Solutions Architect (Hands-on) Engineering · Leeds, Manchester

Hedgehog Lab; Leeds, Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday

Impact Days

Wellbeing days

Learning budget

Sick pay

Counselling

Cycle to Work

Company laptop

Job summary

Hedgehog Lab is a digital product consultancy based in the UK, delivering apps, websites and AI platforms for public and private sector clients. The role focuses on shaping system design, writing production code and building cloud-native environments, while leading technical workstreams and collaborating with architecture leads.

You'll work with AI-enabled approaches, mentor teammates, and remain close to client conversations from discovery through delivery.

Qualifications

• Designed and built software on commercial projects.
• Cloud/DevOps to build cloud-native systems, ideally on AWS.
• Led the technical side of a project or workstream.
• Wrote production code in TypeScript, Python or Node.
• Strong architecture knowledge from working with architects.
• Care about system design as much as building.
• Built with AI agents; your own projects count and GitHub repo helps.
• Able to explain technical decisions to non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Designing the systems behind client projects, using recognised architecture patterns.
• Writing production code alongside the engineering team.
• Designing and building the cloud infrastructure, pipelines and environments your systems run on.
• Leading the technical side of a workstream, working with tech leads and architects.
• Building prototypes and proofs of concept with AI agents to test ideas early.
• Supporting engineers with less cloud experience.
• Helping estimate new work.

Skills

Software design

Cloud/DevOps

Technical leadership

Production code (TS/Python/Node)

Software architecture

AI agents experience

Communicating to non-technical

Job description

Step up and shape how it’s built

You’ll take the lead on how client systems are designed, then help build them yourself, from the code to the cloud it runs on.

If you’ve been acting as a lead without the title, or want the chance to, this is a role you can grow into with support.

What’s in it for you

You’ll work with clients from the early conversations, alongside delivery and product.

You’ll be matched to projects on your skills, so you won’t be put on something just because you’re free.

You’ll learn to build with AI agents alongside engineers who already do it every day. How we build with AI has changed a lot in two years, and we’ll help you keep up.

Who you’ll be doing it for

hedgehog lab is a digital product consultancy with 20 years behind us. We build apps, websites and AI platforms for public and private sector clients in health tech, retail and financial services.

Our project teams are 5 to 15 people, made up of agentic engineers, software engineers, QA and designers.

We’re a certified B Corp and Great Place to Work certified, with around 100 people across the UK and Europe.

What you’ll be doing

Most of your time:

• Designing the systems behind client projects, using recognised architecture patterns
• Writing production code alongside the engineering team
• Designing and building the cloud infrastructure, pipelines and environments your systems run on
• Leading the technical side of a workstream, working with tech leads and architects

Some of your time:

• Building prototypes and proofs of concept with AI agents to test ideas early
• Supporting engineers with less cloud experience
• Helping estimate new work

What comes with the role

• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays
• 5 Impact Days for learning, innovation or volunteering
• 2 wellbeing days and a wellbeing budget
• Learning budget plus time for training and conferences
• Enhanced sick pay and parental leave
• Free counselling, Cycle to Work and a company laptop

Where you’ll work

There are no set office days, but we value time together and with clients.

You’ll come into our Leeds or Manchester office, or a client site, for important meetings, workshops and key moments, so you’ll need to be within easy reach of one of them.

Experience you’ll need to be considered

• You’ve designed and built software on commercial projects
• You know enough cloud or DevOps to build cloud-native systems, ideally on AWS, using recognised architecture principles and design patterns
• You’ve led the technical side of a project or workstream, even if it wasn’t your job title
• You’re happy writing production code in TypeScript, Python or Node. Any one of them is fine.
• You’ve got a good grasp of architecture from working alongside architects
• You care about how well a system is designed, and you enjoy the design work as much as the building
• You’ve started building with AI agents, beyond asking a chatbot for code. Your own projects count, and a GitHub repo you can walk us through is a good way to show it.
• You’re confident explaining technical decisions to people who aren’t technical

Your job title today doesn’t matter. You might be a senior software, cloud or DevOps engineer, and you might lean more towards software or cloud. We don’t expect you to be equally strong in both.

Nice to have, but not essential

• Experience working directly with clients
• Consultancy or agency background