Lead Software Engineer

ByteHire; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 93,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A forward-thinking technology organization is seeking a PHP Engineering Lead to balance hands-on engineering with leadership responsibilities. This role requires significant experience in full-stack development, particularly with PHP frameworks, and leadership skills to mentor and guide a team. The ideal candidate will also have strong communication skills and familiarity with cloud services like AWS. A competitive salary and excellent benefits are provided in a hybrid work environment.

Benefits

Highly competitive salary package

25 days annual leave

Pension scheme

Private medical insurance

Modern, technology-focused office environment

Qualifications

• Significant full-stack engineering experience, particularly with PHP.
• Strong experience with JavaScript frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with AWS architecture and cloud-native workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering and development for a growing team.
• Design and deliver full-stack solutions.
• Own technical direction and manage end-to-end feature delivery.

Skills

Leadership

Full-stack Engineering

Communication

Technical Direction

Collaboration

Mentoring

Tools

PHP (Symfony / Laravel)

JavaScript (Vue.js, React.js, Node.js)

AWS

Docker

CI/CD Pipelines

MySQL

PostgreSQL

SQS

RabbitMQ

Job description

PHP Engineering Lead

Reference : BH-370p

Working Hours : Full time

Job Type : Permanent

Permanent Salary : £110,000 (negotiable dependent on experience)

Location : Hybrid : minimum 2 days per week at our clients Elstree / Kings Cross offices

About the Company : Our client is a forward-thinking technology organisation reshaping how creative products are produced and delivered. Their platform connects a global network of industry partners while empowering independent artists with scalable, accessible tools. As demand grows, the company is rapidly expanding its platform and infrastructure to support increasing global scale.

About the role : Our client is seeking a PHP Engineering Lead to balance approximately 50% hands‑on engineering with 50% leadership, architecture, and team development. This role requires someone who can bring structure, clarity, and technical direction to a growing engineering function.

Youll be responsible for shaping technical decisions, guiding delivery, mentoring engineers, and contributing hands‑on where it has the most impact. Strong communication, a collaborative mindset, and solid product instincts are essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineering Leadership, Delivery & Team Development
• Architect, design, and deliver scalable, high-performance full-stack solutions.
• Lead complex feature development across PHP (Symfony / Laravel), JavaScript (Vue.js or React.js or Node.js), and AWS.
• Own technical direction, architecture decisions, and engineering standards.
• Manage end‑to‑end delivery of features from discovery and planning through deployment and iteration.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of five engineers (one senior, four mid‑level).
• Conduct code reviews, guide technical approaches, and raise engineering standards.
• Support team growth through coaching, pairing, and knowledge sharing.
• Collaborate closely with the CEO and senior stakeholders on product and engineering strategy.
• Identify and address technical debt to support long‑term platform growth.

Platform, Infrastructure & Reliability

• Build and maintain APIs, microservices, backend systems, and third‑party integrations.
• Ensure platform security, performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Manage cloud‑native workflows using AWS, Docker, and CI / CD pipelines.
• Work with distributed systems and messaging technologies (e.g. SQS, RabbitMQ).
• Drive strong testing practices, monitoring, observability, and production readiness.

Essential Technical Experience

• Significant full‑stack engineering experience, particularly with PHP (Symfony or Laravel).
• Strong experience with JavaScript (Vue.js, React.js, and / or Node.js).
• Solid database expertise across MySQL and PostgreSQL.
• Hands‑on experience with AWS architecture, Docker, and CI / CD automation.
• Experience building APIs, microservices, and distributed systems.
• Familiarity with messaging systems such as SQS or RabbitMQ.
• Strong testing mindset using frameworks such as PHPUnit, Vitest, or equivalents.
• Proven ability to deliver features end‑to‑end from concept to production.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to balance technical depth with delivery.

Desirable Experience

• Previous experience leading engineering teams or acting as a technical lead.
• Interest in progressing further into people leadership.
• Exposure to automation systems, industrial software, or production workflows.
• Familiarity with manufacturing or factory‑adjacent technology environments.
• Experience with Node.js.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary package
• 25 days annual leave
• Pension scheme
• Private medical insurance
• Modern, technology‑focused office environment

Why Join Our Client

Take on a pivotal leadership role influencing the technical direction of a rapidly scaling platform.

Work directly with senior leadership on engineering strategy and product evolution.

Lead and mentor a growing development team, shaping culture and standards.

Contribute hands‑on and architecturally to a platform with strong industry visibility and creative impact.

Be part of a visionary company pushing innovation in physical media and creator technology.