Senior Engineering Lead: Architect, Code, and Coach

Workatbackbase; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Backbase, a leader in AI-native Banking OS, seeks a Senior+ Engineer who leads people and owns delivery without being a traditional manager. You will split time between architecture, design decisions and hands-on code reviews, with one-fifth of your time mentoring and growing your squad of engineers.

You will drive engineering excellence, champion modern practices, and lead AI tooling adoption to accelerate the development lifecycle.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on software engineering with production code contributions.
• Strong grounding in system design and architecture patterns.
• T-shaped profile with deep expertise plus broad full-stack competence.
• Familiarity with CI/CD, test automation, observability and quality-focused development.
• Enthusiasm for AI tooling and leading its adoption within a team.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership (70%): design reviews, architecture decisions, and secure, scalable systems.
• Hands-on contribution: code reviews, debugging, and unblocking the squad.
• Quality and engineering excellence: CI/CD, testing, observability, release readiness.
• BS Detector: spot risky estimates or fragile designs early.
• Emergency response: lead during incidents and coordinate resolution.
• AI-Native Engineering: adopt agentic tooling and AI-assisted productivity.

Skills

System design

Architecture patterns

Code reviews

CI/CD

Observability

AI tooling

Leadership

Agile delivery

Job description

Backbase, a leader in AI-native Banking OS, seeks a Senior+ Engineer who leads people and owns delivery without being a traditional manager. You will split time between architecture, design decisions and hands-on code reviews, with one-fifth of your time mentoring and growing your squad of engineers.

You will drive engineering excellence, champion modern practices, and lead AI tooling adoption to accelerate the development lifecycle.