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# Lead Software Engineer

- **Company:** Understanding Recruitment
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom (Remote available)
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** £140,000
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Distributed Systems, Python (Programming Language), Backend
- **Published:** November 11, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.understandingrecruitment.com/job/lead-software-engineer-9327/

## About the Role

* Extensive commercial experience building backend systems with Python

 * Experience developing and operating production-grade distributed systems

 * Previous experience leading projects or small engineering teams

 * Strong understanding of scalable, data-intensive platforms

 * Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment

 * Strong communication and stakeholder management skills

## Description

💼 Role: Lead Python Engineer (Hands-on Team Lead)

📍 Location: London - Hybrid (3 days in office / 2 days WFH)

💰 Salary: Up to £140,000 base

🏦 Industry: Fintech / WealthTech

We're working with a profitable, high-growth UK fintech that provides a platform used by wealth managers and financial advisers to manage investment accounts, portfolios, and trading workflows.

Following a very successful Series C funding round, the company is continuing to scale both its team and platform. We're looking for a Lead Python Engineer to take ownership of a core area of the product while helping shape the future direction of the engineering function.

The Role

This is a hands-on technical leadership position, with approximately 50-70% of your time spent coding. You'll lead a backend engineering pod while remaining closely involved in the design, development, and delivery of key platform capabilities.

What You'll Be Working On

 * Building scalable backend services using Python

 * Designing systems that process financial data and investment workflows

 * Leading architecture and technical design for new features and products

 * Running a small engineering pod and helping drive delivery

 * Improving the reliability, performance, and resilience of core systems

 * Mentoring engineers and raising engineering standards across the team

What We're Looking For

 * Extensive commercial experience building backend systems with Python

 * Experience developing and operating production-grade distributed systems

 * Previous experience leading projects or small engineering teams

 * Strong understanding of scalable, data-intensive platforms

 * Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment

 * Strong communication and stakeholder management skills

Why Apply?

 * Work on business-critical financial infrastructure

 * Join a profitable company with strong funding and genuine product-market fit

 * Lead a team while remaining deeply hands-on technically

 * Have significant influence over architecture, engineering standards, and product direction

 * Help shape a platform that is rapidly growing in both scale and functionality

For more information, feel free to contact Chris Williams.