Software Engineering Lead

WTW; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Private healthcare

Life insurance

Group income protection

Pension matched 10%

Hybrid working

Volunteer day

EV car scheme

Share scheme

Cycle-to-work

Dental cover

Optical cover

Critical illness protection

Job summary

Cushon by WTW is seeking an Engineering Lead to provide technical leadership for one of our squads, shaping backend architecture and developer tooling. You will manage 5-7 engineers and partner with product, security, and business teams to deliver safe, scalable platforms.

This role combines hands-on coding when needed with strategic delivery leadership, focusing on modern and legacy systems, CI/CD, and strong incident management in a regulated financial services context.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in regulated environments.
• End-to-end production systems ownership from delivery to ops.
• Experience leading cross-team initiatives with strong outcomes.
• Strong architectural judgement and practical decision making.
• Familiarity with fintech security and compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead backend architecture across PHP, Go, and API platforms.
• Define API and domain design standards with clear service boundaries.
• Drive event-driven architectures and integrations enabling team autonomy.
• Champion automated testing, observability, and production readiness.
• Mentor engineers and oversee high-risk releases and rollouts.
• Oversee deployments, incident response, and post-incident reviews.

Skills

Engineering leadership

PHP

Go

API design

CI/CD

Observability

Security in fintech

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Deployment pipelines

Job description

Description

Ready to shape engineering at scale? As our Engineering Lead, you'll drive the platforms and tooling that help teams deliver faster, safer, and smarter.

Here at Cushon by WTW, we like to do things a bit differently... our mission is to help as many people as possible to get comfortable with their finances.

Our vision is to bring tech revolution to the financial services industry. We will do this by building simple, convenient, and delightful financial experiences centred on the individual. These will accumulate incrementally until one morning we will wake up and realise Cushon has become one of the UK’s best-loved financial apps.

We offer workplace savings products & pensions to customers, either directly, or through employee benefit programs at some of the largest corporates in the UK.
We're a technology-led organisation who believe we can offer great value to customers by building a user-friendly, smart, and cost-effective investment platform that automates many of the processes that would otherwise require large operations teams to manage.

So, to support us in this mission, we are looking for an Engineering Lead to provide technical leadership for one of our teams. You will help set direction for shared infrastructure and engineering operations - the production hosting, security perimeter, release pipelines, observability, and developer tooling that every engineering squad depends on to ship safely. This is a role that includes Line Management responsibility for your team of 5-7 Engineers with the assistance of an assigned Engineering Manager.

The Role

Technical Leadership

• Lead the evolution of backend architecture across PHP, Go, and API platforms, balancing speed with long-term scalability
• Define API and domain design standards, ensuring clear service boundaries and reliable integrations
• Drive event-driven architectures and integration patterns that enable teams to deliver independently
• Champion automated testing, observability, and production readiness across backend services
• Oversee database design, migrations, data integrity, and performance in partnership with platform teams
• Lead incident response, post-incident reviews, and continuous operational improvements
• Mentor engineers in PHP, Go, security, performance, and backend best practices
• Support high-risk releases, rollouts, and cross-team dependencies across modern and legacy systems

Delivery Leadership

• Lead delivery of complex, multi-team initiatives by managing dependencies, resources, and blockers
• Define and drive technical strategy, improving engineering practices and delivery processes
• Build strong partnerships across product, engineering, security, and business teams
• Keep teams focused on priorities while balancing technical debt and operational needs
• Drive collaboration across teams and lead cross-engineering initiatives with fellow Engineering Leads.

People & Developer experience

• Lead, coach, and mentor engineers to strengthen delivery and technical leadership
• Stay hands-on when needed, contributing to designs, code, and operational improvements
• Enhance developer experience through better tooling, documentation, and onboarding
• Support hiring and help raise the bar for engineering talent
• Empower teams to take ownership while providing guidance and direction where needed

Qualifications

What you’ll bring

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in fast-paced, regulated environments
• Deep expertise in a relevant engineering discipline, with broad end-to-end technical knowledge
• Track record of owning production systems from delivery through to operational support
• Experience leading complex, cross-team initiatives and driving technical outcomes
• Strong architectural judgement and a pragmatic approach to technical decision-making
• Expertise in automated testing, CI/CD, and safe release practices
• Strong understanding of observability, monitoring, and incident management
• Knowledge of security, compliance, and non-functional requirements in financial services
• Comfortable evolving both modern and legacy systems
• Hands-on leader who can contribute to code, design, and reviews when needed
• Ability to align technical decisions with business goals, delivery timelines, and reliability targets
• Champion best practices while balancing speed, quality, and stability
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, coaching, and mentoring skills
• Strategic thinker who fosters high-performing teams and engineering excellence

What we offer

Enjoy a benefits package designed to help you thrive, both professionally and personally. You'll receive 25 days of annual leave plus an extra WTW day to relax and recharge. Our comprehensive health and wellbeing offering includes private healthcare, life insurance, group income protection, and regular health assessments, all giving you peace of mind. Secure your future with our defined contribution pension scheme, featuring matched contributions up to 10% from the company.

We support your growth and balance with hybrid working options, access to an employee assistance programme, and a fully paid volunteer day to make a difference in your community. On top of these, you can opt into a variety of additional perks including an electric vehicle car scheme, share scheme, cycle-to-work programme, dental and optical cover, critical illness protection, and much more. Start making the most of your career and wellbeing with a range of benefits tailored for you.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We’re committed to equal employment opportunity and provide application, interview and workplace adjustments and accommodations to all applicants. If you foresee any barriers, from the application process through to joining WTW, please email [e-mail]