Lead Software Engineer - Java - Investment Bank - London - £100K - £130K - On-site 5 days a week

CommuniTech Recruitment Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

CommuniTech Recruitment Group is recruiting a Lead Software Engineer for a London-based investment bank. This hands-on leadership role will drive architecture, delivery and the adoption of modern streaming and AI-assisted development practices.

You will lead a team of 3-8 engineers, own end-to-end delivery, and collaborate with stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions for payments, cross-border activities and data platforms.

Qualifications

• Hands-on technical leadership with delivery ownership.
• Strong experience with Java 17+ and Kafka for large-scale systems.
• Proven ability to lead engineering teams and deliver complex projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 3-8 engineers, providing technical direction, mentoring and support.
• Own end-to-end technical delivery, from architecture and design through development, testing and production deployment.
• Design and build scalable, high-performance distributed systems.
• Drive the adoption of agentic AI development tools and practices to improve engineering productivity.
• Collaborate directly with clients and stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Deliver projects across payments modernisation, cross-border transactions and enterprise data platforms.

Skills

Java

Kafka

Distributed systems

Team leadership

AI-assisted development

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kafka

Job description

Lead Software Engineer - Java - Investment Bank - London - £100K - £130K - Onsite 5 days a week

We are hiring a Lead Software Engineer to work on complex, high-impact technology projects for leading global investment banks and financial institutions in London.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you will lead a team of 3-8 engineers, drive the design and delivery of large-scale distributed systems and introduce AI-driven development practices to improve how software is built and delivered.

You will work closely with stakeholders, take ownership of technical delivery and help develop the next generation of engineering talent.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Lead a team of 3-8 engineers, providing technical direction, mentoring and support.
• Own end-to-end technical delivery, from architecture and design through development, testing and production deployment.
• Design and build scalable, high-performance distributed systems.
• Drive the adoption of agentic AI development tools and practices to improve engineering productivity.
• Collaborate directly with clients and stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Deliver projects across payments modernisation, cross-border transactions and enterprise data platforms.

What We're Looking For:

• Strong hands-on software engineering experience, particularly with Java 17+ and Kafka (or a comparable streaming platform).
• Experience designing and developing large-scale distributed systems.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams and delivering complex technical projects.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools and agentic software development practices.
• Strong communication, problem-solving and stakeholder management skills.
• A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics or a related field.
• Financial services or payments experience is desirable.

Experience with at least one technology in each relevant category is required, with Java 17+ and Kafka (or equivalent) being essential.