Software Engineering Team Lead

Yapily Ltd

Greater London

On-site

GBP 120,000 - 150,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday (UK)

Hybrid work model

Private Medical Insurance

Company Pension Scheme

Parental leave enhancements

Learning & Personal Development budget

Cycle To Work Scheme

Employee Referral Scheme

Monthly social budget

Dog-friendly office

Job summary

Yapily Ltd is hiring an experienced Technical Software Engineering Lead to drive design, development, and delivery of core microservices. You will lead architectural decisions, champion API-first design, and foster an AI‑native engineering culture with agentic coding workflows.

You will own the stack—Java, Spring Boot, Kubernetes—while partnering with product managers on roadmaps, capacity planning, and debt management. A fast-paced startup environment awaits with strong growth potential.

Qualifications

Proven experience leading engineering teams and delivering scalable microservices.
Strong architectural judgment and ability to set technical standards.
Hands-on expertise with Java, Spring Boot and Kubernetes in production.
Experience designing robust HTTP/REST APIs using OpenAPI/Swagger.
Excellent stakeholder management and mentoring of engineers.

Responsibilities

Drive architectural decisions and set standards while remaining hands-on.
Design and govern API-first strategies for microservice communication.
Ensure system health, scalability, resilience, and high availability.
Lead delivery across agile sprints and remove impediments.
Collaborate with Product Manager on roadmaps and capacity planning.
Guide technology choices and evaluate new tools and approaches.
Mentor engineers and foster a high-performing team culture.
Communicate clearly with engineers, product teams and stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership

Architectural oversight

API design

Agile delivery

Mentoring ICs

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Tools

Java

Spring Boot

Kubernetes

OpenAPI/Swagger

HTTP/REST APIs

Job description

Who are Yapily

Yapily is on a mission to enable innovative companies to create better and fairer financial services for everyone, through the power of open banking.

Yapily is an open banking infrastructure platform solving a fundamental problem in financial services today: access. Historically, card networks have monopolised the global movement of money, and banks have monopolised the ownership of, and access to, financial data.

Yapily was founded to challenge these structures and create a global open economy that works for everyone. We exist behind the scenes, securely connecting companies - from growth to enterprise - to thousands of banks worldwide, enabling them to access data and initiate payments through the power of open banking.

What we’re looking for

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Technical Software Engineering Lead to drive the design, development, and delivery of our core microservices. This role requires a blend of hands‑on technical excellence, strong architectural oversight, and effective people leadership to ensure the team delivers high‑quality, scalable solutions aligned with product strategy. You will be responsible for driving an AI‑native engineering culture, including the adoption of agentic coding workflows to improve developer velocity.

Learn more: https://www.yapily.com/company/about-us

Key Tasks

Own the Stack: Drive architectural decisions and set technical standards while maintaining deep, hands‑on expertise in our stack: Java, Spring Boot, and Kubernetes (k8s).
Design APIs: Champion an API‑first mindset by designing, documenting, and ensuring the quality of robust, efficient HTTP/REST APIs for microservice communication (including using tools like OpenAPI/Swagger).
Ensure System Health: Oversee and implement strategies for system scalability, resilience, and high availability, including ownership of monitoring, alerting, and performance optimization.
Drive Delivery: Monitor team progress and ensure consistent deliverability and performance throughout agile sprints, proactively identifying and resolving technical impediments.
Plan Strategically: Collaborate closely with the Product Manager on capacity planning, roadmap definition, and balancing new feature delivery against essential technical debt management.
Guide Solutions: Guide the team in selecting appropriate technical solutions, evaluating new technologies, and resolving the most complex engineering challenges.
Handle Ambiguity: Thrive in a fast‑paced environment by proactively identifying and resolving ambiguities in technical requirements and product strategy.
Lead High‑Performing Teams: Foster a culture of excellence by managing team performance, defining and tracking key KPIs (e.g., cycle time, velocity, error rates), and driving continuous improvement to ensure high‑impact delivery.

This list is not exhaustive, and there may be other tasks that we ask you to be involved in from time to time. Above all, you are flexible and want to add value wherever you can. You understand that in a start‑up, priorities change and we all need to be adaptable. Not only will you be comfortable when asked to input and lead in other areas, but you’ll be comfortable being a self‑starter and instigating changes yourself.

For your new role

You are a proactive leader in monitoring and ensuring the team's consistent deliverability and performance, identifying and removing impediments quickly.
You are a strategic partner, comfortable collaborating closely with the Product Manager on capacity planning and balancing technical needs with product timelines.
You are passionate about coaching and mentoring individual contributors (ICs) within the team, fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional growth.
You are an effective delegator who can appropriately guide or delegate technical solutions and tasks across the team, ensuring accountability and skill development.
You are an exceptional communicator, adept at articulating complex technical concepts clearly to engineers, product stakeholders, and non‑technical audiences alike.
You are a cross‑functional focus point, thriving as the technical leader facilitating effective communication between your team and other engineering groups.

Our Benefits

25 days holiday a year (plus bank holidays) in the UK
We also offer an additional holiday day after 1 year's service, up to the value of 5 days
We’re serious about work/life balance and operate hybrid working, giving you the flexibility to work from home, working from our amazing office space or work abroad for up to 30 days per year ‘Nomad Working’
Comprehensive Private Medical Insurance
Company Pension Scheme
Enhanced Paternity and Maternity leave
£200 annual Learning and Personal Development budget
Cycle To Work Scheme
Employee Referral Scheme which offers £1,000 per employee referral
Monthly social budget
Daily snacks provided in the officeDog friendly office

Our Values

We obsess about quality

Our customers have entrusted us with a critical function in a regulated industry…and we take that responsibility seriously. We always assume ownership and hold ourselves accountable.

We are curious