Software Engineering Manager / Engineering Lead

Location: London (Hybrid)
Salary: £105,000 - £110,000 + Bonus + Benefits
Type: Permanent

60% HANDS ON 40% MANAGEMENT

Lead Engineering. Stay Hands-On. Shape the Future with AI.

We're partnering with a leading global commodity intelligence and market insights platform, to find a hands-on Software Engineering Manager who combines strong technical leadership with a passion for building high-performing teams.

This is a genuine player-coach role where you'll spend approximately 60% of your time coding and solving complex technical challenges, while dedicating the remaining 40% to mentoring engineers, driving delivery, and helping shape engineering culture.

If you've progressed from Senior, Staff, or Lead Engineer into leadership but still enjoy writing code and influencing architecture, this is an outstanding opportunity to make a significant impact.

The Opportunity

As Software Engineering Manager, you'll lead a talented engineering team while remaining deeply involved in technical delivery and architecture.

You'll work closely with Product, Data, and Engineering leadership to build scalable systems, improve developer productivity, and drive adoption of modern AI-assisted engineering practices.

This is a collaborative, low-ego environment where leadership is measured by impact, mentorship, and problem-solving rather than hierarchy.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Engineering

• Contribute directly to core product development and platform engineering
• Lead architecture reviews and technical design discussions
• Drive engineering best practices across quality, testing, performance, observability, and security
• Design and build scalable distributed systems using modern technologies
• Identify technical risks and remove delivery blockers
• Partner with senior engineering leaders on long-term technical strategy

AI-Driven Engineering

• Champion AI-assisted software development practices
• Drive adoption of tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT, and emerging AI technologies
• Explore opportunities for agentic AI and autonomous systems
• Coach engineers on safe, effective use of AI in development workflows
• Improve engineering productivity through automation and intelligent tooling

People Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop software engineers
• Conduct regular 1-to-1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations
• Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation
• Support hiring, onboarding, and team growth initiatives
• Help engineers improve system design, coding practices, and problem-solving skills

What We're Looking For

Essential Experience

• Strong hands-on software engineering background
• Previous experience as a Senior, Staff, Lead Engineer, or Engineering Manager
• Proven experience leading and mentoring engineers
• Strong commercial experience with Node.js, TypeScript, and SQL
• Experience designing and building scalable distributed systems
• Strong understanding of cloud-based production environments
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Comfortable remaining hands-on and completing technical assessments as part of the interview process

Highly Desirable

• Passion for AI-assisted development and modern engineering tooling
• Experience introducing AI into software development workflows
• Interest in agentic AI and autonomous systems
• Experience working in fast-paced product-led businesses
• Backgrounds within high-scale technology organisations, gaming companies, Amazon-style engineering environments, or startup ecosystems

What Success Looks Like

You'll be someone who:

• Loves coding and solving complex technical problems
• Leads through collaboration rather than authority
• Builds trust and develops high-performing teams
• Communicates clearly and pragmatically
• Balances technical excellence with business outcomes
• Embraces innovation and continuous improvement
• Sees AI as a powerful accelerator for engineering effectiveness

What's On Offer

• £105,000 - £110,000 base salary
• Performance bonus
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Hybrid working model
• Significant influence over technical direction and engineering culture
• Opportunity to help shape AI adoption across the organisation
• Work on complex, real-world data and intelligence platforms
• Supportive and highly collaborative leadership team

If you're looking for a leadership role that allows you to stay close to the technology while building exceptional engineering teams, we'd love to hear from you.

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