Lead Backend Engineer

Lead Backend Engineer (Python) 📍 London hybrid (3 days onsite) 💸Up to £130k 💻Python - FastAPI - Pydantic - Pandas - SQLAlchemy We're partnering with a fast-growing fintech rebuilding the infrastructure behind modern wealth management. Their platform is replacing legacy adviser and investment systems with API-first tooling designed for speed, transparency, and automation, giving financial advisers a far better way to manage investments at scale. Following a major funding round, they're now hiring a Lead Backend Engineer to help shape the next phase of the platform and lead a small, high-performing engineering team. What makes this role interesting

• You'll work on core platform architecture, not peripheral features
• High ownership environment with direct influence on product and technical direction
• Opportunity to modernise systems in an industry still dominated by outdated technology
• Small engineering team where strong technical decisions have immediate impact
• Blend of hands-on engineering and leadership, ideal for someone who still loves building The role This is a true player-coach position: around 50% hands-on engineering and 50% technical leadership. You'll:
• Lead and mentor a team of 3–4 engineers
• Design and scale backend services powering an API-driven investment platform
• Translate ambiguous business problems into clear technical execution plans
• Drive engineering standards, architecture decisions, and delivery practices
• Partner closely with product and leadership teams as the platform scales What they're looking for
• 8+ years of commercial Python engineering experience
• Strong experience building backend systems and APIs in production environments
• Previous experience leading engineering teams
• Background in insurance, trading, fintech, or other regulated financial environments
• Ability to balance short-term delivery with long-term technical quality
• Comfortable operating in fast-moving, high-ownership environments This role will suit an experienced backend engineer who enjoys solving complex domain problems, leading from the front, and building systems that directly shape a company's future.