Lead Software Engineer (Python)

Understanding Recruitment; Greater London; On-site; GBP 126,000 - 154,000; Full time

Job summary

Understanding Recruitment Ltd is seeking a Lead Python Engineer to join a profitable fintech scale-up building its US investment infrastructure. You will lead a pod of engineers while remaining deeply involved in architecture, design and hands-on Python development.

You will shape the systems underpinning trading, execution, settlement and portfolio workflows, guiding technical direction and collaborating with product and leadership to plan delivery.

Qualifications

• Strong commercial experience building backend systems with Python.
• 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
• 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

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Architecture & Design

System design

Python

Tools

SQLAlchemy

Pydantic

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Redis

Docker

Kubernetes

GCP

FastAPI

Job description

Lead Python Engineer

Up to £140K + Bonus + Equity

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

Technology Stack

• Python, FastAPI
• Pandas / NumPy
• SQLAlchemy, Pydantic
• MySQL / PostgreSQL / Redis
• GCP, Docker, Kubernetes

Requirements

• Strong commercial experience building backend systems with Python
• 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