Software Engineering Team Lead

ZipRecruiter; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consultancy is seeking a Software Engineering Team Lead in Bristol, focusing on high-performance back-end systems. This hands-on technical leadership role involves writing Java code, driving system design, and mentoring team members in a collaborative environment. Candidates should have extensive Java expertise and a passion for clean, scalable development.

Benefits

High-impact leadership role

Opportunity to mentor fellow engineers

Collaborative engineering-first culture

Qualifications

• Expert-level Java experience (Java 17+), including multithreading and performance tuning.
• Strong background with Spring Boot, REST APIs, and Microservices architecture.
• Proven experience designing and building scalable, high-performance software systems.

Responsibilities

• Write high-quality, well-tested Java code and set technical standards.
• Drive the design of scalable systems with a focus on security.
• Support team growth through code reviews and mentorship.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Microservices architecture

Relational databases

CI/CD pipelines

Agile environment

Job description

Job Description

Software Engineering Team Lead

Hybrid - 2 days a week in Bristol

Salary - Up to £75,000

We’ve partnered with a leading technology-driven fintech-focussed data automation consultancy to help them find an exceptional Software Engineering Team Lead. This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on high-performance back-end systems, ideal for someone who thrives in a collaborative, engineering-led environment.

Key Responsibilities as Software Engineering Team Lead:

• Hands-on Development – Write high-quality, well-tested Java code and set a strong technical standard within the team.
• Technical Leadership – Champion best practices in architecture, performance tuning, and maintainability.
• System Design – Drive the design of complex, scalable systems with a strong focus on security and reliability.
• Code Reviews & Mentorship – Support team growth through thoughtful code reviews and technical guidance.
• Continuous Improvement – Identify opportunities to improve performance, adopt new technologies, and refactor legacy systems.
• Cross-functional Collaboration – Work closely with Product, UX, and other engineering teams to deliver meaningful features.
• Team Support– While not a pure management role, you will have a few direct reports and be expected to mentor and support their development.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Expert-level Java experience (Java 17+ ), including multithreading, concurrency, and performance tuning.
• Strong background with Spring Boot, REST APIs, and Microservices architecture.
• Proven experience designing and building scalable, high-performance software systems.
• Solid understanding of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL).
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, testing best practices, and version control systems.
• Experience working within an Agile development environment.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in Financial Services or other regulated environments.
• Frontend exposure (e.g., React) – not essential but beneficial.
• Familiarity with Kotlin or openness to working with Kotlin-based services.
• Messaging systems such as Kafka or RabbitMQ.
• Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Understanding of DevOps and infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible).
• Exposure to NoSQL technologies (e.g., MongoDB, Redis) in read-optimized or thin-client use cases.

Ideal Candidate Attributes:

• Passionate about writing clean, scalable, and efficient code.
• A problem solver who can dig deep into technical challenges and deliver high-quality solutions.
• Strong communicator, capable of engaging with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Self-driven with a continuous improvement mindset – eager to enhance both the codebase and team capabilities.

What’s on Offer?

• Work on modern Java projects with a strong focus on quality and scalability.
• A high-impact leadership role that remains hands-on.
• Opportunity to mentor and upskill fellow engineers.
• A collaborative, engineering-first culture that values innovation and clean architecture.

If you're a Software Engineering Team Lead specialising in Java — we’d love to hear from you.