Lead Backend Engineer (Routing Squad)

Planet A Ventures; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday allowance

Birthday day off

Private medical insurance

Performance reviews

EMI options

Team lunch

Volunteer days

Cycle to work

Dog-friendly office

Laptop provided

Job summary

HIVED is seeking a Lead Engineer to own the routing and planning domain within the city-scale delivery network. You’ll guide the Routing Squad, shape technical strategy, and build scalable systems that decide how parcels move efficiently.

You’ll work with data scientists, product, and operations to translate priorities into measurable outcomes, mentor engineers, and raise engineering standards in a fast-growing, hybrid London environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience in backend or distributed systems.
• Experience leading engineers with ownership of delivery.
• Ability to translate complex problems into robust technical solutions.
• Strong system design skills in distributed, production-grade environments.
• Interest in hard optimisation problems like routing and scheduling.
• Strong analytical thinking and practical judgement.
• Track record of setting high engineering standards and delivering results.
• Experience working cross-functionally with product, operations, data scientists and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Routing Squad across strategy, delivery, team leadership, and execution of squad goals.
• Own technical direction for routing optimisation, supply‑demand matching, parcel distribution, forecasting and planning.
• Translate business priorities into clear technical strategy, measurable outcomes and pragmatic execution plans.
• Guide architecture and system design for scalable, reliable optimisation and planning systems.
• Collaborate with optimisation engineers, data scientists, product and operations to ship solutions.
• Lead exploration and evaluation of new approaches in routing, scheduling, optimisation and distributed systems.
• Set and uphold high engineering standards through reviews, architectural guidance and mentoring.
• Manage, coach and develop engineers in the squad, including hiring and performance planning.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Distributed systems

Backend development

System design

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Ownership mindset

Technical mentoring

Job description

Role Overview

We are looking for a Lead Engineer to take ownership of one of HIVED’s highest‑impact technical domains: the planning pipeline that powers supply‑demand matching, parcel distribution, and routing optimisation.

As part of HIVED’s Routing Squad, you’ll lead the team tackling some of the most complex and intellectually demanding problems in computer science – building systems that decide how parcels move through the city efficiently, reliably, and at scale. This is a rare opportunity to combine deep engineering expertise, optimisation thinking, and real‑world domain understanding to shape a core strategic advantage for HIVED.

You’ll own the technical direction of the squad, set a high bar for engineering quality, and lead a team of engineers working closely with data scientists, analysts, product, and operations. Your work will have a direct and visible impact: better routing, stronger planning capabilities, more efficient operations, and a delivery network you can see improving in the city around you.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead the Routing Squad across technical strategy, delivery, team leadership, and execution of squad goals.
• Own the technical direction for systems supporting routing optimisation, supply‑demand matching, parcel distribution, forecasting, and planning.
• Translate business priorities and operational needs into clear technical strategy, measurable outcomes, and pragmatic execution plans.
• Guide architecture and system design for scalable, reliable, production‑grade optimisation and planning systems.
• Work closely with optimisation engineers, backend engineers, data scientists, analysts, product, and operational stakeholders to turn complex problems into shipped solutions.
• Lead the exploration and evaluation of new approaches across routing, scheduling, optimisation, forecasting, and distributed systems.
• Set and uphold a high engineering bar through technical reviews, architectural guidance, mentoring, and accountability for maintainable software.
• Manage, coach, and develop engineers in the squad, including hiring, performance management, development planning, and resourcing.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, ownership, high performance, and continuous learning within the team.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, including backend or distributed systems development.
• Experience leading engineers, either as a people manager or as a senior technical leader with meaningful ownership over team delivery.
• Proven ability to translate complex, ambiguous business or operational problems into robust technical solutions.
• Strong system design and architectural skills in distributed, production‑grade environments.
• An appetite for hard optimisation problems – especially routing, scheduling, forecasting, supply‑demand matching, or other constraint‑heavy domains.
• Strong analytical thinking and the ability to combine technical depth with practical judgement.
• A track record of setting high engineering standards and helping teams consistently meet them.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with product, operations, data scientists, analysts, and senior leadership.
• Strong ownership mindset: you care about the strategy, the system, the team, and the real‑world outcome.

Nice to Have

• Experience with routing, scheduling, optimisation, forecasting, logistics, mobility, or marketplace systems.
• Experience productionising algorithms, solvers, models, or data‑heavy decision systems.
• Familiarity with optimisation techniques such as linear/integer programming, constraint programming, heuristics, or solver‑based approaches.
• Experience working in a fast‑scaling operational environment where software has a direct physical‑world impact.

Technologies We Use

• Backend languages: Python, Go
• Tech infrastructure: AWS, CDK TypeScript, Lambda, SQS, EventBridge, RDS, DynamoDB
• Data tooling: GCP, BigQuery, Looker, Looker Studio
• Observability: Loki, Tempo, Grafana, Prometheus
• Event‑driven architecture and domain‑driven design

Benefits

• Dynamic hybrid working environment with a diverse and driven team
• Huge opportunity for learning in a high growth environment, with progression opportunities based on success in the role
• 25 days of holiday allowance plus public holidays
• 1 Birthday Day Off + 2 Tenure‑Based Additional Days Off
• Subsidised Private Medical Insurance including dental, vision & mental health therapy
• Bi‑annual performance reviews and tailored development plans
• Competitive salary + EMI options scheme
• Annual compensation review
• Team lunch provided once a week
• Quarterly team socials and annual sports day
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption policy as day 1 right
• Community volunteer daysCycle to work scheme
• Dog friendly office and depots
• MacBook Air or Windows Laptop (depending on your preference)