Engineering Lead

Burns Sheehan; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 144,000 - 176,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Job summary

Burns Sheehan is recruiting an Engineering Lead for an early-stage AI startup in London. You will architect and scale backend systems, own technical direction, and lead a small engineering team while remaining close to the code daily.

You’ll collaborate with the Head of Engineering on strategy, define AI-native development practices, and work with customers to ensure the product solves real problems. A strong Node.js background and experience with APIs, microservices, and Next.js are essential.

Qualifications

• Hands-on software engineer with deep experience in Node.js.
• Architecture experience across APIs, microservices and scalable backend systems.
• Frontend exposure, ideally with Next.js.
• Experience building with LLMs, AI agents or agentic workflows.
• Confident use of AI coding tools such as Claude Code.
• Experience leading engineers, setting standards and enabling a small team.
• Clear, confident communication style with the ability to explain technical decisions simply.
• Strong academic background with a technical degree from a strong university.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build scalable backend systems and APIs across the product stack.
• Own technical direction for major features from design to production.
• Lead a small team of engineers and review their work.
• Remain hands-on in the codebase daily.
• Design microservices and event-driven architectures for real-time workflows.
• Set best practices for AI-native engineering workflows (Claude Code, agentic development).
• Partner with Head of Engineering on architecture and priorities.
• Engage with product and customers to ensure the systems solve real problems.

Skills

Node.js

API architecture

Microservices

Next.js

LLMs / AI agents

Claude Code

Engineering leadership

Communication

Academic degree

Education

Engineering degree (Russell Group)

Tools

NestJS

Next.js

Google Cloud

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

Qdrant

Job description

Engineering Lead - Early-Stage AI Startup | Strong Commercial Positioning

London – 4 days a week in the office

Up to £160,000 per annum plus excellent stock options

Engineering Lead - We’re working with an early-stage AI start-up building a product that automates high-volume operational workflows for a traditionally manual industry.

The product sits on top of existing customer systems and uses agentic AI, voice agents and workflow automation to handle complex operational tasks in real time. The company is still early, but already has strong market pull, direct founder involvement and a clear opportunity to define a new category.

They are now hiring an Engineering Lead to work closely with the Head of Engineering and take ownership across the core product stack. It is a hands-on software engineering leadership position for someone who wants to build the hardest parts of the system, set the technical standard and lead a small team while remaining close to the code every day.

The Role

As Engineering Lead you’ll be responsible for architecting, building and scaling backend systems, APIs, microservices and event-driven workflows that power a real-time AI product. You’ll work closely with the Head of Engineering on technical strategy, architecture and delivery, while also taking genuine management responsibility for a small team of engineers. The team is lean, fast-moving and heavily AI-native, so this role needs someone who can lead through both technical credibility and clear communication.

You’ll also play a key role in setting the standard for how the engineering team builds with AI, including agentic workflows, Claude Code and modern AI-assisted development practices.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Architecting and building scalable backend systems and APIs across the core product stack.
• Owning technical direction for major features and systems from design through to production.
• Leading a small team of engineers, reviewing their work and being accountable for what ships.
• Working hands-on in the codebase daily, not managing from a distance.
• Designing microservice and event-driven architectures for real-time operational workflows.
• Setting best practice for AI-native engineering workflows, including Claude Code and agentic development patterns.
• Partnering closely with the Head of Engineering on architecture, priorities and what not to build yet.
• Getting close to the product and customers so the systems being built solve the right problems.
• Communicating clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders as the company scales.

What They’re Looking For

• A strong hands-on software engineer with deep experience with Node.js.
• Strong architecture experience across APIs, microservices and scalable backend systems.
• Some frontend exposure, ideally with Next.js.
• Genuine experience building with LLMs, AI agents or agentic workflows.
• Confident use of AI coding tools such as Claude Code as part of your normal workflow.
• Experience leading engineers, setting standards and getting the best out of a small team.
• Clear, confident communication style with the ability to explain technical decisions simply.
• Strong academic background, ideally a technical degree from a Russell Group or similarly strong university.
• Startup or high-growth technology company experience.

The current stack includes Node, NestJS, Next.js, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, Postgres, MongoDB and Qdrant. The architecture is built around agents, real-time workflows and scalable product systems.

Why Join?

This is a rare opportunity to join an early-stage AI company in a genuinely influential engineering role. You’ll have direct access to the founders, work closely with the Head of Engineering, lead a small team, and own meaningful parts of the architecture from day one.