Embedded Software Team Lead

Codan Limited; Whiteley; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

DTC, a Codan Company, is seeking a Software Engineering Team Lead to guide a team of software engineers delivering SDR software. This hands-on leadership role combines engineering expertise, delivery ownership, mentoring, and collaboration with product, operations, and business stakeholders.

The role emphasizes agile practices, strong technical direction, and ensuring quality, security, and scalability in challenging defence and security systems across Europe.

Qualifications

• Strong background in software engineering within embedded environments.
• Experience leading technical delivery in a software team.
• Proficiency in modern software practices: design, testing, CI/CD, source control, code reviews, secure development.
• Ability to communicate complex topics clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proven mentoring skills and ability to build inclusive, high-performing teams.
• Understanding of reliability, observability, incident response, performance, and supportability.
• Experience with C, C++, VHDL, MATLAB, Python, GitHub and GitLab.
• Full SDLC experience from requirements to final test.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support, and mentor a team of software engineers, fostering growth.
• Own delivery of software features from planning to release.
• Provide technical direction including design decisions and architecture alignment.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, Engineering Managers, QA, DevOps and stakeholders.
• Break down work into clear tasks with estimates and acceptance criteria.
• Contribute hands-on in design, coding, testing, and debugging as needed.
• Review code and designs for quality, security, and scalability.
• Identify risks, blockers, dependencies and reduce technical debt.
• Promote agile practices and transparent progress reporting.
• Ensure solutions meet business needs and engineering standards.

Skills

Software engineering

Team leadership

CI/CD

Embedded

C

C++

GitHub

GitLab

Tools

GitHub

GitLab

Job description

DTC, a Codan Company, is a leading provider of advanced communications technology supporting defence, security, and mission-critical operations worldwide. As part of Codan Limited, an international technology company with a long-standing reputation for delivering trusted communications solutions, DTC combines specialist engineering expertise with global resources to develop and support products that perform in the world's most demanding operational environments.

Serving customers across Europe and internationally, DTC delivers secure communications capabilities that enable defence forces, government agencies, public safety organizations, and critical infrastructure operators to achieve reliable, resilient, and effective communications. Our solutions are designed to meet the evolving requirements of modern operations, where performance, interoperability, and operational readiness are essential.

Innovation, technical excellence, and customer partnership are central to our approach. We work closely with government, defence, and industry partners to develop technologies that address emerging operational challenges while meeting rigorous quality, security, and regulatory standards.

As part of the Codan Group, employees benefit from the strength of a global organisation while contributing within a focused, agile business dedicated to delivering advanced communications solutions. We are committed to fostering a professional environment that values expertise, collaboration, integrity, and continuous improvement.

Joining DTC offers the opportunity to work alongside experienced professionals on technologies that support national security, defence modernisation, and critical communications capabilities throughout Europe and around the world. We seek individuals who are motivated by technical excellence, innovation, and the opportunity to contribute to solutions that have a meaningful operational impact.

Role Summary

The Software Engineering Team Lead is responsible for guiding a team of software engineers to deliver high-quality, reliable, and maintainable SDR software. This is a hands‑on technical leadership role that combines engineering expertise, delivery ownership, mentoring, and collaboration with product, operations, and business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, support, and mentor a team of software engineers, helping them grow technically and professionally.
• Own the delivery of software features, improvements, and technical initiatives from planning through to release.
• Provide technical direction for the team, including design decisions, architecture alignment, coding standards, and engineering best practices.
• Work closely with Product Managers, Engineering Managers, QA, DevOps, and other stakeholders to understand priorities and translate them into achievable engineering plans.
• Break down complex work into clear, well-scoped tasks with realistic estimates, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
• Contribute hands‑on to software development where appropriate, including design, coding, testing, debugging, and troubleshooting.
• Review code and technical designs to ensure quality, maintainability, performance, security, and scalability.
• Identify and manage technical risks, delivery blockers, dependencies, and opportunities to reduce technical debt.
• Promote agile engineering practices, including sprint planning, daily stand‑ups, retrospectives, continuous improvement, and transparent progress reporting.
• Ensure the team builds solutions that meet business needs, customer expectations, operational requirements, and agreed engineering standards.
• Provide expertise into the software development process

Required Skills And Experience

• Strong experience in software engineering, typically gained through several years of hands‑on development in commercial embedded environments
• Proven ability to lead technical delivery within a software engineering team.
• Strong knowledge of modern software development practices, including software design, automated testing, CI/CD, source control, code review, and secure development.
• Ability to communicate complex technical topics clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Strong problem‑solving skills, sound engineering judgement, and the ability to make pragmatic trade‑offs.
• Experience mentoring engineers and creating an inclusive, collaborative, and high‑performing team environment.
• Understanding of operational considerations such as reliability, observability, incident response, performance, and supportability.
• Experience in some or preferable all of the following C, C++, VHDL, MATLAB, Python, Git Hub and Git lab
• Full Software Development Lifecycle experience from requirements capture to Final test.

Desirable Skills

• Experience leading distributed, hybrid, or cross‑functional engineering teams.
• Experience of working in embedded communication platforms such as Software Defined Radios (SDRs) would be desirable but not essential
• Experience improving engineering practices, development processes, tooling, or team ways of working.
• Familiarity with architectural decision records, technical roadmaps, service ownership models, or platform engineering concepts.
• Experience supporting recruitment, onboarding, performance development and progression planning for engineers.

Success Measures

• The team delivers predictable, high-quality software aligned to agreed priorities and commitments.
• Technical solutions are maintainable, secure, scalable, and aligned with engineering standards.
• Engineers receive clear guidance, constructive feedback, and opportunities to grow.
• Delivery risks, blockers, and dependencies are identified early and communicated transparently.
• The team continuously improves its engineering practices, collaboration, and delivery effectiveness.