Python Tech Lead - Data and Cloud (Ref: 197597)

Forsyth Barnes; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

25 days annual leave

Company pension

Life insurance

Employee Assistance Programme

Training and development

Job summary

Forsyth Barnes partners with a growing technology business seeking a Python Tech Lead to own key engineering initiatives across data and cloud environments. This hands-on leadership role blends coding with shaping architecture and engineering standards.

You will design scalable Python services, own projects from requirements to production, and collaborate with Product, Engineering, Data and DevOps to deliver reliable systems on AWS. Hybrid role in London (2 days in office).

Qualifications

• 5-7+ years of commercial software engineering experience.
• Experience designing scalable backend systems.
• Strong knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of scalable Python-based applications and data platforms.
• Own technical projects from requirements through to production.
• Design and implement data ingestion, processing and distribution systems.
• Develop robust, high-performance Python services.
• Work extensively with AWS and cloud-native technologies.
• Drive improvements across architecture, scalability, reliability and performance.
• Translate business requirements into engineering solutions with Product teams.
• Contribute to CI/CD, infrastructure automation and deployment processes.
• Support monitoring, observability, security and operational resilience.
• Lead technical discussions, architecture decisions and code reviews.
• Mentor engineers and lead architecture decisions.

Skills

Python

AWS

Data engineering

Docker/Kubernetes

CI/CD

Distributed systems

SQL

Mentoring

Code quality

Tools

Terraform

CloudFormation

Job description

The Opportunity

Our client is an established technology business building data-driven products and platforms used across international markets.

They're looking for a Python Tech Lead to take ownership of key engineering initiatives across their data and cloud environment. This is a hands-on technical leadership position where you'll remain close to the code while helping shape architecture, engineering standards and the direction of the wider platform.

You'll work across Python, AWS, data engineering and cloud infrastructure, building highly scalable and reliable systems while working closely with Product, Engineering, Data and DevOps teams.

This is a hybrid role based in London (2 days in office).

What You'll Do

• Lead the design and development of scalable Python-based applications and data platforms
• Own technical projects from initial requirements through to production
• Design and implement data ingestion, processing and distribution systems
• Develop robust, maintainable and high-performance Python services
• Work extensively with AWS and cloud-native technologies
• Drive improvements across architecture, scalability, reliability and performance
• Work closely with Product and other technical teams to translate business requirements into effective engineering solutions
• Contribute to CI/CD, infrastructure automation and deployment processes
• Support monitoring, observability, security and operational resilience
• Lead technical discussions, architecture decisions and code reviews
• Mentor engineers and help establish strong engineering practices
• Remain hands-on with development while providing technical direction to the wider team

What Makes the Role Interesting

• Hands-on technical leadership: Combine coding with genuine influence over technical direction
• Ownership: Take responsibility for significant engineering projects and platform capabilities
• High-scale data: Work with complex data systems where performance, reliability and scalability matter
• Modern cloud environment: Extensive exposure to AWS, containers, automation and cloud-native architecture
• Cross-functional exposure: Work closely with Product, Data Science, Engineering and DevOps
• Opportunity to shape: Help evolve engineering standards, architecture and development practices

Your Experience

We're looking for someone with:

• 5-7+ years of commercial software engineering experience
• Experience designing and building scalable backend systems
• Strong understanding of data structures, APIs and distributed systems
• Extensive experience with AWS
• Strong SQL and relational database experience
• Experience building data pipelines, ingestion frameworks or data platforms
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes and CI/CD
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code such as Terraform, CloudFormation or equivalent
• Understanding of monitoring, logging, observability and production reliability
• Previous experience providing technical leadership, mentoring engineers or owning architecture decisions
• A strong focus on writing clean, tested and maintainable production code

Particularly Relevant Experience

We're particularly interested in engineers who have:

• Progressed from Senior Python Engineer to Tech Lead / Lead Engineer
• Worked within data-intensive or high-volume production environments
• Built Python services and platforms running on AWS
• Experience across backend engineering and data engineering
• Led technical projects while remaining hands-on technically
• Worked with distributed systems and cloud-native architectures
• Experience in sports, media, betting, gaming or another data-heavy technology environment
• Exposure to React or frontend technologies, although this is not a core requirement
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor, Gemini or similar

What's on Offer

• Hybrid working from a London-based office
• Flexible working arrangements
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Company pension scheme
• Life insurance
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Training and professional development opportunities
• Opportunity to work with large-scale data and cloud technologies
• Significant technical ownership and exposure to senior stakeholders
• Collaborative engineering environment with experienced technical teams

About the Company

Our client is a growing technology business specialising in data, analytics and software products, supporting customers across multiple international markets.

The engineering function works across large-scale data platforms, cloud infrastructure and software products, with a strong focus on scalability, reliability and technical innovation.

If you're a Senior Python Engineer, Tech Lead or Lead Software Engineer looking for a hands-on technical leadership opportunity, I'd be keen to hear from you.