Lead Engineer: AI-Driven Payments & Scale

PLP Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Klarna in London is seeking a Lead Engineer to design and own the systems that move money for millions of users. You’ll write code, make architecture calls, mentor engineers, and push for reliability, security, and performance at scale.

This hands-on role values deep experience in Java, JavaScript, or Python, with the ability to trade off complexity for business value and to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and operating large-scale, reliable systems.
• Ability to trade off complexity for business value and speed to market.
• Clear communication with technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Make sound, defensible technical decisions and explain trade-offs.
• Own architecture decisions and ensure reliability, auditability, and security at scale.
• Mentor engineers and raise technical standards across teams.
• Collaborate with product and domain teams to align technical work with business outcomes.
• Lead the use of AI within everyday engineering practices, beyond demos.

Skills

Java

JavaScript

Python

System design

Leadership

Job description

Klarna in London is seeking a Lead Engineer to design and own the systems that move money for millions of users. You’ll write code, make architecture calls, mentor engineers, and push for reliability, security, and performance at scale.

This hands-on role values deep experience in Java, JavaScript, or Python, with the ability to trade off complexity for business value and to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences.