Head of Backend Engineering (United Kingdom)

Head of Backend Engineering

Remote UK Only

Up to £150,000 + 20–25% bonus (permanent)

Contract option: £750/day

Remote-first | No equity at this stage

WeDo is exclusively supporting a mission-led fintech that delivers working capital and training to underserved micro and small businesses. With millions of loans already disbursed and an impressive repayment rate, they combine mobile money, machine learning, and a hybrid service model to create long-term, sustainable impact.

They are now seeking a Head of Backend Engineering to lead the development and evolution of their core lending platform. This is a strategic, hands-on leadership role with ownership of backend architecture, performance, and team growth. Someone who is a technologist at heart and regrets not coding as much but can still (if needed) review PRs, design solution architectures, or contribute to system designs (Approximately 20% of the role) HOWEVER, understands that their greatest impact comes from enabling others to thrive and succeed within the Payment, Fintech or Banking domain would be highly successful in this position.

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead and develop a high-performing backend engineering team with a focus on collaboration, mentorship, and technical excellence
• Own backend architecture and strategy, ensuring systems are scalable, reliable, and secure
• Play a hands-on role in development, especially in Java (ideally with Quarkus/GraalVM, or SpringBoot as an alternative)
• Oversee backend API design and integration, including messaging platforms such as Pub/Sub
• Define and track technical KPIs (e.g. system availability, latency, error rates)
• Collaborate across product, infrastructure, frontend, and data teams to drive outcomes
• Maintain high standards in software quality, testing, and maintainability

What we’re looking for:

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 7+ years in backend Java development
• Strong experience building distributed systems and microservices
• Proven leadership of engineering teams with the ability to coach, delegate, and develop others
• Hands-on expertise in Java, with a strong preference for Quarkus or GraalVM; SpringBoot experience also considered
• Familiarity with messaging systems such as Pub/Sub, Kafka, or RabbitMQ
• Strong understanding of REST API design, CI/CD practices, and Agile methodologies
• Experience in fintech, payments, or banking domains

Who this suits:

• Someone who is technically strong and values-driven
• A leader who enables their team rather than dominating it
• Someone who solves the right problems, not all the problems
• A pragmatic engineer who believes in doing what works, not chasing the latest trends
• Someone who aligns with long-term goals and product mission

Who this isn’t for

• Anyone looking to rewrite the entire codebase – it’s Java and will stay that way
• Someone aiming to move the platform to AWS – the company is fully committed to GCP
• Candidates driven primarily by equity or valuation over purpose and delivery