Lead Engineer

Swansea, United Kingdom

Visa sponsorship available for eligible candidates.

Strong focus on work life balance with a flexible hybrid model (3 days onsite).

Based in Swansea, South Wales - three days per week on site.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across one or more multi disciplinary teams delivering digital services for a UK government client. You will set the technical direction across a hybrid estate spanning modern cloud native services and established Mainframe platforms, and you will be hands on with code, architecture, and design decisions. This is a senior technical role combining engineering excellence with team leadership. You will operate within structured and governed environments where security, performance, accessibility, and reliability are critical, and you will shape how teams build, test, and run software in production.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across one or more multi disciplinary teams, setting standards for engineering quality, security and performance
• Lead architecture and design decisions across services built in Java Spring Boot, AWS Serverless (Lambda/Node.js) and Ruby on Rails with React
• Define integration patterns between modern services and Legacy Mainframe systems, supporting incremental modernisation
• Remain hands on with code: contributing to critical paths, conducting code reviews, and pairing with engineers
• Own the technical roadmap and non functional requirements (performance, scalability, observability, security) for assigned services
• Mentor and coach senior and mid level engineers, raising the engineering bar through example and feedback
• Lead CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and DevSecOps practices using the Serverless framework, AWS native tooling, and modern pipelines
• Collaborate with architects, security, product, and delivery leads to translate user needs into robust, deliverable technical solutions
• Contribute to GDS service assessments and ensure services meet the Service Standard, Technology Code of Practice, and accessibility requirements
• Drive technical decision records (ADRs), runbooks, and operational readiness for services entering live support

Qualifications

• Strong hands on experience leading the design and delivery of production services across a polyglot stack
• Deep experience with Java and Spring Boot for back end service development
• Practical experience building serverless services on AWS using Lambda, Node.js, and the Serverless framework (or equivalents such as SAM/CDK)
• Experience with Ruby on Rails and modern React front ends, or comparable full stack experience and the ability to lead teams using these tools
• Strong grasp of integration patterns with Legacy systems (mainframe, ESB, message based, batch) and incremental modernisation strategies
• Solid understanding of secure by design principles, OWASP risks, and engineering for high assurance environments
• Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK) and modern CI/CD practices
• Strong experience working in Agile or hybrid delivery models (Scrum, Kanban) within multi disciplinary teams
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to influence technical and non technical stakeholders
• Experience delivering services within a UK public sector or government context
• Familiarity with GDS service standards, the Technology Code of Practice, and the GOV.UK Design System
• Experience leading Legacy modernisation, including strangler pattern migrations away from Mainframe systems
• Experience with event driven architectures (Kafka, EventBridge, SNS/SQS)
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2) and inclusive design
• Experience supporting services through GDS Alpha, Beta, and Live assessments
• Active contribution to engineering communities of practice, open source projects, or technical writing

What We Offer

• Competitive salary with annual review
• Company pension scheme
• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Critical illness cover
• Relocation support of £3,000 - £5,000
• Visa sponsorship for eligible candidates
• Access to learning and development resources
• A supportive, inclusive working environment

Equal Opportunity Employer

Scrumconnect Consulting is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and welcome applications from all backgrounds, regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.