Lead Software Engineer - London

United States Digital Space LLC; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

FDM is seeking a Lead Software Engineer (Back End Java) to work for a client within the banking sector. This is a 6-month contract and will be a fully office-based role based in Canary Wharf.

You will deliver cloud-native microservices, implement robust test strategies, ensure secure coding, and mentor team members while driving AI-assisted development practices to improve quality and delivery.

Qualifications

• Formal training or certification on software engineering concepts and applied experience.
• Recent hands-on professional experience as a back-end software engineer.
• Experience in Java programming language.
• Experience in designing and implementing effective tests (unit, component, integration, end-to-end, performance, etc.).
• Excellent written and verbal communicationskills in English.
• Experience with cloud technologies and distributed systems, RESTful APIs and web technologies.
• Knowledge of messaging frameworks.
• Seasoned with operating, supporting and the security of mission critical software applications.
• Understanding with different kinds of data stores (including relational data stores).
• Coach other team members on coding practices, design principles, and implementation patterns that lead to high-quality maintainable solutions.
• Manage stakeholders and effectively prioritize work across multiple work streams.
• Demonstrated experience leading effective use of enterprise-authorized AI-assisted software development tools within the work environment with the ability to set team expectations for validating AI outputs for correctness, performance, and security.
• Strong understanding of responsible AI use in engineering workflows, including data sensitivity considerations, secure handling of inputs/outputs, and adherence to resiliency and security expectations.

Responsibilities

• Deliver end-to-end cloud-native microservices architecture applications leveraging the latest technologies and best industry practices.
• Use domain modelling techniques to build best in class business products.
• Structure software so that it is easy to understand, test and evolve.
• Build solutions that avoid single points of failure, using scalable architectural patterns.
• Develop secure code so that our customers and ourselves are protected from malicious actors.
• Promptly investigate and fix issues and ensure they do not resurface in the future.
• Make sure our releases happen with zero downtime for our end-users.
• See that our data is written and read in a way that’s optimized for our needs.
• Keep an eye on performance, making sure we use the right approach to identify and solve problems.
• Ensure our systems are reliable and easy to operate.
• Keep us up to date by continuously updating our technologies and patterns.
• Support the products you’ve built through their entire lifecycle, including in production and during incident management
• Drives adoption and governance of approved AI‑assisted engineering practices across teams to improve code quality, delivery speed, and operational outcomes, while establishing measurable validation standards.
• Applies knowledge of tools within the Software Development Life Cycle toolchain, including AI-assisted development and automation capabilities, to improve automation at scale.

Skills

Java

Cloud technologies

RESTful APIs

Distributed systems

AI-assisted development tools

Mentoring / coaching

Stakeholder management

Education

Software engineering certification

Tools

AWS

Job description

FDM is a global business and technology consultancy seeking a Lead Software Engineer (Back End Java - Banking) to work for our client within the finance sector. This is initially a 6 month contract with the potential to extend and will be a fully office based role that will be based in Canary Wharf.

Responsibilities

• Deliver end-to-end solutions in the form of cloud-native microservices architecture applications leveraging the latest technologies and the best industry practices
• Use domain modelling techniques to allow us to build best in class business products.
• Structure software so that it is easy to understand, test and evolve.
• Build solutions that avoid single points of failure, using scalable architectural patterns.
• Develop secure code so that our customers and ourselves are protected from malicious actors.
• Promptly investigate and fix issues and ensure they do not resurface in the future.
• Make sure our releases happen with zero downtime for our end-users.
• See that our data is written and read in a way that’s optimized for our needs.
• Keep an eye on performance, making sure we use the right approach to identify and solve problems.
• Ensure our systems are reliable and easy to operate.
• Keep us up to date by continuously updating our technologies and patterns.
• Support the products you’ve built through their entire lifecycle, including in production and during incident management
• Drives adoption and governance of approved AI‑assisted engineering practices across teams to improve code quality, delivery speed, and operational outcomes (e.g. AI‑assisted code review / refactoring, text acceleration, release readiness, incident / root‑cause analysis), while establishing measurable validation standards (secure coding, peer review, automated testing) and promoting reuse of proven patterns and automation within the SDLC/TLM toolchain
• Applies knowledge of tools within the Software Development Life Cycle toolchain, including approved AI‑assisted development and automation capabilities, to improve the value realized by automation at scale

About You

• Formal training or certification on software engineering concepts and applied experience
• Recent hands‑on professional experience as a back‑end software engineer
• Experience in coding in a recent version of the Java programming language
• Experience in designing and implementing effective tests (unit, component, integration, end‑to‑end, performance, etc.)
• Excellent written and verbal communicationskills in English
• Experience with cloud technologies and distributed systems, RESTful APIs and web technologies.
• Knowledge of messaging frameworks.
• Seasoned with operating, supporting and the security of mission critical software applications.
• Understanding with different kinds of data stores (including relational data stores)
• Coach other team members on coding practices, design principles, and implementation patterns that lead to high‑quality maintainable solutions.
• Manage stakeholders and effectively prioritize work across multiple work streams.
• Demonstrated experience leading effective use of enterprise‑authorized AI‑assisted software development tools within the work environment (e.g., for coding, code review, test acceleration, troubleshooting) with the ability to set team expectations for validating AI outputs for correctness, performance, and security
• Strong understanding of responsible AI use in engineering workflows, including data sensitivity considerations, secure handling of inputs/outputs, and adherence to resiliency and security expectations; experience coaching senior engineers/leads on compliant usage patterns and controls.

Preferred qualifications, capabilities & skills

• Experience in working in a highly regulated environment / industry
• Seasoned with cloud‑native microservices architecture
• Proficient with AWS cloud technologies

About Us

FDM is an award‑winning global leader in tech and business talent solutions, backed by more than 35 years of industry experience. We have centres across Europe, North America, and Asia‑Pacific, and a global workforce of over 2500 employees. FDM has shown exponential growth throughout the years, firmly establishing itself as an award‑winning employer, currently listed on the FTSE4Good Index and as a 2026 Financial Times UK ‘Best Employer’.

Diversity and Inclusion

the company is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, provincial or local laws.

Why join us

• Career coaching, mentoring and access to upskilling throughout your entire FDM career
• Assignments with global companies and opportunities to work abroad
• Opportunity to re‑skill and up‑skill into new areas, develop non‑linear career paths and build a skillset within your field
• Annual leave and work‑place pension