Location: Kent - On-site
Salary: £75,000-£95,000 DOE + Bonus + Benefits
Job Type: Permanent
Please note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
The Opportunity
We're partnering with an established technology business within the digital travel sector that is investing in its engineering capability and next phase of product development.
This is an opportunity for a hands-on Technical Team Lead who enjoys remaining close to the code while providing technical direction and leadership to a small team of software engineers.
You'll take ownership of backend engineering standards, lead by example through day-to-day development, and help a predominantly frontend-focused team strengthen its backend capabilities using TypeScript and Node.js.
This isn't a purely managerial position. You'll be actively involved in coding, technical design, code reviews, problem-solving and architectural decisions, alongside mentoring engineers and supporting delivery.
The Role
You'll lead a small team of full-stack engineers, balancing hands-on software development with technical leadership and line management.
You'll be responsible for setting engineering standards, building reliable backend services, improving development practices and ensuring the team delivers maintainable, scalable software.
Working closely with Product, Delivery and other technical stakeholders, you'll have genuine ownership over technical decisions and the opportunity to influence how software is designed, built and delivered.
Key Responsibilities
Remain hands-on with the design, development and maintenance of backend services using TypeScript and Node.js.
Lead by example through writing clean, maintainable and production-quality code.
Design and build scalable APIs, integrations and backend services.
Take ownership of technical architecture and engineering decisions within your domain.
Conduct code reviews and establish best practices around coding standards, testing and maintainability.
Lead technical discussions, troubleshoot complex issues and drive root-cause analysis.
Mentor and coach engineers, helping them develop stronger backend engineering skills.
Support a team of full-stack engineers in broadening their TypeScript and Node.js expertise.
Identify and address technical debt, performance bottlenecks and architectural weaknesses.
Improve CI/CD, automated testing and overall software delivery practices.
Champion AI-assisted development tools and automation to improve engineering productivity and code quality.
Work closely with Product, Delivery, Data and Commercial teams to translate requirements into effective technical solutions.
Manage and support team members, including performance, development and career progression.
Balance hands-on development, technical leadership and delivery responsibilities.
About You
You'll be an experienced software engineer who enjoys solving technical problems, building high-quality software and helping other engineers improve.
You'll have a strong backend development background and be comfortable taking ownership of technical decisions while remaining actively involved in development.
Ideally, you'll bring:
Strong commercial experience with TypeScript and Node.js.
A proven track record of building and maintaining production backend systems.
Experience leading a small engineering team or acting as a technical lead.
A genuinely hands-on approach, with a willingness to spend a significant proportion of your time coding.
Strong understanding of REST APIs, integrations and backend system design.
Experience making architectural decisions around scalability, reliability, security and maintainability.
Experience conducting code reviews and establishing engineering standards.
A good understanding of automated testing, CI/CD and modern software development practices.
The ability to mentor engineers and raise the technical capability of a team.
Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to investigate complex technical issues.
Confidence communicating technical decisions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
A pragmatic mindset, balancing engineering quality with business priorities and delivery deadlines.
Desirable Experience
AWS or Azure cloud environments.
Microservices and event-driven architecture.
Docker and containerisation.
Infrastructure as Code.
Distributed systems and domain-led architecture.
Frontend technologies and full-stack development.
AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Cursor or similar tools.
Experience improving engineering processes, developer productivity or platform performance.
What's on Offer
Salary of £75,000-£95,000, depending on experience.
Annual performance bonus and benefits package.
A hands-on leadership role with genuine technical ownership.
The opportunity to influence architecture, engineering standards and development practices.
A collaborative engineering environment with scope to mentor and develop a talented team.
Investment in professional development and modern engineering tools.
Working Arrangements
This is an on-site role based in Kent. Candidates must be comfortable working from the office.
Eligibility
Applicants must have the full right to work in the UK. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position
Salary description
£75000.00 - £95000.00 per year