SoCode Recruitment
Lead Software Engineer
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Lead Software Engineer
Location: Milton Keynes (4 days per week in the office)
Salary: £70,000–£90,000 + excellent benefits
Type: Permanent or Contract
We're working with an established and growing UK SaaS business looking to appoint an experienced Tech Lead to lead their software engineering function.
This is a leadership-focused role where you'll oversee a team of around 10 software engineers, driving engineering excellence, improving delivery processes, and shaping the technical direction of a modern cloud-based software platform. You'll work closely with senior leadership to deliver strategic initiatives while building a high-performing engineering culture.
This is not a hands-on coding role, but you'll need the technical credibility to support, challenge, and mentor the development team.
The Role
You'll take ownership of the engineering function, focusing on people, processes, and technical strategy. Key priorities include strengthening software development and QA practices, leading a cloud migration programme, and supporting the adoption of AI-powered development tools.
Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of approximately 10 software engineers.
- Manage performance, career development, recruitment, and team growth.
- Improve and embed engineering best practices across SDLC, testing, code reviews, documentation, and release management.
- Own engineering governance around security, compliance, and data protection.
- Lead the migration of infrastructure to a public cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
- Partner with senior stakeholders to translate product strategy into engineering delivery.
- Drive adoption of modern AI-assisted and agentic software development practices.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and technical excellence.
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About You
You'll have previous experience managing software engineering teams and enjoy leading people as much as improving technical delivery.
Essential
- Experience leading software engineering teams (ideally 5+ developers).
- Strong understanding of PHP (OR NodeJS/Python), MySQL, and modern web application development.
- Experience implementing scalable engineering processes and delivery standards.
- Proven experience with cloud infrastructure and cloud migration projects (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
- Knowledge of software security, GDPR, and compliance requirements.
- Comfortable working closely with executive leadership and influencing technical strategy.
- Interest in AI-driven software development and emerging engineering practices.
- Able to work from the Milton Keynes office at least four days per week.
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Desirable
- Background within a SaaS environment.
- Experience delivering AI-enabled product features.
- Exposure to tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, or GitHub Copilot.
What's on Offer
- Salary of £70,000–£90,000
- 8% employer pension contribution
- Private healthcare
- Enhanced maternity and paternity package
- Hybrid working
- The opportunity to shape the engineering direction of a growing software business
- A collaborative environment where you'll have genuine influence over technology, people, and strategy
If you're an experienced Tech Lead looking for a role where you can make a significant impact on engineering culture, technical strategy, and team leadership, we'd love to hear from you. Apply today for a confidential discussion.
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