Lead Java Software Engineer - Sports

Client Server Limited; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training budget

Pension

Healthcare (dental & optical)

Wellness experiences

Gym subsidy

Cycle-to-work

Volunteer days

Career progression opportunities

Any location work month

Job summary

Client Server Limited in Manchester is seeking a Lead Software Engineer / Team Lead to guide a small, high-performing development team on real-time sports betting applications. The role blends hands-on architecture and coding with people management.

You will mentor, coach, and collaborate with the Product Owner to oversee the full delivery lifecycle, promote engineering excellence, and ensure the backlog is delivered to a high standard, while enabling the team to innovate and perform at their

Qualifications

• Strong backend software engineering skills and experience.
• Strong Java and Spring Boot development experience.
• Technical or team leadership experience, including mentoring and coaching.
• Advocacy for software engineering best practices.
• Experience with Test Driven Development (TDD).
• Solid CS fundamentals: OOP, multithreading, design patterns, data structures.
• Comfort with agentic AI coding.
• Collaborative with stakeholders and strong communication.
• Nice to have: Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker, or AWS experience.

Responsibilities

• Guide and inspire a small, high-performing development team working on real-time sports betting applications.
• Balance hands-on architecture and coding with people management, including coaching and mentoring.
• Collaborate with the Product Owner and oversee the full delivery lifecycle.
• Ensure the product backlog is delivered efficiently and to a high standard.
• Promote engineering excellence, best practices, and continuous improvement across the team and wider organisation.
• Create a developer-friendly environment that enables individuals to focus, innovate, and perform at their best.

Skills

Backend software engineering

Java

Spring Boot

Team leadership

Mentoring

TDD

OOP & design patterns

Multithreading

Communication

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Kafka

AWS

Java

Spring

Spring Boot

TDD

Job description

Salary: £75,000 - 75,000 per year

Requirements:

• Strong backend software engineering skills and experience
• Strong Java and Spring Boot development experience
• Technical or team leadership experience, including mentoring and coaching
• Advocacy for software engineering best practices
• Experience with Test Driven Development (TDD)
• Strong knowledge of computer science fundamentals, including object-oriented programming, multithreading, design patterns, and data structures
• Comfort with agentic AI coding
• Collaborative and pragmatic approach, with strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Nice to have: Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker, or AWS experience

Responsibilities:

• Guide and inspire a small, high-performing development team working on real-time sports betting applications
• Balance hands-on architecture and coding with people management, including coaching and mentoring
• Collaborate closely with the Product Owner and oversee the full delivery lifecycle
• Ensure the product backlog is delivered efficiently and to a high standard
• Promote engineering excellence, best practices, and continuous improvement across the team and wider organisation
• Create a developer-friendly environment that enables individuals to focus, innovate, and perform at their best

Technologies:

• Agentic AI
• AI
• AWS
• Backend
• Docker
• Java
• Kafka
• Kubernetes
• Product Owner
• Spring
• Spring Boot
• TDD
• Cloud
• OOP

More:

We are a global games software house offering the opportunity to work on complex systems with the latest technology in a diverse, supportive environment. The Lead Software Engineer / Team Lead role is based in Central Manchester, with three days a week in the office and flexibility to work from home twice a week. The salary is up to £78,000. Our benefits include the option to work anywhere for one month per year, a personalised training budget, pension, healthcare including dental and optical cover, wellness experiences, gym subsidy, cycle-to-work scheme, volunteer days, and career progression opportunities. The role offers continual learning and an approximately 80/20 split between hands-on technical work and people management.

last updated 40 week of 2026