Lead Developer

Cox Enterprises; Market Harborough; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Cox Automotive Europe is seeking a Lead Developer to head a new engineering squad focused on cloud-native applications. You will combine hands-on engineering with technical leadership to replace legacy systems and accelerate digital transformation across MVS platforms.

You will mentor engineers, shape architecture, and drive modern practices like CI/CD and IaC while exploring AI-powered development tools in a broader transformation program.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software engineering teams within Agile environments.
• Strong hands-on expertise in .NET development and cloud-based architectures.
• Experience building scalable, secure and resilient applications.
• Exposure to AWS and Infrastructure as Code approaches such as Terraform.
• A passion for developing people and helping teams perform at their best.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a cross-functional team of engineers and quality specialists.
• Drive the design and delivery of cloud-native applications on AWS.
• Shape engineering standards, architecture decisions, and development practices.
• Champion modern engineering approaches including CI/CD, BDD/TDD, trunk-based development and Infrastructure as Code.
• Define how AI-assisted and agentic development tools are adopted responsibly within your team.
• Mentor engineers, helping them grow their skills and careers.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Architecture and Delivery teams to deliver business-critical outcomes.
• Play a key role in a multi-year transformation programme that is rebuilding core MVS platforms from the ground up.

Skills

Leadership

C# / .NET

Cloud architecture

AWS

AI tooling

Agile teams

Tools

Terraform

Docker

SQL Server

PostgreSQL

DynamoDB

ECS

Lambda

React

GitHub Actions

New Relic

Job description

Location: Leeds, Manchester or Bruntingthorpe (Hybrid, 2 days per week in-office)
Business Area: Enterprise Technology

Shape the Future of Automotive Technology

At Cox Automotive Europe, we're transforming the technology that powers one of the UK's largest vehicle services operations. Every year, our Manheim Vehicle Services (MVS) teams support the preparation, refurbishment, storage and movement of more than 200,000 vehicles for manufacturers, fleet operators, finance providers and rental companies.

We're now looking for a Lead Developer to help lead the next stage of that transformation.

This is more than a leadership role. You'll build and lead a newly formed engineering squad focused on creating cloud-native products that replace legacy systems and redefine how our business operates. You'll work at the intersection of modern software engineering, AI-enabled development, and large-scale digital transformation.

If you're excited by building greenfield solutions, empowering engineers, and using AI to accelerate software delivery without compromising quality, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

As a Lead Developer, you'll combine technical leadership with hands-on engineering expertise.

You'll:

• Lead and develop a cross-functional team of engineers and quality specialists.
• Drive the design and delivery of cloud-native applications on AWS.
• Shape engineering standards, architecture decisions, and development practices.
• Champion modern engineering approaches including CI/CD, BDD/TDD, trunk-based development and Infrastructure as Code.
• Define how AI-assisted and agentic development tools are adopted responsibly within your team.
• Mentor engineers, helping them grow their skills and careers.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Architecture and Delivery teams to deliver business-critical outcomes.
• Play a key role in a multi-year transformation programme that is rebuilding core MVS platforms from the ground up.

Your Impact

One of your first challenges will be leading the development of new customer-facing capabilities that replace legacy platforms and improve how customers review and authorize vehicle repair work. This is an opportunity to influence both the technical direction and the future operating model of the business.

Our Technology Stack

We're building modern, scalable solutions using:

• AWS
• .NET / .NET Core
• Terraform
• Docker
• AWS ECS & Lambda
• SQL Server, Aurora PostgreSQL & DynamoDB
• Event-driven architecture (SNS, SQS, EventBridge)
• React
• GitHub Enterprise & GitHub Actions
• New Relic

Experience across all technologies isn't essential. We're looking for strong engineering leaders who can learn, adapt and guide teams through change.

What We're Looking For

You'll likely have:

• Experience leading software engineering teams within Agile environments.
• Strong hands-on expertise in .NET development and cloud-based architectures.
• Experience building scalable, secure and resilient applications.
• Exposure to AWS and Infrastructure as Code approaches such as Terraform.
• A passion for developing people and helping teams perform at their best.
• Experience working in transformation, re-platforming or modernisation programmes.
• A practical understanding of how AI is changing software engineering, ideally with real-world experience using AI-powered development tools.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Who You Are

We're looking for someone who:

• Loves solving complex problems.
• Thrives in ambiguity and change.
• Leads with empathy and authenticity.
• Enjoys building high-performing teams.
• Balances technical excellence with business value.
• Is curious about emerging technology and excited by the future of AI-enabled engineering.

Why Join Cox Automotive?

This is a rare opportunity to join a transformation programme at an early stage, influence the technical roadmap, and help define how software is built within a fast-evolving engineering organisation.

You'll work alongside talented engineers, have the autonomy to shape your team, and build technology that delivers real operational impact at scale.