Lead Software Engineer

ZipRecruiter; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative start-up is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to design and build a cutting-edge post-trade lifecycle engine. This role offers the opportunity to work with advanced technologies such as Java, Kotlin, and Kafka, driving automation and efficiency in capital markets. The ideal candidate will thrive in a collaborative environment, leading technical initiatives and mentoring other engineers. With a hybrid work model, you will enjoy flexibility while making impactful contributions to the company's technology roadmap. Join a team dedicated to shaping the future of financial infrastructure and post-trade automation.

Benefits

Flexible remote work

Competitive compensation

Collaborative culture

Ownership & impact in projects

Qualifications

• Strong experience in Java and Kotlin for event-driven systems.
• Deep understanding of domain-driven design and structured models.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement services around the FINOS CDM.
• Translate business logic into formal domain models for automation.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

Event-driven architecture

Domain-driven design

Kafka

Problem-solving

Communication

Tools

Kafka

Temporal.io

Job description

Job Description

ABOUT TOKENOVATE

Tokenovate is a next- post-trade automation platform for derivatives and SFTs. Our unified, data-agnostic solution ensures automated and seamless transaction processing across all asset classes, products and market infrastructures — no matter what you trade or where your assets are held.

By operationalising and embedding industry standards such as the Common Domain Model (CDM) directly into our platform, we harness the power of blockchain, smart contracts and tokenisation to drive automation, interoperability, and efficiency across capital markets.

Founded in 2022, we are a fully funded UK-based start-up in the early commercialisation stage. Our team blends deep technical expertise with a pragmatic approach to enterprise blockchain adoption. We are collaborative, execution-focused, and hands-on — our sleeves are permanently rolled up, and we value ownership, clarity, and teamwork.

We have offices in Cambridge (Cambridge Science Park) and London (City of London). This role is hybrid, based in Cambridge, with 2-3 days per week in the office.

THE ROLE

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will play a central role in designing and building Tokenovate’s post-trade lifecycle engine, grounded in the FINOS Common Domain Model (CDM) — an open-source, standardised representation of financial contracts and events.

You will collaborate with domain experts, engineers, and product stakeholders to formalise financial workflows into code, using Java and Kotlin to build scalable, event-driven systems. Your work will drive consistency, transparency, and interoperability across our platform, enabling features such as post-trade automation, collateral mobility, regulatory reporting, and auditability.

This is a hands-on technical leadership position ideal for someone with strong experience in modelling complex domains and building resilient, data and event driven architectures.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Architecture & Engineering

• Design and implement services around the FINOS CDM, aligning closely with formal domain-driven principles.
• Build reactive, event-driven components using Java and Kotlin, ensuring scalability and resilience.
• Work with Kafka or similar messaging platforms to deliver asynchronous, high-throughput event processing.

Domain Modelling & Domain Specific

• Translate business logic and financial workflows into formal domain models and DSLs for contract representation and automation.
• Champion data modelling standards to ensure traceability and semantic clarity across trade events and asset lifecycles.

Collaboration & Technical Leadership

• Partner with product owners, legal experts, and other engineers to deliver compliant, maintainable features.
• Work with industry partners and participate in open source technical working groups to drive forward standards for CDM and associated technologies.
• Provide mentoring and technical leadership to other engineers working on CDM-aligned services

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Must-haves

• Strong commercial experience with Java and Kotlin in event driven data-intensive environments.
• Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives from architecture to delivery.
• Deep understanding of domain-driven design (DDD) and experience building production systems with structured domain models.
• Hands-on experience with event-driven architectures and asynchronous processing using Kafka, or similar.
• Experience of working with DSLs, especially in financial or rule-based systems.
• Excellent problem-solving, documentation, and communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment where clarity, ownership, and agility are valued.

Nice-to-haves

• Familiarity with the FINOS CDM or equivalent financial contract/event modelling standards.
• Experience with Temporal.io or other workflow orchestration platforms.
• Familiarity with model-driven engineering, formal verification, or financial standards such as FINOS CDM or FpML.
• Familiarity with capital markets or previous experience working in a fintech.

WHY JOIN US?

• Cutting-Edge Work – Build innovative solutions at the intersection of Capital markets and post trade automation
• Hybrid Work Model – Enjoy the flexibility of remote work while collaborating in person at our Cambridge Science Park office (2-3 days per week).
• Ownership & Impact – Your contributions will shape our technology and product roadmap.
• Competitive Compensation – We offer a strong package based on experience and expertise.
• Collaborative Culture – No egos, just a team of experienced and empathetic professionals working together to deliver real impact.

If you’re passionate about building scalable financial infrastructure, and working with an expert team, we’d love to hear from you!

Apply now and let’s build the future of post-trade together!