Lead Software Engineer
hace 19 horas
Edinburgh
Job Title: Lead Developer Seniority: Lead Start Date: ASAP Location: Edinburgh (Hybrid – 2 days office-based) Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time About the Opportunity We are partnering with a high-growth digital product agency to appoint a Lead Developer to join their Edinburgh-based team. This is a permanent, full-time position operating on a hybrid basis. Our client delivers AI-enabled, human-centred digital products for ambitious organisations across the UK and internationally. Operating in a fast-paced, agency environment, they combine technical excellence with commercial awareness to deliver high-impact solutions. With sustained growth and an expanding client portfolio, they are seeking a technically strong and commercially astute engineering leader to drive delivery excellence. The Role This is a senior, hands-on leadership position combining technical ownership with people leadership. You will shape engineering standards, influence architectural direction, and remain actively engaged in production-level code. Expect an approximate 70/30 split between hands-on development and leadership responsibilities, flexing according to project phase and delivery requirements. You will lead a cross-functional delivery squad consisting of: • 1 Product Owner, • 2–4 mid-level Developers, • Yourself as Lead Developer You will be accountable for delivery quality, technical decision-making, team development, and overall outcomes. Project Environment You will work across: • Bespoke web platforms and business-critical applications, • Mobile applications built with React Native, • API integrations and backend systems, • A combination of greenfield builds and scalable legacy platforms This is a dynamic agency environment. Projects vary in scope and sector, and context switching is part of the role. Delivery methodologies include Scrum and Kanban, with two-week sprints typical. Engagements range from fixed-price to time-and-materials models. Core Responsibilities Delivery Ownership • Lead end-to-end technical delivery across multiple client projects, • Take ownership from project initiation through production and handover, • Assess and enhance existing platforms where required, • Plan and balance workload across your squad, • Identify and remove blockers efficiently Technical Leadership • Define and enforce engineering standards alongside fellow technical leads, • Review and approve pull requests, • Make sustainable architectural decisions, • Own CI/CD pipelines, deployment strategies, and hosting approaches, • Establish and uphold testing standards Mentorship & Team Development • Support mid-level developers through pairing, structured feedback, and review, • Conduct regular 1:1s with direct reports, • Identify skill gaps and implement development plans Commercial Contribution • Provide technical input during pre-sales and proposal stages, • Contribute to estimates and scope definition, • Identify and communicate delivery risks early, • Support technical sections of statements of work Technology Stack The environment is adaptable depending on client requirements. Core technologies currently include: Frontend • React, • Inertia.js, • React Native, • Tailwind CSS Backend • Laravel (strategic standardisation focus), • PHP, • Node.js Data • MySQL, • PostgreSQL, • MongoDB Infrastructure & Tooling • Git and GitHub, • CI/CD pipelines, • AWS (project-dependent) Essential Experience • 5+ years’ commercial software development experience, • Minimum 2 years operating at Senior or Lead level with people responsibility, • Experience within an agency or consultancy environment, • Full lifecycle delivery exposure (scoping through to live support), • Demonstrated experience mentoring and developing engineers Technical Capability • Strong commercial experience with Laravel or Symfony, • Solid React experience, • Strong SQL capability (MySQL or PostgreSQL), • Proficient with Git workflows and pull request processes, • Experience implementing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, • Production integration of LLMs or AI services, • React Native applications delivered to production, • Node.js API development, • Inertia.js and Tailwind, • Docker and containerisation, • AWS infrastructure, • MongoDB Personal Attributes • Clear and confident communicator (written and verbal), • Comfortable engaging with clients when required, • Able to articulate technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders, • Self-directed and capable of managing workload autonomously, • Decisive and composed under pressure Role Expectations This position is suited to individuals seeking ownership and responsibility within a fast-moving agency context. It is not a single-product environment, nor is it a role for developers seeking purely hands-on coding without leadership accountability. Variety, pace, and ambiguity are inherent in the role. Benefits • Competitive salary aligned with experience, • Company pension scheme, • Private healthcare, • Enhanced maternity and paternity leave, • Hybrid working model, • Regular team events, • Supportive, collaborative working environment, • Ongoing professional development and training, • 30 days annual leave plus birthday leave If you are interested in leading delivery within a high-growth digital agency environment and shaping technical standards across diverse client engagements, we welcome your application.