Head of Backend Engineering

JR United Kingdom; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fintech company in the UK seeks a Head of Backend Engineering to lead their backend team and architecture. This strategic role involves hands-on Java development and team mentorship, focusing on scalable and secure systems. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in fintech, payments, or banking domains and a strong leadership background.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 7+ years in backend Java development.
• Experience building distributed systems and microservices.
• Proven leadership in engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing backend engineering team.
• Own backend architecture and strategy.
• Contribute hands-on in Java development.

Skills

Java

Leadership

Microservices

REST API Design

Agile Practices

Tools

Quarkus

GraalVM

SpringBoot

Pub/Sub

Kafka

RabbitMQ

Job description

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Head of Backend Engineering, United Kingdom

Client: WeDo

Location: United Kingdom

Job Category: Other

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EU work permit required: Yes

Job Views: 10

Posted: 25.05.2025

Expiry Date: 09.07.2025

Job Description:

Head of Backend Engineering

Remote UK Only

Up to £150,000 + 20–25% bonus (permanent)

Remote-first | No equity at this stage

WeDo is supporting a mission-led fintech that delivers working capital and training to underserved micro and small businesses. With millions of loans disbursed and an impressive repayment rate, they leverage mobile money, machine learning, and a hybrid service model to create sustainable impact.

They seek a Head of Backend Engineering to lead the development of their core lending platform. This strategic role involves ownership of backend architecture, performance, and team growth. The ideal candidate is a technologist who can review PRs, design architectures, or contribute to system designs (about 20% of the role), and understands that their greatest impact comes from enabling others within the Payment, Fintech, or Banking domains.

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead and develop a high-performing backend engineering team focusing on collaboration, mentorship, and technical excellence
• Own backend architecture and strategy, ensuring systems are scalable, reliable, and secure
• Contribute hands-on in Java development (preferably with Quarkus/GraalVM, or SpringBoot as an alternative)
• Oversee backend API design and integration, including messaging platforms like Pub/Sub
• Define and monitor technical KPIs such as system availability, latency, and error rates
• Collaborate with product, infrastructure, frontend, and data teams to achieve outcomes
• Maintain high standards in software quality, testing, and maintainability

What we’re looking for:

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 7+ years in backend Java development
• Experience building distributed systems and microservices
• Proven leadership in engineering teams with coaching, delegation, and development skills
• Hands-on Java expertise, preferably with Quarkus or GraalVM; SpringBoot experience is also valued
• Familiarity with messaging systems like Pub/Sub, Kafka, or RabbitMQ
• Strong understanding of REST API design, CI/CD, and Agile practices
• Experience in fintech, payments, or banking domains

Who this suits:

• Technically strong and values-driven individuals
• Leaders who empower their teams
• Problem-solvers focusing on the right issues
• Pragmatic engineers who prioritize effective solutions
• Aligned with long-term goals and the product mission

Who this isn’t for:

• Those wanting to rewrite the entire Java codebase
• Individuals aiming to migrate the platform to AWS (company is committed to GCP)
• Candidates motivated primarily by equity or valuation rather than purpose and delivery