Lead Software Engineer in Kennington

120,000 - 160,000London AreaAre you a hands-on engineer ready to take real ownership of architecture, engineering standards and a small team in a fast-moving AI startup?Are you excited by agentic AI, building from scratch, and having a genuine impact on both the technology and product?ð Lead Software Engineer – AI Startup ððµ Salary: Up to 160k + equityð Location: London (4 days a week)ð§ Experience: 5-8+ years (startup, AI, SaaS or automation experience preferred)I’m excited to be working with a rapidly growing AI startup building an AI system of action for the UK property industry. Their technology sits on top of estate and letting agents’ existing systems, using AI to automate operational work including prospecting, viewings, maintenance, compliance and arrears.At the heart of the platform is an AI voice agent that acts as a 24/7 front desk, answering calls and emails, qualifying leads, booking viewings and triaging maintenance enquiries, with their technology already being used by agencies across the UK.They’re now looking for a Lead Software Engineer to work closely with the Head of Engineering and founders, owning technical direction while remaining highly hands-on.This is an opportunity for someone who wants to build the hardest things, set the technical standard and lead from the front.ð¡ You’ll work directly on:Architecting and building scalable backend systems and APIs end-to-endDesigning microservice and event-driven architectures supporting real-time AI workflowsBuilding the infrastructure that powers agentic AI at scaleLeading a small team of engineers, driving delivery and reviewing their workSetting the standard for how the team uses AI coding tools and agentic workflowsBuilding secure, performant and maintainable systems as the platform scales They’re particularly interested in engineers who have:A Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics or related degree from a strong university5-8+ years of strong hands-on software engineering experienceDeep expertise in Node.js and NestJSStrong experience building RESTful APIs and microservice-based systemsExperience with LLMs, AI agents and agentic workflowsExperience using tools such as Claude Code as part of your everyday development workflowPreviously owned technical direction on significant projectsA strong background in startups, AI, SaaS or automation platformsStrong product instinct and willingness to get close to customersð» Tech stack:Node.js / NestJSReact / Next.jsTypeScriptGoogle CloudKubernetesPostgresMongoDBQdrantMicroservices & event-driven architectureLLMs, AI agents & agentic development workflowsð What they’re looking for:Exceptional engineer first – you want to build, not just manageHigh ownership – comfortable making decisions without layers of approvalAI-native mindset – you’re already experimenting with how agents can make engineers faster and betterStrong technical judgement – you know when to build, when not to build, and how to build for scaleNatural leadership – you can bring engineers with you while maintaining a high technical barStartup mentality – hungry, pragmatic and comfortable with ambiguityð Why join now?Genuine technical ownership from day oneLead a small, high-calibre engineering teamHelp define how an AI-native engineering organisation operatesBuild technology solving a real, high-value problem for UK property businessesHuge scope to influence architecture, product and engineering cultureIf you’re a hands-on engineer who wants to own hard technical problems, lead from the front and help define what agentic engineering looks like in a high-growth AI startup, this could be a very exciting next move. ð