Lead Software Engineer
<p><b>Salary: £100,000 - 100,000 per year</b></p>
<b>Requirements:</b>
<ul><li>Active SC clearance and British nationality (no dual nationality)</li><li>Degree in Computer Science, AI, or a related field or equivalent industry experience</li><li>Strong background in Python or similar languages</li><li>Significant experience with backend development, microservices, and distributed systems</li><li>Hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, including LLMs, RAG, or vector databases</li><li>Solid understanding of containerisation and orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes)</li><li>Experience delivering secure, on-premise or regulated systems</li><li>Proven ability to lead technically, mentor others, and take ownership of complex problems</li><li>(Desirable) Experience in defence, government, healthcare, or other regulated domains</li><li>(Desirable) Familiarity with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure as code</li><li>(Desirable) Exposure to data engineering, ETL pipelines, or high-volume data processing</li><li>(Desirable) Experience working in SME or start-up environments, comfortable wearing multiple hats</li></ul>
<b>Responsibilities:</b>
<ul><li>Leading the design, development, and evolution of intelligent, distributed systems</li><li>Architecting and building AI-driven capabilities, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), AI agents and orchestration workflows</li><li>Designing and maintaining backend services and APIs (primarily Python, FastAPI/Flask)</li><li>Building and scaling data pipelines and search systems using ElasticSearch, Weaviate, Pinecone, and other vector databases</li><li>Engineering secure, containerised architectures using Docker and Kubernetes</li><li>Ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and performance for mission-critical workloads</li><li>Providing technical leadership and mentorship to other engineers</li><li>Contributing to technical strategy, tooling choices, and engineering best practices</li></ul>
<b>Technologies:</b>
<ul><li>AI</li><li>Backend</li><li>CI/CD</li><li>DevOps</li><li>Docker</li><li>ETL</li><li>ElasticSearch</li><li>FastAPI</li><li>Flask</li><li>Kubernetes</li><li>Python</li><li>Security</li><li>microservices</li></ul>
<p><b>More:</b></p>
<p>We are an innovative UK technology company building a next-generation AI platform for defence and health applications. Our systems operate in highly regulated, mission-critical environments where reliability, security, and performance truly matter. We offer a genuine ground-floor opportunity for a Lead Software Engineer to shape both the technology and the engineering culture within a growing, mission-driven business. The role includes hybrid working with one day per week onsite in either Winchester or Basingstoke and a competitive salary between £90,000 - £100,000 (DOE) plus bonus and benefits.</p>
<p>last updated 8 week of 2026</p>
<b>Requirements:</b>
<ul><li>Active SC clearance and British nationality (no dual nationality)</li><li>Degree in Computer Science, AI, or a related field or equivalent industry experience</li><li>Strong background in Python or similar languages</li><li>Significant experience with backend development, microservices, and distributed systems</li><li>Hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, including LLMs, RAG, or vector databases</li><li>Solid understanding of containerisation and orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes)</li><li>Experience delivering secure, on-premise or regulated systems</li><li>Proven ability to lead technically, mentor others, and take ownership of complex problems</li><li>(Desirable) Experience in defence, government, healthcare, or other regulated domains</li><li>(Desirable) Familiarity with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure as code</li><li>(Desirable) Exposure to data engineering, ETL pipelines, or high-volume data processing</li><li>(Desirable) Experience working in SME or start-up environments, comfortable wearing multiple hats</li></ul>
<b>Responsibilities:</b>
<ul><li>Leading the design, development, and evolution of intelligent, distributed systems</li><li>Architecting and building AI-driven capabilities, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), AI agents and orchestration workflows</li><li>Designing and maintaining backend services and APIs (primarily Python, FastAPI/Flask)</li><li>Building and scaling data pipelines and search systems using ElasticSearch, Weaviate, Pinecone, and other vector databases</li><li>Engineering secure, containerised architectures using Docker and Kubernetes</li><li>Ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and performance for mission-critical workloads</li><li>Providing technical leadership and mentorship to other engineers</li><li>Contributing to technical strategy, tooling choices, and engineering best practices</li></ul>
<b>Technologies:</b>
<ul><li>AI</li><li>Backend</li><li>CI/CD</li><li>DevOps</li><li>Docker</li><li>ETL</li><li>ElasticSearch</li><li>FastAPI</li><li>Flask</li><li>Kubernetes</li><li>Python</li><li>Security</li><li>microservices</li></ul>
<p><b>More:</b></p>
<p>We are an innovative UK technology company building a next-generation AI platform for defence and health applications. Our systems operate in highly regulated, mission-critical environments where reliability, security, and performance truly matter. We offer a genuine ground-floor opportunity for a Lead Software Engineer to shape both the technology and the engineering culture within a growing, mission-driven business. The role includes hybrid working with one day per week onsite in either Winchester or Basingstoke and a competitive salary between £90,000 - £100,000 (DOE) plus bonus and benefits.</p>
<p>last updated 8 week of 2026</p>