Lead Data/Software Engineer - (£90k–£120k) - FinTech

Lead Data / Software Engineer (£90k–£120k) – FinTech

We’re looking for a Lead Data Engineer with a strong software engineering background to help build and scale a modern, configuration-led data platform using Databricks and Snowflake. This role is ideal for someone who started as a software engineer and has moved into data platforms / distributed systems, and now wants to combine hands-on engineering with team leadership and ownership.

You’ll play a key role in shaping both the technical direction and team growth, as the business transitions from legacy Python workflows and MySQL databases to a cloud-native, engineering-led architecture.

The Role

This is a hands-on leadership position with both technical and managerial responsibilities.

You’ll:

• Act as a technical leader for the data platform
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers
• Remain hands-on in system design and development
• Drive engineering standards, delivery, and best practices

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Design and build scalable backend systems and data-intensive applications
• Define and drive architecture decisions across the data platform
• Develop and optimise data pipelines and services (Python, PySpark)
• Ensure systems are robust, testable, observable, and production-grade
• Own performance, scalability, and reliability across Databricks and Snowflake
• Contribute to long-term platform strategy and technical roadmap

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead and manage a team of engineers (including juniors and mid-levels)
• Provide mentorship, coaching, and technical guidance
• Support hiring and onboarding as the team scales
• Conduct code reviews and promote high engineering standards
• Foster a strong engineering culture and collaborative environment
• Balance delivery with team development and wellbeing

Delivery & Collaboration

• Work closely with product, DevOps, and domain stakeholders
• Translate complex regulatory and business requirements into scalable solutions
• Take ownership of key systems and ensure high-quality delivery

Required Experience

Essential

• Background in software engineering, with progression into data engineering or data platforms
• Experience acting as a Lead Engineer, Tech Lead, or Engineering Manager
• Strong programming skills in Python (or similar backend language)
• Experience building distributed systems or data-intensive platforms
• Strong experience with Spark / PySpark or similar frameworks
• Advanced SQL and experience with large-scale datasets
• Strong grounding in software engineering best practices:
• Clean code, testing, CI/CD
• System design and architecture
• Observability and monitoring
• Proven experience mentoring and developing engineers
• Comfortable balancing hands-on work with leadership responsibilities

Desirable

• Experience with Databricks, Snowflake, or modern data platforms
• Exposure to event-driven architectures (Kafka, etc.)
• Experience with AWS or cloud-native environments
• Background in FinTech or regulated environments
• Experience scaling teams or building functions from early stages
• Track record of modernising legacy systems into cloud-native architectures

Summary

This is a high-impact leadership role for an engineer who:

• Is a software engineer at heart, working in data
• Enjoys building scalable systems and platforms
• Wants to lead a team while staying hands-on
• Is excited to shape both technology and people