Lead Software Engineer (City Of London)

Lead Software Engineer – Cloud & Data Orchestration

Hybrid (1–2 days/week in office) | £140k+ Package | ️‍♂️ Security-Cleared or Security Clearable required

Location: London | Sector: Intelligence, Analytics & Secure Data | Process: 3 stages

Our client is a mission-driven consultancy delivering high-impact intelligence, research, and technical services to governments and private sector clients globally and the brand are well known for making real-world difference.

As we continue to expand, we’re hiring a Lead Software Engineer/Founding Engineer to take the reins of a specialist engineering unit delivering microservice-based cloud and data solutions at scale. This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you'll work closely with the CTO, shape architecture and tooling, and directly influence the future of our engineering capability.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading a growing team (currently 2 engineers + external partners) across complex data and cloud engineering projects
• Designing and delivering distributed solutions on an AWS-centric stack, with open-source flexibility
• Working with Databricks, Apache Iceberg, and Kubernetes in a cloud-agnostic environment
• Guiding architecture and implementation of large-scale data pipelines for structured and unstructured data
• Steering direction on software stack, best practices, and legacy tech modernisation
• Collaborating with a multidisciplinary group including intelligence analysts, researchers, and domain specialists
• Supporting clients working in highly sensitive and secure environments

Ideal Background

• Senior/Lead/Founding Software Engineer, startup/hands on CTO, or Lead Architect experience, ideally in cloud-native or high-scale data environments
• Deep experience with Software Engineering, cloud deployments (especially AWS), and orchestration technologies
• Proven delivery of big data solutions—not necessarily at FAANG scale, but managing high-volume, complex data (structured/unstructured)
• Experience working with Databricks, Apache Iceberg, or similar modern data platforms
• Experience of building software environments from the ground up, setting best practice and standards
• Experience leading and mentoring teams
• Worked in a startup/scaleup background and someone that is adaptable

⚙️ Tech Stack Snapshot

• Languages: Python
• Cloud: AWS preferred, cloud-agnostic approach encouraged
• Data: SQL, Databricks, Iceberg, Kubernetes, large-scale data pipelines
• CI/CD & Ops: Open source tools, modern DevOps principles

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work – Help solve security problems that truly matter
• Ownership & Autonomy – Freedom to shape the stack and drive strategy alongside the CTO
• Growth – A growing company at the cutting edge of data and intelligence
• Flexibility – Hybrid and remote-friendly, with minimal in-office requirements

✅ Compensation & Process

• £140k base salary with flexibility
• 10% performance based bonus
• Pension
• Private Healthcare
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• L&D
• Great company culture and socials
• 3-stage interview process (tech test and final stage onsite)