Lead Software Engineer Java - Sports

Client Server Limited; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Private healthcare

Dental & optical

Training budget

Wellness subsidies

Cycle to work

Volunteer days

Job summary

Client Server Limited is seeking a Lead Software Engineer / Team Lead (Java Spring Boot) in Manchester with hybrid working options. You will guide a small, high-performing team on real-time sports betting applications, balancing hands-on architecture with people management.

You will collaborate with the Product Owner, promote engineering excellence, and drive delivery lifecycle end-to-end. Expect a supportive environment, ongoing learning, and clear career progression in a globally recognized

Qualifications

• Strong backend software engineering skills and experience.
• Proficient in Java and Spring Boot development.
• Experience leading small, high-performing development teams.
• Advocate of software engineering best practices and TDD.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a small development team to deliver real-time betting applications.
• Balance hands-on architecture with people management and mentoring.
• Collaborate with the Product Owner to oversee the full delivery lifecycle.
• Promote engineering excellence and continuous improvement across the team.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Backend development

Team leadership

Mentoring / Coaching

TDD

OOP

Multithreading

Design Patterns

Data Structures

Communication

Stakeholder management

Tools

Kafka

Kubernetes

Docker

AWS

Job description

Lead Software Engineer / Team Lead (Java Spring Boot) Manchester / WFH to £78k

Are you a hands-on technical leader with strong Java skills?

You could be working on complex and interesting systems using the latest technology within a diverse, supportive environment whilst enjoying a range of perks and continual learning opportunities at a global games software house.

What's in it for you:

• Salary to £78k
• Personalised training budget
• Pension
• Healthcare including dental and optical
• Various wellness experiences, gym subsidy, cycle to work scheme, volunteer days and much more
• Diverse, supportive environment with great career progression opportunities

Your role:

As a Lead Software Engineer you will play a key role in guiding and inspiring a small, high-performing development team, working on real-time in sports betting applications.

This is an excellent opportunity for a hands-on leader who enjoys balancing technical delivery with team development and collaboration, with approximately a 80/20 split between hands-on architecture and coding and people management (coaching, mentoring).

Collaborating closely with the Product Owner, you'll oversee the full delivery lifecycle, ensuring that the product backlog is delivered efficiently and to a high standard. You'll promote engineering excellence, encouraging best practices and contributing to continuous improvement across both team and wider organisation. A central part of this role will be creating a developer friendly environment that allows individuals to focus, innovate and perform at their best.

Location / WFH:

You'll join the team in Central Manchester three days a week with flexibility to work from home twice a week.

About you:

• You have strong backend software engineering skills and experience
• You have strong Java and Spring Boot development experience
• You have technical / team leadership, mentoring and coaching experience, you're an advocate of software engineering best practices
• You have experience with Test Driven Development TDD
• You have a strong knowledge of Computer Science fundamentals such as OOP, multithreading, Design Patterns, Data Structures
• You're comfortable with agentic AI coding
• You're collaborative and pragmatic with great communication and stakeholder management skills
• Nice to have (not essential): Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker, AWS