Lead Software Engineer

Franklin Bates; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

High ownership and autonomy

Opportunity to shape architecture from an early stage

Job summary

Franklin Bates is seeking a hands-on Technical Architect / Principal Engineer in London to help shape their payment platform. This key role involves technical leadership, defining architecture, and building scalable backend services. Candidates should have experience with React Native, AWS, and scalable systems, ideally from a fintech background. The position offers the chance for high ownership within a fast-growing business, with a salary range of £90k to £105k and a hybrid working model.

Qualifications

• Proven experience at Technical Architect, Principal Engineer or Staff Engineer level.
• Extensive knowledge of AWS and cloud-native architecture.
• Hands-on experience with React Native and PostgreSQL.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve platform architecture across mobile and backend.
• Lead engineering design decisions and establish scalable development standards.
• Own AWS infrastructure strategy focusing on scalability and security.
• Champion DevOps culture, CI/CD, and implement modern AI-assisted tooling.

Skills

React Native

AWS infrastructure

PostgreSQL

DevOps

AI-assisted development tooling

Scalable distributed systems

Technical leadership

Job description

Technical Architect / Principal Engineer

London (hybrid)

90k to 105k

We’re partnering with an ambitious London‑based payments start‑up looking to hire a hands‑on Technical Architect / Principal Engineer to help shape the next generation of their platform as they scale.

This is a high‑impact opportunity for a senior engineering leader who enjoys operating across architecture, platform engineering, product delivery, and technical strategy in a fast‑moving environment.

You’ll play a key role in defining engineering standards, influencing product direction and building scalable systems capable of supporting rapid growth within a modern payments ecosystem.

The Opportunity

Joining at an exciting stage of growth, you’ll work closely with founders, product teams and engineers to design and deliver a highly scalable payments platform using modern cloud‑native technologies.

This role combines:

• technical leadership
• and mentoring responsibilities

You’ll be expected to remain close to the code while driving best practice across the wider engineering function.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and evolve platform architecture across mobile, backend and cloud infrastructure
• Lead engineering design decisions and establish scalable development standards
• Build and optimise high‑performance backend services using Node.js
• Drive mobile architecture and delivery using React Native
• Own AWS infrastructure strategy, scalability, reliability and security
• Work closely with product and leadership teams to shape technical roadmap
• Champion engineering excellence, DevOps culture, CI/CD and automation
• Explore and implement modern AI‑assisted engineering tooling and workflows

Required Experience

We’re looking for a strong technical leader with experience building scalable products within start‑up or high‑growth environments.

• Strong experience with React Native
• Strong knowledge of AWS infrastructure and cloud‑native architecture
• Experience working with PostgreSQL and scalable data design
• Proven experience operating at Technical Architect, Principal Engineer or Staff Engineer level
• Experience building scalable distributed systems and APIs
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering best practices
• Payments, fintech or regulated environment experience
• Exposure to AI‑assisted development tooling such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor or similar
• DevOps and infrastructure‑as‑code experience

What’s on Offer

• Opportunity to shape architecture from an early stage
• High ownership and autonomy
• Fast‑growing fintech business with strong leadership backing