Lead Software Engineer

AGS; Liverpool; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Occasional travel to Liverpool

Job summary

AGS is seeking an experienced Lead Engineer to provide technical leadership across the stack, shaping architecture and setting high engineering standards. You will stay hands‑on, mentor the team, and drive initiatives that impact the platform and customers.

The role requires 5+ years in full‑stack development, expertise in AWS serverless, and proficiency in Java, Node.js, and React. Remote work with occasional travel to the Liverpool office is available.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in full‑stack software development at Senior/Lead level.
• Experience designing and developing serverless solutions on AWS.
• Commercial experience with Java, Node.js and React.
• Ability to independently lead technical initiatives across multiple teams with minimal supervision.
• Experience designing, implementing and owning architecture decisions in production environments.
• Proven track record of improving engineering quality and delivery through practical improvements.
• Experience adopting modern engineering practices including AI‑assisted development tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural decision‑making to ensure the platform remains scalable, secure, maintainable and resilient.
• Act as the technical authority for complex engineering challenges with hands‑on leadership.
• Advocate for modern software engineering practices, including AI‑assisted development and automation.
• Establish and maintain high standards for code quality, processes and peer reviews.

Skills

Senior Engineer

Lead Engineer

Full-stack development

AWS serverless

Java

Node.js

React

Technical leadership

Architecture design

Code reviews

Mentoring

Tools

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

Claude Code

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Remote working (occasional travel into Liverpool office x1 a month)

About the Role

We're looking for an experienced engineering leader who combines strong technical expertise with a proactive, ownership-driven mindset. As a Lead Engineer, you'll play a pivotal role within the Engineering team, providing technical leadership, influencing architectural direction, and setting high standards for engineering excellence.

This is a hands-on leadership position where you'll work closely with the Director of Product Engineering to shape the technical strategy, establish engineering best practices, and tackle the complex challenges that have the greatest impact on the platform and customers.

It's an exciting time to join the Organisation. They've established a solid platform, have a clear vision for the future, and are looking for someone who is excited to help drive the next stage of growth.

The successful candidate will be experienced in full stack engineering utilising Java, Node.JS, AWS, and front-end technologies such as React. This role is perfectly suited to a Lead Engineer who wants to remain hands‑on coding, whilst providing technical leadership/mentoring and assisting in architecture and technical strategy.

Responsibilities Include:

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Lead architectural decision‑making to ensure the platform remains scalable, secure, maintainable and resilient.
• Serve as the technical authority for complex engineering challenges, providing hands‑on leadership and guidance.
• Advocate for modern software engineering practices, including AI‑assisted development, automation and continuous improvement.
• Establish and maintain high standards for code quality, engineering processes and peer review across the team.

Delivery & Engineering Excellence

• Remain actively involved in development by designing, writing, reviewing and maintaining production code.
• Improve engineering efficiency through better tooling, reusable patterns and simplified technical approaches.
• Contribute to delivery planning and estimation, ensuring technical considerations support predictable outcomes.
• Identify, prioritise and reduce technical debt using a pragmatic and commercially balanced approach.
• Partner closely with the Director of Product Engineering to translate product strategy into scalable technical solutions.
• Collaborate with Product Management to evaluate technical feasibility, communicate trade‑offs and influence roadmap planning.
• Work directly with customers when appropriate to better understand product usage, technical challenges and future requirements.

Team Development

• Mentor and support engineers across the team, helping to develop technical capability and confidence.
• Foster a culture centred around accountability, engineering quality, collaboration and continuous learning.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years' experience in full‑stack software development, including significant experience operating at Senior or Lead Engineer level.
• Experience designing and developing serverless solutions on AWS.
• Commercial experience in Java, Node.js, and React.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead technical initiatives across multiple teams or workstreams with minimal supervision.
• Experience designing, implementing and owning architecture decisions within production environments.
• A proven track record of improving engineering quality and delivery through practical, iterative improvements.
• Experience adopting and promoting modern engineering practices, including AI‑assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor or Claude Code.
• Comfortable working within fast‑paced environments where priorities evolve and pragmatic decision‑making is essential.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with vector databases and Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures.
• Experience working with containerised applications and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• AWS certifications, including Solutions Architect or Machine Learning Specialty.