Lead Staff Software Engineer

Software Careers; Greater London; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Trade Desk is a global technology company in London seeking a Lead Staff Software Engineer to own backend systems for a high-traffic data platform. You will design, build, and operate core services, mentor engineers, and collaborate across teams to drive technical direction in a fast-paced environment.

You will lead a growing engineering effort, run 1:1s, and participate in hiring to grow the London team. Strong experience with C#/.NET, SQL, and API design is highly valued.

Qualifications

• Experience building backend systems for high-traffic data platforms.
• Proven experience with C#/.NET, SQL, and API design is expected.
• Familiarity with GraphQL/REST APIs and reporting systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate backend systems for a high-traffic web and data platform.
• Act as technical reviewer and mentor, guiding cross-functional teams on hard problems.
• Lead and develop engineers in London, including regular one-on-ones and performance conversations.

Skills

Backend Systems

Web Platform

Data Platform

C#

.NET

SQL

GraphQL

REST APIs

Reporting Systems

AI Systems

Agentic Systems

Technical Leadership

People Management

Distributed Systems

Cloud

Petabyte-scale Data

Machine Learning

Advanced Visualizations

Interactive User Interfaces

Operational Health

System Modernization

Quality Standards

Job description

# Lead Staff Software Engineerat The Trade Desk • LondonBack to jobs1. Home2. Jobs3. United Kingdom4. Lead Staff Software Engineer1h agoT## Lead Staff Software EngineerThe Trade Desk00Software EngineeringFull-timeLondon✓ Visa RelocationApply Job### Job DescriptionThe Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising. Our Software Engineers are end-to-end owners who will participate in all aspects of designing, building, and delivering data-focused products for our stakeholders. You will have the opportunity to work on large-scale distributed systems, petabyte-scale data challenges, machine learning, advanced visualizations, and interactive user interfaces. Our system performs all day, every day serving global traffic, with a focus on quality at scale in an agile environment. The SCORE team owns the backend health, performance, and reliability of a core part of The Trade Desk's platform, including APIs and systems for scheduled reports and near-real-time campaign performance metrics. Our scope is also growing into the infrastructure behind AI agents. This role is based in our London office.\*\*What you'll do:\*\* Design, build, and operate backend systems supporting a high-traffic web and data platform as a Staff-level technical authority. Act as a technical reviewer and mentor, driving technical direction on ambiguous, cross-cutting problems. Partner with adjacent teams and platform governance groups. This role is a deliberate growth track toward people management, starting with direct management of a senior engineer and growing into leading a larger engineering team in London. You will run regular 1:1s, own performance and growth conversations, and participate in hiring.### Skills Required* Backend Systems* Web Platform* Data Platform* C#* .NET* SQL* GraphQL* REST APIs* Reporting Systems* AI Systems* Agentic Systems* Technical Leadership* People Management* Distributed Systems* Cloud* Physical Data Centers* Petabyte-scale Data* Machine Learning* Advanced Visualizations* Interactive User Interfaces* Operational Health* System Modernization* Quality Standards### Tags:United KingdomLondonVisa SponsoredCloud EngineerData ScientistShare Job:Application planning## What to evaluate before applying### Visa and relocation signals* The Trade Desk is listed with visa sponsorship enabled on this role.* Relocation support is marked as available.* Primary route to review: Skilled Worker Visa.### Salary and location checks* No salary range is disclosed on this listing.* Location to plan around: London, United Kingdom.* This role is not marked as remote.### Company context* The Trade Desk has active SoftwareCareers listings in the current job inventory.* Use the company profile and apply link to verify the opening.The Trade Desk profile### Interview preparation* Experience signal: You operate at a Staff engineer level, a recognized technical authority that other engineers turn to for guidance on hard problems. You have hands-on experience building and operating backend systems for a web or data platform of meaningful scale. Experience with C#/.NET and SQL is a strong plus, though not required. Experience designing or building GraphQL and/or REST APIs is a plus. Experience with reporting or scheduled-reporting systems is a plus. Experience building AI or agentic systems is a plus. You're actively seeking a path into people management and can point to some experience mentoring, leading, or informally guiding other engineers already. You operate independently in ambiguity, scoping, sequencing, and driving execution on complex backend problems..* Prepare examples for: Backend Systems, Web Platform, Data Platform, C#, .NET.