Lead Software Engineer

Manchester Digital; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 78,000 - 93,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading government digital department in the UK is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to set engineering standards and manage multiple teams. You will influence technical vision, promote best practices, and drive innovation in developing technology solutions impacting millions of users. The role offers competitive pay, excellent benefits, and a hybrid working model.

Benefits

Generous leave package starting at 26 days

Civil service pension with employer contributions

Flexible working hours

Professional development opportunities

Discounts and savings on shopping

Qualifications

• Proven experience in the design, development, and support of complex systems.
• Ability to define priorities, delegate effectively, and coach teams.
• Excellent communication skills for explaining technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Set engineering standards and promote best practices.
• Influence technical vision and foster collaboration across teams.
• Lead multiple engineering teams to deliver valuable technology solutions.

Skills

Proven software engineering expertise

Leadership experience managing multiple engineering teams

Strong knowledge of microservices and event-driven architectures

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills

Familiarity with technical governance

Job description

This is a great opportunity to join our community of experts at DWP Digital as a Lead Software Engineer.

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.

The skills, knowledge and experience you need:

• 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.

You and your role

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.

Location: You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester or Newcastle, whichever is most convenient for you.

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.

We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• 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
• 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
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.

Process:

We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:

• Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.
• Interview: a single stage face to face interview.

CLICK APPLY for more information and to start your application.