Lead Software Engineer

London | Hybrid | Competitive Salary + Equity

We're building something we believe could become one of the most important technology companies in the defence space.

The defence industry is going through a fundamental shift. Autonomous systems, AI, sensors and vast amounts of data are changing how missions are planned and executed — but the software infrastructure connecting all of this hasn't kept up.

That's what we're here to change.

Our ambition is to build the technology platform for the autonomous age of defence. Think of what Palantir has done with data and operations — we're aiming to have that same level of impact on the next generation of defence technology.

We're backed by some of the world's most respected technology investors and are growing quickly. More importantly, we're building with a team of exceptional engineers who want to work on difficult problems where the outcome genuinely matters.

We're now looking for a Lead Software Engineer to join us at a pretty unique point in the journey.

Why you should join us

You'll have genuine ownership.

We're not a company where you join as a Lead Engineer and spend your first six months figuring out where you sit in the hierarchy.

You’ll have responsibility from day one.

You’ll own a significant area of our product, make architectural and technical decisions, influence what we build next and work directly with the people using our technology.

We're deliberately building an environment where great engineers have a huge amount of autonomy . If you see something that needs changing, you're expected to have an opinion and make it happen.

You'll still be an engineer.

We want technical leaders who enjoy leading people but don't want to stop building.

You’ll spend your time split between writing production software, solving difficult technical problems and leading a team of talented engineers .

You’ll be involved in architecture, code reviews and technical decisions, while also mentoring engineers and helping them become better at what they do.

You won’t be managing from a distance — you’ll be leading from the front.

What you’ll bring:

We're looking for someone who has already demonstrated they can lead other engineers without losing their technical edge .

You’ll have:

• Several years of commercial software engineering experience
• Experience leading, managing or mentoring software engineers
• Experience building production software across backend, frontend or full-stack environments
• The ability to take ownership of technical decisions and drive them through to delivery
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and an interest in building secure, reliable systems
• A pragmatic and forward-thinking approach to AI coding tools
• A degree in Computer Science, Engineering or another technical discipline, or equivalent experience

Experience with Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, machine learning, networking, embedded systems or application security is useful, but we don't expect you to tick every box.

We're much more interested in how you think, build and lead .

What you’ll get:

We're offering a highly competitive package alongside meaningful equity , because we want the people building this company to have a genuine stake in its success.

You’ll also get:

• Private healthcare and dental
• Free meals in the office
• Relocation support
• Access to the equipment, training and resources you need
• A highly collaborative London-based engineering environment
• The opportunity to work directly with customers and see your technology deployed in the real world

We're looking for people who want to build something exceptional, not just work somewhere interesting.

If you want to lead engineers, stay close to the technology and help build what could become one of the defining software companies in defence , we'd like to hear from you.