 engineers)Background in experimentation, A/B testing, or conversion optimizationExperience with AI Security best practicesExperience in the nonprofit technology or fundraising spaceHiring ProcessRecruiter Phone Screen (30 minutes)Take-Home Spec-driven Exercise (1 hour; on your own time)Hiring Manager Interview (45 minutes)Super day 1: AI-Native Build Exercise (1 hour)Super day 2: Communications & Values and Open Conversation (2 separate interviews; 45 minutes and 30 minutes)Offer (contingent on positive references)Please note that steps in the hiring process can and may change and the Recruiter will be your point of contact in sharing any updates in terms of the process. If you are selected to move forward in this process, the Recruiter will share more details about the hiring process and interviewers. However, this is a good estimate of what you can expect. For most roles, our hiring processes take an average of 4-6 weeks.EEOC & Diversity StatementFreeWill is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We are committed to finding talent that is not determined on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.We are a remote-first company with employees in the US, Brazil, Canada, and Pakistan.In the US, we are able to hire in 47 states and D.C. Unfortunately, we are unable to hire in Colorado, Alabama, or Louisiana at this time. We also can’t sponsor working visas, so all applicants will need to have work authorization in their respective country.Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! Studies have shown that marginalized communities - such as women, LGBTQ+ and people of color - are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. FreeWill is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging – so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!
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