Lead Software Engineer

DWP Digital; Lancashire; Hybrid; GBP 78,000 - 93,000; Full time

Job summary

A government digital service provider in the UK is looking for a Lead Software Engineer to spearhead engineering standards and best practices. In this role, you will influence the technical vision across multiple teams and products, ensuring high-quality software delivery. With a strong emphasis on microservices and event-driven architectures, you will be a key figure in shaping future technology solutions that benefit millions of users. Competitive salary and flexible working options provided.

Benefits

Competitive salary up to £92,522

28.97% employer pension contributions

Generous leave package starting at 26 days

Flexible working including flexible hours

Time off for volunteering

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven software engineering expertise in design, development, and support of complex systems.
• Leadership experience managing multiple engineering teams, setting standards, and driving consistency.
• Strong knowledge of microservices and event-driven architectures.

Responsibilities

• Set engineering standards and promote best practices.
• Influence the department's technical vision and resolve blockers.
• Lead multiple engineering teams and shape technology solutions.

Skills

Software engineering expertise

Leadership experience

Microservices knowledge

Event-driven architectures

Stakeholder management

Technical governance familiarity

Job description

As a Lead Software Engineer, you'll set engineering standards, promote best practices, and enable teams to deliver high-quality software. You'll use your leadership and collaboration skills to influence the department's technical vision, resolve blockers, and foster collaboration across the engineering community. This role is about leading multiple engineering teams within DWP Digital, making sure the right people are working on the right problems, and shaping how we build future technology solutions that deliver real value to millions of users. You'll work across citizen-facing products, contact centre solutions, and platform services, driving innovation and problem-solving at scale. You'll also play a key role in advancing engineering practices across DWP and government, accelerating the adoption of microservices and event‑driven architectures, and supporting the next generation of engineers through coaching and recruitment.

Key Requirements

• Proven software engineering expertise in design, development, and support of complex systems.
• Leadership experience managing multiple engineering teams, setting standards, and driving consistency.
• Strong knowledge of microservices, event‑driven architectures, and modern engineering practices.
• Ability to define priorities, delegate effectively, and coach teams to build capability.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including explaining technical concepts to non‑technical audiences.
• Familiarity with technical governance, domain‑driven design, and continuous improvement in engineering practices.

Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. In certain recruitment situations such as high‑volume, seasonal and high‑peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non‑disabled people. For more details please go to .

DWP is the UK's largest government department. We offer support and services to over 20 million daily users, and make payments worth over £195bn a year. Our Lead Software Engineers are experts in their field, role models in software craft and have proven experience in the design, development, and support of software products. Our DWP Digital community is building solutions that impact millions of people every day. We're doing it with modern engineering practices, cloud‑native platforms, and tools that rival the best in industry.

Regular travel between digital hubs is expected as part of the role (travel counts as working time, and your travel and expenses are paid). Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home (40%) and some time collaborating face to face in a hub (60%). Pay: We offer competitive pay for this role of up to £92,522. The maximum salary for the grade is £80,267, however a Digital Allowance of up to £12,225 per annum is also available for exceptional candidates. Pension: You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions of 28.97%, worth up to £23,253 per year. Holidays: A generous leave package starting at 26 days rising to 31 days over time. You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi‑time. You’ll also get all the usual public holidays.

Benefits

• An award‑winning environment and culture: Employer of the Year 2023 (Women In IT Awards), Founders Award for Outstanding Digital Leadership 2023 (Digital 100)
• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex‑friendly policies
• Time off volunteering and charitable giving
• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'
• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
• Interest‑free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference
• Sports and social activities
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.