Lead Software Engineer

Kingfisher plc; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Competitive benefits

Job summary

Kingfisher plc in London (Paddington) is seeking a Lead Software Engineer with deep Fluent OMS expertise to design and optimise complex workflows, rulesets, event flows, and integrations that power scalable Order Management solutions.

In this hands-on engineering leadership role, you will own Low-Level Design, influence High-Level Design, mentor engineers, and drive engineering excellence across your squad in a fast-moving, growth-focused environment.

Qualifications

• Experience with APIs and Spring microservices.
• Kafka, Docker and Kotlin are highly desirable.
• Strong software engineering, architecture and quality practices.
• Proven technical leadership and ability to mentor teams.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Skills

APIs & Spring

Leadership

Stakeholder mgmt

Problem solving

Tools

Kafka

Docker

Kotlin

Job description

About Us

We’re Kingfisher, A team made up of over 74,000 passionate people who bring Kingfisher - and all our other brands: B&Q, Screwfix, Brico Depot, Castorama and Koctas to life. Guided by our purpose Better Homes. Better Lives. For Everyone. We believe a better world starts with better homes, and we work every day to make that a reality. Join us and help shape the future of home improvement.

About Us

We’re Kingfisher, A team made up of over 74,000 passionate people who bring Kingfisher - and all our other brands: B&Q, Screwfix, Brico Depot, Castorama and Koctas to life. Guided by our purpose Better Homes. Better Lives. For Everyone. We believe a better world starts with better homes, and we work every day to make that a reality. Join us and help shape the future of home improvement.

The role

Join us at a pivotal stage of transformation as we build a world-class retail engineering function. We're looking for an experienced Lead Software Engineer with deep Fluent OMS expertise to design and optimise complex workflows, rulesets, event flows, and integrations that power scalable and reliable Order Management solutions.

In this role, you'll take ownership of Low-Level Design (LLD), influence High-Level Design (HLD), and provide technical leadership across your squad. As a hands-on engineering leader, you'll navigate complexity, drive innovation, and deliver high-impact outcomes.

If you're passionate about solving challenging problems, building exceptional software, and helping shape the future of retail technology, we'd love to hear from you. This is an opportunity to make a real impact in a fast-moving, growth-focused environment.

Please note that this role is based in London (Paddington) with an expectation of four days per month in the office.

What's the job?

• Technical Leadership: Provide technical direction, coaching, and mentorship to engineers, influencing squad objectives and long-term engineering goals.
• Solution Delivery: Lead the design and delivery of complex, scalable solutions, partnering with Engineering Leads, Principal Engineers, and Architects to develop effective low-level designs.
• Engineering Excellence: Champion engineering best practices, quality standards, and continuous improvement initiatives that drive measurable impact.
• Talent Development: Support recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing development activities, helping to build and retain high-performing engineering teams.
• Knowledge Sharing: Foster a culture of collaboration through effective documentation, knowledge sharing, and technical leadership across the wider engineering community.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build strong relationships across engineering and business teams, ensuring alignment and successful delivery of strategic objectives.
• Continuous Learning: Take ownership of personal development while promoting a culture of learning, innovation, and adoption of emerging technologies.
• Innovation & Problem Solving: Drive experimentation and creative thinking to solve complex technical challenges and deliver innovative solutions.

What You'll Bring

• Extensive experience working with APIs and Spring microservices, with additional expertise in Kafka, Docker, and Kotlin being highly desirable.
• Strong software engineering expertise with the ability to design robust solutions and write high-quality code across multiple technologies.
• Proven technical leadership skills, inspiring and motivating engineers to deliver impactful outcomes.
• Deep understanding of software engineering, architecture, and quality practices, with the ability to apply technical concepts to business needs.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills, leading the delivery of complex technical solutions.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, influencing technical discussions and driving alignment.
• Proactive, self-driven mindset with experience defining non-functional requirements and fostering innovation and continuous improvement.

How We Work

We believe in flexibility and balance. Our hybrid model blends home working for focus with time spent connecting and collaborating - whether in our offices or at offsite locations. On average within our Engineering team - 20% of your time involving in-person collaboration.

We value the perspectives new team members bring and encourage you to apply - even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements.

What We Offer

An inclusive environment where your potential is limited only by your imagination. We encourage new ideas, support experimentation, and strive to create a workplace where everyone can be their best self. Find out more about Diversity & Inclusion at Kingfisher here We also offer a competitive benefits package and plenty of opportunities to stretch and grow your career.

Diversity & Inclusion

Our customers come from all walks of life - and so do we. We’re committed to ensuring all colleagues, future colleagues, and applicants are treated equally, regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, ethnicity, culture, religion, belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.