Lead Software Engineer (Python)

Understanding Recruitment; Greater London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Understanding Recruitment is partnering with a profitable fintech scale-up to hire a Lead Python Engineer who will lead a pod of engineers while staying hands-on in design and development. You’ll shape US investment infrastructure and core financial systems, influencing architecture and delivery as the platform scales.

You’ll work on trading, execution, settlement and investment workflows, using Python, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy and Pydantic in a fast-paced fintech environment.

Qualifications

• Strong commercial experience building backend systems with Python.
• Proficiency with Pandas/NumPy.
• Previous experience leading engineers or acting as a technical lead.
• Strong understanding of architecture, system design and software engineering best practices.
• Experience building and supporting production-grade applications.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-ownership environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead a pod of 3-4 engineers whilst remaining hands-on in the codebase.
• Design and build core financial infrastructure supporting US investment products.
• Develop systems covering trading, execution, settlement, brokerage, portfolio and investment workflows.
• Drive architectural decisions and technical direction within your team.
• Mentor engineers through code reviews, technical guidance and best practices.

Skills

Python

Backend development

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Tools

FastAPI

SQLAlchemy

Pydantic

Job description

We are partnering with a profitable fintech scale-up seeking a Lead Python Engineer to play a key role in building its US investment infrastructure.

The business has established a successful investment platform in the UK and is now building the technology, workflows and financial infrastructure required to support investing across US markets. This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll lead a small pod of engineers whilst remaining deeply involved in architecture, design and software development.

The Opportunity

You'll help design and build the systems that underpin trading, execution, settlement, portfolio management and investment operations for US-listed products. You'll join a highly collaborative engineering team and have significant influence over technical direction, architecture and delivery as the platform continues to scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a pod of 3-4 engineers whilst remaining hands-on in the codebase
• Design and build core financial infrastructure supporting US investment products
• Develop systems covering trading, execution, settlement, brokerage, portfolio and investment workflows
• Drive architectural decisions and technical direction within your team
• Work closely with Product and Engineering leadership to shape solutions and delivery plans
• Mentor engineers through code reviews, technical guidance and best practices
• Balance rapid delivery with long-term scalability, maintainability and reliability
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of engineering standards, tooling and development processes
• Python, FastAPI
• SQLAlchemy, Pydantic

Requirements

• Strong commercial experience building backend systems with Python
• Proficiency with Pandas/NumPy
• Previous experience leading engineers or acting as a technical lead
• Strong understanding of architecture, system design and software engineering best practices
• Experience building and supporting production-grade applications
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-ownership environment