Software Development Team Lead

AO; Bolton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Pension 5% matched

AO Arena VIP tickets

Health & wellbeing benefits

Discounts across products

Family leave (Maternity/Paternity/Adop

Charity volunteer days

On-site perks: free parking, breakfast

Job summary

AO is seeking a Software Development Team Lead in Bolton to build a high-performing software squad. You will balance technical excellence with sustainable delivery, mentor engineers, and pair-program to solve tough problems while shaping the team's technical direction.

You’ll work with delivery leadership to align priorities and manage dependencies. You will hire, develop careers, and provide timely feedback to ensure growth.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software teams and delivering outcomes.
• Ability to mentor engineers and perform pairing sessions.
• Strong collaboration with delivery and tech leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead a software development team and set technical strategy.
• Hands-on contribution through pairing and problem solving.
• Coach and mentor team members for growth and performance.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to align priorities with business goals.
• Oversee hiring, career development and feedback.

Skills

Leadership

Hands-on coding

Mentoring

Code reviews

Pair programming

DevOps

Security

Cross-functional

Decision making

Communication

Tools

Internal Developer Platforms

Job description

Job Overview

About The Role

We're looking for someone who loves people as much as technology to join us as a Software Development Team Lead. You'll create an environment where brilliant engineers can do their best work - think collaboration, empowerment, and continuous learning all rolled into one. Your mission? Build a high-performing squad that takes real ownership of their craft and delivers fantastic outcomes without burning out. You'll balance technical excellence with sustainable delivery, helping the team create solutions that aren't just great today but stay great tomorrow. Alongside mentoring and coaching, you'll roll your sleeves up to pair-program, solve tricky problems, and shape the technical direction. If you're passionate about seeing engineers grow and thrive while keeping the bigger picture in focus, this could be your perfect next step.

Here's What You Can Expect To Be Doing

You'll be leading a fantastic software development team, creating the right environment for them to shine—setting ambitions, fostering accountability, and encouraging a culture where collaboration and innovation thrive. From shaping and delivering the team's technical strategy to getting hands-on to help implement solutions, you'll balance leadership with technical involvement. Expect to coach and mentor team members every day, sharing knowledge through pairing sessions and driving sustainable engineering practices that make long-term sense. You'll work closely with delivery and tech leadership to keep priorities aligned, break down complex problems, and make sure trade-offs are managed wisely. It's also about building strong relationships across teams, helping to resolve dependencies and ensuring everything we deliver ties back to customer and business goals. On top of that, you'll oversee hiring, career development, and provide timely feedback so that every team member feels supported to grow and succeed.

A Few Things About You

• Strong leadership skills with a knack for inspiring teams and fostering a healthy, collaborative culture.
• Hands-on technical experience and the confidence to mentor others through pairing and code reviews.
• A real passion for technical excellence, sustainable delivery, and continuous improvement.
• Skilled at coaching individuals and managing performance constructively.
• Comfortable making decisions in uncertain situations and framing problems clearly for others.
• A solid understanding of modern software engineering practices, DevOps principles, and security best practices.
• Able to manage the balance between short-term delivery needs and long-term technical health.
• Great communicator who can build effective relationships at all levels.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, managing dependencies, and collaborating on shared outcomes.
• Bonus points if you've worked with Internal Developer Platforms or enablement tooling!

A Bit About Us

We're big on appliances and electricals, REALLY big. Washing machines, fridge freezers and TVs? They're our bread and butter. Mobiles, Airwraps and Ring doorbells? Yep, those too. If it plugs in, powers up or makes life easier, AO probably has it.

But we're more than that… For over 25 years, trust has been at the heart of everything we do, helping us become the UK's most trusted electrical retailer. Our customers rate us 4.9 on Trustpilot from nearly ONE MILLION reviews and more 5-star ratings than any other UK electrical retailer, because they know they can rely on us and it's the exact same for our AOers too.

We truly believe it's more than just a job, we genuinely care about each other and our impact on making our customers lives easier, by helping them brilliantly. Everyone here knows how their role makes a difference. Our people are our superpower, so, when it comes to finding new AOers, we know it's about more than just a CV, it's about what makes you, YOU.

Our Benefits

Our benefits are designed to cover the moments that matter to AOers. From health and wellness to giving back - you'll be rewarded inside and outside of work.

• Holidays; 25 days, plus bank holidays (increasing to 27 days after 2 years with us!)
• Pension; Contribute 5% of your annual salary and we'll do the same, giving you a little extra support for the future.
• Be a VIP at the AO Arena; we have loads of opportunities to win free tickets and pre-sale access!
• Health & wellbeing; discounted gym membership, an onsite spa and our Help @ Hand scheme giving you access to virtual GP's, Mental Health support and much more.
• Discounts; exclusive discounts across our product range.
• Family leave; Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Adoption leave.
• Making a difference; 2 fully paid days a year to donate your time to any charity of your choice.
• On site perks; start your day with free on site parking, grabbing a complimentary breakfast and a coffee at our subsidised in house coffee shop!

To see all our benefits and perks, visit our AO Benefits page.