Lead Back End Engineer

Ronald James; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Ronald James in Newcastle upon Tyne seeks a Lead Backend Engineer to own backend engineering, shaping strategy, architecture, and delivery impact. This hands-on leadership role combines strategy, architecture, and delivery impact within our Back End team.

The position is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (NE12 8BX), offering a substantial salary and opportunities to influence technical direction across teams.

Qualifications

• Extensive backend engineering experience with Java 11+ and Spring Boot.
• Ability to design and lead backend architectures for complex systems.
• Experience with cloud environments (AWS preferred) and container orchestration (Kubernetes).
• Experience with event-driven architectures and messaging systems (Kafka).
• Strong knowledge of RESTful APIs, microservices, and distributed systems design.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve backend architecture for scalability, maintainability, and performance.
• Set coding standards and champion secure development practices (OWASP).
• Influence technology choices, frameworks, and tools to support engineering excellence.
• Oversee improvements to CI/CD pipelines, build processes, and deployment workflows.
• Communicate technical risks clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Lead projects and features balancing technical debt, design, and business needs.
• Coach and mentor engineers and promote a strong backend culture.
• Facilitate design discussions, code reviews, and cross-team problem solving.

Skills

Mentoring

Leadership

Architectural design

Problem-solving

Agile collaboration

Git-based workflows

Tools

AWS

Java

Spring

Spring Boot

Kafka

Kubernetes

SQL

NoSQL

CI/CD

OWASP

Docker

JIRA

Job description

Salary: £38,000 - 78,000 per year

Requirements:

• We have strong backend engineering experience, ideally with Java 11+ and Spring Boot.
• We can design and lead backend architectures for complex systems.
• We are familiar with cloud environments, with AWS preferred, and container orchestration such as Kubernetes.
• We have experience with event-driven architectures and messaging platforms such as Kafka.
• We understand RESTful APIs, microservices, and distributed system design.
• We have knowledge of SQL and NoSQL databases.
• We have experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and modern deployment practices.
• We are skilled mentors and can influence technical direction across teams.
• We have strong problem-solving skills and can balance technical, product, and delivery considerations.
• We are comfortable working in agile environments using Git-based SCM and tools such as Jira or Redmine.
• We have awareness of compliance frameworks such as ISO27001 and PCI.

Responsibilities:

• We define and evolve backend architecture to ensure scalability, maintainability, and performance.
• We set coding standards and champion secure development practices, including OWASP.
• We influence technology choices, frameworks, and tools to support engineering excellence.
• We oversee improvements to CI/CD pipelines, build processes, and operational workflows.
• We clearly articulate technical risks to non-technical stakeholders.
• We lead projects and features to successful outcomes, balancing technical debt, system design, and business needs.
• We contribute to key backend systems when our expertise is needed.
• We review and refine critical code to ensure architectural alignment.
• We provide technical oversight for major initiatives.
• We coach and mentor engineers, raising capability across the backend discipline.
• We facilitate design discussions, code reviews, and collaborative problem-solving sessions.
• We build consensus for architectural and technical decisions across teams.
• We identify and resolve technical debt.
• We introduce new backend technologies and approaches that improve reliability and delivery speed.
• We promote engineering practices that support scalability, security, and maintainability.
• We stay up to date with technology trends and contribute to engineering strategy.
• We share knowledge through presentations, workshops, and forums.
• We support recruitment by assessing candidates and promoting a strong engineering culture.
• We ensure backend systems comply with standards such as ISO27001 and PCI.

Technologies:

• AWS
• Backend
• CI/CD
• Cloud
• Git
• Support
• JIRA
• Java
• Kafka
• Kubernetes
• NoSQL
• OWASP
• SQL
• Security
• Spring
• Spring Boot
• microservices
• DevOps

More:

We are a fast-scaling SaaS business looking for a Lead Backend Engineer to take ownership of backend engineering and help shape our technical future. This is a hands-on leadership role where we combine strategy, architecture, and delivery impact. The position is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (NE12 8BX), with a salary of 75,000 to 85,000. The role is permanent and sits within our Back End team.

last updated 36 week of 2026