Back End Tech Lead

Who you are

• Experience developing and owning shared back end services that other engineering teams contribute to and depend on - being the trusted reviewer for their contributions and shaping how they build on top of your work
• Experience building and shaping distributed systems in complex business domains
• Advanced proficiency in software development
• Confidence to work closely with partners from other disciplines to challenge assumptions and discover underlying problems
• Demonstrable leadership skills: you have mentored juniors and inspired teams to deliver cross-functional projects. You can balance hands-on coding with strategic planning
• You use AI (like Cursor, Claude Code or similar) in your daily flow—whether for work or for fun. You use it to blast through boilerplate and research, so you can focus on the hard parts: complex architecture, rigour, and high-stakes decision-making
• A strong numerical or technical background, ideally with a degree in physics, engineering, maths, computer science or a related field
• Experience with Python, Django, or PostgreSQL
• Familiarity with data analytics or machine learning processes
• Experience with complex data architectures, including event-sourced data models

What the job involves

• We’re hiring a Tech Lead for our Funnel Platform Team
• You will lead the evolution of the shared code, frameworks, and integrations that power our services, build and improve business-critical systems, and shape the technical vision. Your customers are other iwoca engineers
• The Tech Lead role combines individual contribution, line management, and ownership of the platform roadmap
• You will lead a team of developers focused on the shared services and frameworks that other iwoca engineering teams build on, driving technical strategy and translating our long-term vision into robust, maintainable systems
• Your mission is "Making Change Easy" for the engineering teams that depend on you by owning shared services and being the trusted reviewer for contributions from partner teams, ending conflicts between maintenance and delivery through dedicated ownership
• This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you will take full ownership of the team's roadmap and provide direct line management to its engineers
• Act as a hands-on contributor and lead by example in quality, testing, and performance
• Drive the technical strategy and execution for the Platform team, translating vision into well-designed, robust, and maintainable systems
• Set direction without a PM - spot the problems worth solving, back them with data, and drive them to delivery
• Lead the development of shared frameworks and services that other engineering teams contribute to and build on
• Collaborate with stakeholders in the commercial funnel teams to build a shared roadmap
• Own the health of the shared services other teams depend on - spotting emerging issues, reviewing contributions from consuming teams,
• Shape architectural improvements to the shared services over time - measured on developer experience, service health, and reliability, not feature throughput
• Manage and mentor engineers, taking responsibility for their performance, coaching, and career development
• Define and champion engineering best practices within your team and across the wider engineering group

Benefits

• Work where you work best: Twice a year we rent houses in places like Sicily and the French Alps where each team can work together for a week poolside. We champion flexible working in all our teams
• Invest in iwoca: We want people to be invested in iwoca's success so after six months you'll be awarded share options
• Keep yourself healthy: We offer comprehensive health insurance and cash plans. You'll also get gym discounts and we host yoga classes in the office every week
• Start (and end) your day right: Each floor of iwoca HQ has a fully stocked fridge for breakfast and every Friday we unwind with beers and wine
• Life-work balance: We know your life outside of work comes first. We offer enhanced maternity and paternity leave for new parents plus a nursery benefit. We also have unlimited unpaid leave
• Learning and development: Whether you want to learn to code, experiment with motion design, or beat cognitive biases, you'll have time and budget to invest in your professional development