Java Technical Lead

Java Lead Engineer

Manchester | Hybrid — 3 days per week in the Manchester office

£75,000–£80,000 + benefits

We’re looking for an experienced Java Lead Engineer to join our growing engineering team in Manchester.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, with an 80% hands-on / 20% management split. You’ll lead a small team of 3 engineers , while remaining heavily involved in designing, building and testing high-quality software.

The Role

You’ll play a key role in both the technical direction of the team and the delivery of new products and features. You’ll be expected to lead from the front technically, while also supporting and developing the engineers around you.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead and mentor a team of 3 software engineers
• Spend around 80% of your time hands-on with development
• Design and develop robust, scalable Java applications
• Build and maintain services using Java, Spring Boot and AWS
• Champion TDD, clean code and good engineering practices
• Contribute to technical architecture and design decisions
• Carry out code reviews and help maintain high engineering standards
• Support the team's delivery, planning and prioritisation
• Work closely with product and other technical stakeholders
• Help develop the team's engineering capabilities and ways of working

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone who is an experienced Java engineer and is ready to take on, or already has, a technical leadership position.

You’ll have strong experience with:

• Java
• Spring Boot
• AWS
• TDD / automated testing
• Building and supporting production-grade applications
• Software design and architecture
• Code reviews and engineering best practices

You'll also be comfortable providing technical leadership, mentoring other engineers and taking ownership of delivery.

• Location: Manchester
• Working pattern: Hybrid — 3 days per week in the Manchester office
• Salary: £75,000–£80,000
• Team size: 3 engineers
• Role split: 80% hands-on / 20% management

If you're a strong Java engineer who enjoys staying close to the code while also leading and developing a small engineering team, we'd love to hear from you.