Lead Engineer

About Us

As one of the UK’s most trusted partners in high-stakes exam preparation, Exam Papers Plus is redefining the path to success. Trusted by over 100,000 families, we deliver a structured, data-driven experience that adapts in real-time to individual learning profiles.

Our mission is to build the knowledge, mastery, and confidence required for peak performance, supporting every learner through every major academic milestone.

Your Role

As the Lead Engineer you will lead technical delivery on our core platform whilst continuing to code yourself. You'll build and manage a small high-performing engineering team (3–5 people) that leverages AI tools to move fast without sacrificing quality. Your focus is on shipping features at velocity whilst maintaining our high standards through rigorous validation and code review.

What you'll be responsible for

• Technical Delivery & Speed: Lead development across our core learner and content platforms (React/Node.js/NestJS), shipping features from concept to production
• AI-Driven Development: Use AI tools (Cursor, Claude, etc.) to accelerate development, but own the validation—ensuring code quality, security, and performance meet our standards
• Code Standards & Quality Gates: Set and enforce engineering best practices, code review standards, and automated testing to prevent technical debt
• Team Growth & Mentorship: Build and mentor a small team, helping engineers grow their skills and adopt AI-assisted development practices
• Architecture & Technical Decisions: Make sound architectural choices for new features, balancing speed with maintainability

What you'll bring

Experience & Technical Skills

• 2–3 years as a strong Senior Engineer, or 4+ years as a solid full-stack engineer ready to step into leadership
• Mastery of TypeScript/React and Node.js/NestJS (or equivalent stack)
• Comfortable with AI-assisted development and tools like Cursor or Claude, and experience integrating them effectively into a workflow
• Track record of shipping quality code fast—you can balance velocity with standards
• Experience in EdTech is advantageous—familiarity with learning platforms, student data, and educational workflows is a plus

Mindset & Leadership

• Pragmatic Mindset: You make sensible trade-offs between perfect and good enough, always asking what matters most for the user
• Ownership: You take responsibility for outcomes and drive quality without needing constant oversight
• Teaching & Mentorship: You enjoy helping others grow and sharing knowledge—especially around engineering practices
• Communication: You explain technical decisions clearly and collaborate well across product and design

What success looks like

• Shipping at velocity: Your team delivers 2–3 significant features per sprint without accumulating technical debt
• Quality maintained: Code reviews are thorough, test coverage is strong, and you're actively preventing bad patterns from creeping in
• Team growing: Your team is developing skills, adopting AI tools sensibly, and showing improved velocity and output within 6 months
• Architect decisions: You've made 2–4 major technical decisions that reduce complexity and enable faster future development
• AI integration: You've established best practices around AI-assisted development and validated code quality at scale

What's on offer

• Salary: £65,000–£80,000 depending on leadership experience
• Bonus: up to 10% of base salary
• Pension: 6% matched
• Location: UK-based, up to 3 days a week in our Farringdon office (London)