Lead Software Engineer

easyJet; Luton; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus 20%

Pension 7%

Staff travel benefits

Job summary

easyJet is seeking a Lead Software Engineer in Luton to provide technical leadership while remaining an active contributor to production software. You’ll guide a small team of engineers, design and operate scalable cloud-based solutions, and partner with Engineering Manager and Product Owner to align technical work with business goals.

You’ll spend the majority of your time writing code, shaping architecture, and setting coding standards, CI/CD practices and quality gates.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading technical delivery in production systems.
• Hands-on coding with cloud-based solutions (AWS) and modern stacks.
• Experience growing and coaching a small engineering team.

Responsibilities

• Lead squad's technical delivery, breaking down complex problems and guiding engineers to delivery.
• Design, build, test and operate production software with hands-on involvement.
• Coach up to four engineers and conduct development and performance conversations with the Engineering Manager.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring/Coaching

Hands-on engineering

Tools

.NET

Java

AWS

Job description

Luton | Full-time | Hybrid

20% bonus

• 7% pension
• Staff travel benefits

We support hybrid working, and you’ll spend 60% of your time each month in the office.

You're a hands-on software engineer with strong expertise in .NET, Java and AWS who enjoys solving complex problems while helping others do their best work.

You combine deep technical knowledge with practical leadership, guiding engineers through delivery challenges while remaining close to the code. If you enjoy building scalable cloud-based solutions, shaping technical decisions and creating an environment where teams can thrive, this role gives you the opportunity to make a significant impact across easyJet's technology organisation.

The opportunity

As Lead Software Engineer, you'll provide technical leadership within a squad while remaining a highly active contributor to software delivery. This is primarily a senior engineering role where you'll spend most of your time designing, building and operating production software while helping guide a small team of engineers.

You’ll lead technical delivery, make squad-level architecture and engineering decisions, and work closely with your Engineering Manager and Product Owner to ensure technical solutions align with business priorities. You’ll also support the development of up to four engineers, helping them grow while maintaining high standards of engineering quality and delivery.

"The best person for this role will be someone who loves writing software and solving problems but also enjoys helping other engineers succeed. You’ll lead through technical expertise, practical coaching and a commitment to delivering high-quality solutions that make a real difference."

Head of Software Engineering

The team & culture

Engineering at easyJet is organised around Missions and Squads, bringing technology teams closer to the parts of the business they support. You’ll work with Engineering Leads, Senior Engineers, Product teams and Mission leadership to ensure squads remain healthy, effective and focused on delivering value.

It’s a role for someone who enjoys coaching leaders, building strong relationships and driving continuous improvement. You’ll work closely with other Engineering Managers to share best practices, align standards and strengthen engineering culture across the organisation.

What You’ll Be Doing

You’ll design, build, test and operate software in a genuinely hands‑on role, spending the majority of your time contributing directly to production systems.

You’ll lead the squad’s technical delivery, helping break down complex problems, align engineers on the right approach and maintain momentum through to successful delivery.

You’ll coach and support up to four engineers, providing guidance, feedback and day‑to‑day technical leadership while partnering with your Engineering Manager on development and performance conversations.

You’ll Also

• Set and uphold engineering standards through code reviews, testing and operational ownership.
• Improve engineering practices across CI/CD, automated testing, observability and production operations.
• Encourage continuous learning, experimentation and technical improvement across the squad.
• Explore and embed AI‑assisted engineering tools to improve productivity and software delivery.
• Work closely with Product Owners and stakeholders to deliver practical solutions to business challenges.

What We’re Looking For

You’ll bring strong software engineering experience and a track record of building, shipping and operating production systems.

You’ll have experience leading technical work while remaining hands‑on, with the ability to influence technical direction through credibility, collaboration and expertise.