Backend Engineering Team Lead

Netcraft; Greater London, Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days annual leave

Private health cover

Equity tracking scheme

Hybrid and flexible working options

Life Assurance at 4 x salary

Salary sacrifice pension

Job summary

Netcraft is seeking a Backend Engineering Team Lead to establish and lead a new backend team responsible for several key Netcraft products, including the Integration Layer, NSI, the Web and SSL Server Survey, and Spam analysis. You’ll shape technology strategy, drive delivery, and mentor engineers across a varied stack.

You’ll collaborate with Product and Design, maintain high standards for code quality, testing, and CI/CD, and apply AI-first approaches to boost productivity while delivering

Qualifications

• Strong leadership with the ability to manage priorities.
• Excellent communication to distil technical concepts for stakeholders.
• Engineering background spanning Go, OpenSearch and MongoDB; Perl a plus.
• Track record of turning ideas into production.
• Experience partnering with Product Managers to shape strategy and translate needs into technical solutions.
• Experience with AWS and ML tools/frameworks.
• Interest in reverse-engineering legacy codebases to understand inner workings.
• Experience hiring engineers and building high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and establish a new backend team for Netcraft products.
• Evaluate products with Product/Design and define long-term strategy.
• Balance autonomy with delivering on demanding timelines.
• Gather requirements from stakeholders and translate into technical work.
• Prioritize and sequence team work while keeping 30-50% hands-on engineering.
• Design and deliver performant, scalable services to delight customers.
• Maintain high engineering standards with test-driven development and CI/CD.
• Apply AI-first development techniques to boost productivity.
• Build and lead a high-performing team of engineers.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Go development

OpenSearch

MongoDB

Perl

Problem solving

AWS

ML tools

Tools

AWS

Machine Learning frameworks

Job description

About Netcraft

Netcraft is the global leader in cybercrime detection and disruption. We're a trusted partner for three of the four largest companies in the world and many large governments. We've blocked over 225 million cyber-attacks to date, and we take down around 33% of the world's phishing attacks.

Our purpose and passion are focused on just one thing: protecting the world from cybercrime.

That passion shapes how we work, too. We're proud of our talented team and the value each person brings, and we've built a workplace where people feel supported and inspired. From strong benefits and wellness programs to meaningful collaboration and team connection.

The Role

We're looking for a Backend Engineering Team Lead to establish and lead a new backend team responsible for several key Netcraft products, including:

• The Integration Layer , which enables customers to integrate their SIEM platforms with Netcraft data
• NSI , which supports engagement with criminals conducting conversational scams at scale
• The Web and SSL Server Survey
• Spam , which analyses emails from multiple sources to identify phishing and scam activity

These products are a mixture of legacy platforms that produce key data supporting Netcraft systems and new products that support our customer base. You'll be a technical leader with expertise across a varied stack, with the commercial acumen to understand how to modernise legacy products as well as commercialise new products.

You will build a new team to manage and improve these products, contributing code, demonstrating best practice, and managing an exciting delivery roadmap.

You'll be:

• Working with Product and Design colleagues to evaluate each of your products, determining where immediate improvements can be made and helping to develop the long-term strategy for each
• Operating with autonomy, taking the initiative to solve problems and recognising the importance of adhering to demanding delivery timelines
• Managing requirements from key stakeholders and customers, understanding what needs to be done based on business needs without necessarily needing to be told
• Prioritising, refining, and sequencing the team's workflow while retaining approximately 30-50% of your time for hands‑on engineering
• Deeply embedded in conceiving and executing engineering solutions, creating performant systems and services to delight our customers
• Upholding high engineering standards with a demonstrable commitment to code quality, a test‑driven approach, and a modern continuous integration/continuous deployment delivery flow
• Well‑versed in how AI‑first development techniques can materially boost productivity
• Responsible for building and leading a high‑performing team of talented and enthusiastic engineers

What You'll Need to Be Successful

• Strong and demonstrable leadership skills, with a constructive attitude to problem‑solving and the ability to switch effectively between priorities
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to distil technical concepts for a range of stakeholders and motivate a team
• A strong engineering background spanning a range of technologies, including Go, OpenSearch, and MongoDB , with Perl experience considered an advantage
• A demonstrable track record of identifying opportunities to create significant value within existing products and taking ideas from concept through to production
• Experience partnering closely with Product Managers and Product Owners to shape product strategy, define priorities, and translate customer and business needs into effective technical solutions
• Experience working with AWS technologies and a range of machine learning tools and frameworks
• An interest in reverse‑engineering codebases, where necessary, to understand the inner workings of legacy products
• Experience interviewing and hiring engineers, building effective teams, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement

Bonus Points If You Have:

• Strong Go development skills, particularly in technology modernisation or uplift projects
• Experience with generative AI technologies and where and how to apply them to improve customer experiences
• Practical experience managing engineers at different career stages, from recent graduates to seasoned professionals

The Rewards Package

• 33 days annual leave - includes public holidays which can be worked if you prefer
• Generous enhanced family leave and pay
• Enhanced company sick pay from day one of employment, with additional support after your first six months' service
• Salary sacrifice pension with matched employer contributions up to 5% + NI savings
• Private health cover, including access to a private GP service
• Life Assurance at 4 x salary
• Equity tracking scheme (eligibility criteria apply) - allowing you share in Netcraft's long term success
• Hybrid and flexible working options
• Meals, snacks, and drinks provided in the office
• Comprehensive health,