Lead Engineer

trg.; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

trg. is seeking a Lead Engineer in the Greater London area to own significant aspects of the platform, balance hands-on development with leadership, and help set architecture and engineering standards. You will work closely with the Head of Engineering and guide a small team through hard technical challenges.

The role targets someone with experience building AI/LLM powered products in fast-moving startup environments and a track record of architectural ownership across microservices and APIs.

Qualifications

• Experience leading an engineering team in a fast-moving startup.
• Hands-on contributor with ownership of complex platform areas.
• Experience building AI/LLM-powered products and systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on leadership and take ownership across the platform.
• Shape architecture, engineering standards and cross-service integration.
• Mentor a small engineering team and drive delivery of hard technical problems.
• Collaborate with Head of Engineering to steer tech direction.

Skills

Lead Engineer

Hands-on

Architectural ownership

AI/LLM products

Team leadership

Startup experience

Microservices

APIs

Event-driven systems

Job description

We’re working with a fast-growing AI startup building an agentic platform that automates real-world operational workflows for an established UK industry.

They’re looking for a Lead Engineer to work closely with the Head of Engineering and take serious ownership across the platform.

This is a builder-first leadership role — you’ll lead a small engineering team, but remain highly hands-on, owning some of the hardest technical problems and helping shape architecture and engineering standards.

Why it’s interesting:

• Genuinely AI-native product — LLMs and agents sit at the heart of the platform
• Agentic engineering culture using Claude Code and AI agents day-to-day
• Real architectural ownership across microservices, APIs and event-driven systems
• Lead a small team while remaining a key individual contributor
• Early enough to have significant influence over how the platform is built

You’ll suit this if you’re already a Lead Engineer — or a strong Senior ready to step up — and have experience building AI/LLM products in fast-moving startup environments.