Lead Python Engineer – London – Up to £160k Base + Bonus + Benefits

Job Title: Software Engineer (Lead) - £160k Base + Bonus + Benefits

Client: Elite FinTech Scaleup

Experience Level: 5+ years'

Salary: Up to £160k + Bonus + Package

Location: London (Hybrid)

About the Client

Our client is an innovative fintech scale-up building next-generation technology for global financial markets. Based in London, they are developing a cutting-edge real-time cross-asset risk platform designed to transform how financial institutions monitor, analyse, and manage risk across complex trading environments.

Their platform processes vast amounts of live market data across multiple asset classes, providing sophisticated risk analytics, pricing insights, and real-time decision support for some of the world’s most demanding financial environments.

The company combines deep financial expertise with modern software engineering, creating highly scalable systems that enable traders, risk teams, and quantitative professionals to make faster and more informed decisions. Their engineering culture is focused on innovation, performance, and building reliable technology that operates at the heart of global markets.

The Role

They are looking for a talented Python Software Engineer with a passion for building high-quality, scalable systems and solving complex problems in financial technology.

You will join a highly skilled engineering team responsible for building the core services behind a real-time cross-asset risk platform. This is a unique opportunity to work on systems that ingest, process, and analyse huge volumes of market data in real time, delivering critical risk insights with speed and accuracy.

You will be involved in designing and developing highly performant backend services, data processing pipelines, and analytical systems that support complex financial models and workflows. Working closely with engineers, quants, and domain experts, you will help build technology that sits at the intersection of software engineering, quantitative finance, and large-scale data processing.

The team embraces modern engineering practices including clean architecture, automated testing, continuous delivery, and strong software craftsmanship. Engineers are encouraged to take ownership, challenge ideas, and contribute to the design of systems that operate at significant scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and Inspire: Guide a phenomenal team of Python developers, shaping the technical direction and fostering a culture of innovation.
• Architect the Future: Design and build cutting-edge applications that set new standards for the financial industry.
• Tackle Complex Challenges: Develop deep advanced analytics and solve real-world problems at scale.
• Collaborate with the Best: Work side-by-side with top quantitative minds and business leaders to turn complex financial ideas into powerful, production-ready software.
• Push Performance Boundaries: Optimise high-performance code for lightning-fast, large-scale calculations and analytics.
• Shape the Developer Experience: Influence and enhance the development process, tools, and standards in a truly developer-centric environment.
• Leverage the Latest Tech: Harness the power of the most performant, bleeding edge infrastructure and state-of-the-art development tools to build scalable, resilient applications.
• Make a Global Impact: Deploy your solutions to major financial institutions worldwide, knowing your work powers critical decisions across global markets.
• Own Your Craft: Enjoy the freedom to innovate, experiment, and leave your mark on a platform that’s transforming the future of finance.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong hands-on development experience using Python
• Experience building robust, scalable backend applications and services
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles and clean code practices
• Experience working with data-intensive applications or distributed systems
• A passion for performance, reliability, and building production-grade software
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or another STEM discipline
• Excellent communication skills and a collaborative approach to problem solving

Nice to Have

• Experience with financial risk management systems or trading platforms
• Knowledge of quantitative finance or financial mathematics
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices
• Experience with web frameworks (Flask, Django) and front-end technologies
• Background in high-performance computing or distributed systems