Lead Software Engineer – Hybrid in Manchester

Bauer Media Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Bauer Media Group seeks a Lead Engineer for its Manchester hub to lead a small software squad delivering critical business solutions. The role combines hands-on coding with people leadership, guiding architecture, and ensuring high standards in a DevOps culture.

You will work with Product and Tech leaders to align engineering with strategic priorities, while fostering an inclusive, collaborative environment and delivering initiatives across Europe.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software engineering squads in a product-driven environment.
• Ability to guide technical direction and software architecture while delivering value.

Responsibilities

• Grow and coach the squad, conduct 1:1s, performance reviews, and growth plans.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers to build confidence and skills.
• Write and review production-grade code, guiding quality and maintainability.
• Drive architectural decisions and technical direction within the squad and broader org.
• Plan squad capacity, forecast hiring needs, and manage delivery commitments.
• Define coding standards, review processes, and manage technical debt.
• Participate in incident management rotas and support the DevOps culture.

Skills

Team leadership

Mentoring

Agile delivery

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Tools

Java Spring Boot

AWS

Kubernetes

Kafka

TypeScript/React

Job description

Bauer Media Group seeks a Lead Engineer for its Manchester hub to lead a small software squad delivering critical business solutions. The role combines hands-on coding with people leadership, guiding architecture, and ensuring high standards in a DevOps culture.

You will work with Product and Tech leaders to align engineering with strategic priorities, while fostering an inclusive, collaborative environment and delivering initiatives across Europe.