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Zego

Lead Backend Engineer

London
Posted about 13 hours ago
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About Zego

Insurance hasn't changed much in over a century. The way we live, work and travel has.

Good drivers are the entire point of Zego. Seven in 10 drivers on the road are consistently good, but until telematics came along there was no way to prove it, so nearly everyone paid a price based on averages. Zego is the company built to change that.

At Zego, we're leading the AI evolution in insurance.

We move fast, without the layers that usually slow things down. AI takes the routine work off every team, from Finance to Product to Marketing, so people ship real code and launch custom dashboards in minutes. Engineering commits are entirely AI-assisted, which shifts the focus from team size to the quality of your thinking and our data warehouse connects directly to an AI assistant for instant answers. Backed by a modern tech stack (Claude Code, Snowflake, Figma and Zapier) and a commitment to adopting new tools in days rather than quarters, you get complete ownership to do the most impactful work of your career.

What you will be doing

  • Lead several engineers within a team or workstream, guiding their work towards user value and business opportunity
  • Design, build and own the Python microservices that power our insurance platform: secure, observable and built for scale
  • Drive architectural discussions and decisions across multiple teams, shaping the future of our backend systems
  • Deliver large, complex technical initiatives end to end, with clarity on scope, sequencing and impact
  • Raise the bar on engineering excellence: testability, reliability, scalability and clean code
  • Coach and mentor engineers, sharing context, feedback and support so the whole team levels up
  • Improve how the team works, from CI/CD pipelines to incident response, investigating root causes and fixing them pragmatically

Reasons to use Rodeo

I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?

Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.

Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.

Start with a chat, not a search bar

Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.

P

Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme

PwC·London, UK
£35,000/yr

Why you're a good match

Strong

Your economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.

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It searches the market for you

Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.

Why you're a good match

You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.

See breakdown
Strong

Experience fit

Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.

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Strong

Only hits

No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.

What you will need to be successful

  • Deep backend expertise - Hands-on experience building cloud-native microservices, Python preferred, though strong experience in another language works too!
  • Systems at scale - You have built distributed architectures and understand performance tuning and observability, on top of solid fundamentals in data structures, algorithms and system design
  • You strive for simplicity - You build systems that are easy to understand, test and maintain, and you weigh trade-offs rather than reaching for complexity
  • You lead by example - Through mentoring, clear communication and a collaborative mindset, plus the tenacity to find a way forward through ambiguity or tough technical problems
  • You are proactive with people beyond engineering - You raise concerns early, engage the right people, and explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders
  • You work AI-first - You will use AI daily here, and we mean daily. You do not need to arrive an expert, but you do need to arrive curious, experiment fast, and take ownership of getting good quickly. People who wait to be trained will find this uncomfortable

What's it like to work at Zego?

At Zego, we operate like a high-performing sports team. We come together as one, driven by ambition, backed by real support and united by a shared mission to win.

Working here means having the backing, the coaching and an inclusive community of Zegons across the UK and Europe, who celebrate your wins and raise your game. It also means holding ourselves to high standards: moving with urgency, taking complete ownership and embracing honest feedback that helps us continuously learn and evolve!

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This is your opportunity for a career-defining experience and one you will own.

Do not take our word for it - Read what Zegons say about us on Glassdoor.

The Zego ways of working

Teams work better with time to collaborate and space to get things done. We call it Zego Hybrid: some of us are in our central London office weekly, others monthly or quarterly. It is about finding the balance between face time and focus that produces great work and a healthy life around it.

We also make a point of getting everyone in the same room. Teams come together every quarter and once a year the whole company does, properly. It is a serious investment and consistently one of the best parts of the year - Here is what the last one looked like.

Benefits

  • Market-competitive salary, benchmarked against your function and reviewed every year
  • Annual performance bonus, linked to company performance and your contribution
  • Share options, a real stake in the company and a share in the future you build
  • Private medical insurance, for you and your family
  • Pension, generous holiday and £1,000 a year to spend on getting to the office or learning something new
  • Cutting-edge systems and tools, so you always have what you need to drive your impact

If you're ready to help build the real-time, data-driven infrastructure for an intelligent world, we want to hear from you.

Zego, leading the AI evolution in insurance.

There's more to Zego than just a job. Check out our blog for insights, stories and more.

We were also named Best Insurance Company 2025.

We're an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status.

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“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

Jessica, London

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Skills

Python
Microservices
Distributed Architectures
System Design
Performance Tuning
Observability
CI/CD
Cloud-native Architecture
Mentoring
AI-assisted Engineering
Data Structures
Algorithms

Location

London, England, United Kingdom

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