Lead Developer

LSEG; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

Retirement planning

Paid volunteering days

Wellbeing initiatives

Job summary

LSEG is searching for a Lead Java Developer to contribute to the FTSE Russell Index Platform. Ideal candidates will have over 12 years of hands-on backend engineering experience, including Java and Python proficiency, and capability in building AI-powered features. The position demands collaboration with global teams and leading projects through the full software lifecycle. Benefits include healthcare, paid volunteering days, and numerous development opportunities.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of hands-on backend software engineering experience.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to translate business problems into scalable solutions.
• Prior exposure to Level 3 production support.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain complex Java and Python applications.
• Collaborate with global teams to deliver high-quality products.
• Lead projects end-to-end through design, development, and operations.

Skills

Core Java

Python

Microservices

REST APIs

CI/CD tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Algorithms

Data structures

Tools

Jenkins

GitLab

Oracle

SQL Server

Postgres

Redis

Kafka

Spring Boot

Job description

Lead Java Developer

Business Unit: FTSE Russell – Index Platform

Company: London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)

We are seeking a highly skilled and hands‑on Lead Java Engineer with AI proficiency to help build the next generation FTSE Russell Index Platform. This platform underpins the calculation and distribution of FTSE Russell’s global family of indexes and requires advanced engineering, high precision data processing, and deep collaboration across global teams. This is a deeply technical role focused on designing, building, integrating, and operationalising modern software and AI‑driven capabilities across internal platforms and client‑facing products. You will work with innovative technologies, contribute to complex algorithmic design, and drive engineering excellence in a high‑performance, data‑intensive environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain complex Java and Python applications using modern engineering practices. Build / embed AI powered features into mission‑critical systems.
• Architect and enhance services that support large-scale, performance‑critical index computations.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, UX, and engineering teams globally to deliver high quality products.
• Lead projects end‑to‑end through requirements, design, development, testing, deployment, and operations.
• Build and maintain automated test suites to ensure performance, scalability, and security.
• Diagnose production issues, identify root causes, and deliver Level 3 support and fixes.
• Conduct peer reviews, provide technical leadership, and mentor junior engineers.

Required Experience & Skills

• 12+ years of hands‑on backend software engineering experience.
• Support the organisation’s AI adoption journey. Develop and enhance intelligent solutions using LLMs, LangChain/LangGraph, and agentic AI frameworks.
• Establish engineering best practices for safe, scalable, traceable and production‑ready AI deployments across internal platforms and external product suites.
• Strong algorithms, data structures, problem‑solving skills, and ability to translate business problems into scalable solutions.
• Good command of coding standards and strong understanding of both high‑level and low‑level software design.
• Expertise in:
  • Core Java, Python
  • Building highly distributed, data‑intensive systems
  • Microservices, REST APIs
  • RDBMS (Oracle/SQL Server/Postgres)
  • CI/CD tools (Jenkins/GitLab), DevOps automation
  • Docker, Kubernetes
  • JVM profiling & performance optimisation
• Prior exposure to Level 3 production support.

Preferred / Nice‑to‑Have Skills

• Experience leading or mentoring a team of engineers.
• Experience within financial services or with financial market data.
• Familiarity with in‑memory caching, Spring Boot, Redis, Kafka.
• Experience with BDD frameworks such as Cucumber, JBehave, or Karate.
• Experience running Agile teams.

Benefits

We enhance each employee’s potential through personal development opportunities and support a wide range of learning tools. Benefits include healthcare, retirement planning, paid volunteering days, and wellbeing initiatives.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. This means that we do not discriminate on the basis of anyone’s race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. Conforming with applicable law, we can reasonably accommodate applicants’ and employees’ religious practices and beliefs, as well as mental health or physical disability needs.