(RD) Senior Engineering Team Lead

Backbase Inc.; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Backbase Inc. in Cardiff is seeking a Senior+ Engineer who leads a squad of 6–9 engineers, delivering production code while staying hands-on. You’ll own the pace of the team and mentor others to raise the bar.

Hybrid work with global offices, a strong emphasis on AI-native tooling, design reviews, incident response, and proactive risk management. Real ownership and strong collaboration are essential to success.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience with production code delivery.
• Desire to lead people while continuing as an active technical contributor.
• High emotional intelligence and resilience under pressure.
• Strong ability to unblock and translate complex problems.

Responsibilities

• Delivery Mastery: optimize cycle time and improve delivery predictability.
• Talent Density: own 1:1s, performance calibration, hiring decisions, succession planning.
• Hands-on Leadership: ~50% time on design, ~20% on code reviews and technical issues.
• Conflict Resolution: mediate cross-team conflicts to protect cohesion.
• BS Detector: spot unrealistic estimates and risky designs.
• Emergency Response: jump in technically or coordinate incident response.
• AI-Native Engineering: lead adoption of AI tooling and LLM workflows.

Skills

People leadership

Technical leadership

Shipped production code

Emotional intelligence

Conflict resolution

Job description

The ETL is the "Captain" of a single squad. This is a "player-coach" role focused on delivery predictability, people leadership, and day-to-day execution. You are a Senior+ Engineer who manages people, not a manager who used to code; if you cannot open the IDE and debug a production issue, you cannot perform this role.

What you'll do

• Delivery Mastery: Optimize the team’s "Idea to Production" cycle time andstrengthen delivery predictability.
• Talent Density: Own 1:1s, performance calibration, hiring decisions, and succession planning for your squad of 6–9 engineers.
• Hands-on Leadership: Spend ~50% of your time on system design and ~20% onhands-on development like code reviews and unblocking technical issues.
• Conflict Resolution: Mediate interpersonal or cross-team conflicts early to protect team cohesion and delivery.
• BS Detector: Use your technical depth to spot unrealistic estimates, fragile designs, or risk blind spots.
• Emergency Response: During critical incidents, jump in technically or coordinate the response effectively.
• AI-Native Engineering: Lead the adoption of agentic tooling, LLM workflows, and AI automation within your team to accelerate the development lifecycle.

Who you are

• You have 5+ years of experience and have shipped production code recently.
• You have an explicit desire to lead people but remain an active technical contributor.
• You possess high emotional intelligence and resilience under pressure.
• You are a strong unblocker who translates and synthesizes rather than just relaying messages.

Real ownership means real responsibility. From day one, you set the pace, make the decisions, and see your work land where it matters. You drive the outcomes, you celebrate the wins.

The work is the standard

We built something that didn't exist before - an AI-native Banking OS where humans and AI agents work side by side, at scale, inside real banks. We raise the bar because we've seen what's possible when you don't settle.

Ambition without ego

You'll work with people who've shipped things most thought couldn't be done. Direct, down-to-earth, no egos. The kind of team where the best idea wins and everyone's genuinely glad when it does.

Real AI, running in real banks

We're not waiting for AI to be ready. It already is - running inside banks, serving customers, solving problems that matter, out in the real world today.

Grow while you build

Annual learning budget, global exposure, and work that moves you forward. Your growth and our mission go hand in hand.

17 offices. One mission.

Hybrid model, no micromanagement, offices across the world. The mission is clear. Where you do your best work is up to you.

Wellness that goes the distance

Real support built for the long game. We invest in the people who build the product, not just the product.