Backend Engineering Team Lead

United States Digital Space LLC; Greater London, Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days annual leave

Hybrid/flexible working

Equity tracking scheme

Private health cover

Learning & Development days

Volunteering days

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is seeking a Backend Engineering Team Lead to establish and guide a new backend team responsible for key products including the Integration Layer, NSI, Web/SSL Server Survey, and Spam analysis. You will balance hands-on coding with architectural leadership, driving modern CI/CD and high quality software.

You will partner with Product and Design, manage stakeholder expectations, and shape long-term strategy per product while delivering within tight timelines.

Qualifications

• Strong engineering background across a range of technologies including Go, OpenSearch, and MongoDB.

Responsibilities

• Lead the backend engineering team and define delivery roadmap.
• Collaborate with Product and Design to shape product strategy and priorities.
• Maintain 30–50% hands-on coding time while guiding architecture and quality.
• Drive modern CI/CD practices and code quality standards.
• Mentor engineers and hire talent across career stages.

Skills

Go programming

OpenSearch

MongoDB

AWS

AI/ML tooling

Leadership

Job description

About the company

the company 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 the company products, including:

• The Integration Layer, which enables customers to integrate their SIEM platforms with the company 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 the company 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 the company's long term success
• Hybrid and flexible working options
• Meals, snacks, and drinks provided in the office
• Comprehensive health, safety, and wellness service available 24/7 for you and your family
• Two paid Learning & Development days per year plus access to learning resources such as Udemy and Coursera to support your career
• Two Volunteering Days per year, to allow you to contribute to your wider community or charity
• Employee Referral Bonus scheme
• Spot reward bonus scheme to reward truly outstanding contributions

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

This is deeply important to us. Through our ally network, we support under-represented groups andmaintaina working environment free from bias, harassment, or discrimination. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

We’re also happy to make adjustments to the hiring process to ensure every candidate can participate fully.

Please note:

the company does not accept unsolicited approaches from external recruiters.