Company: VIQU IT RECRUITMENT
Job Type: Permanent, FullTime
Salary: £75,000 - £100,000 per annum
Lead Developer - Step Into Engineering Management (CTO-Level Growth Ahead) £75,000 to £100,000 + Bonus (~10%)Hybrid: 1 to 2 Days Onsite (Oxfordshire Area)Must Be Commutable
We are working with a rapidly growing technology business in the energy sector, scaling at 40% year on year and about to onboard several major new clients. They are now looking for a Lead Developer who wants to step into genuine engineering leadership, with a clear path into Software Engineering Manager and longer-term CTO-level responsibility as the business evolves.
The company was originally spun out of a well-known energy organisation by two highly skilled senior developers who have successfully launched multiple businesses. As they step back from day-to-day leadership over the next 12 months, this role will become the central technical leadership position in the organisation.
The Opportunity This role has two phases:
Phase 1: Lead Developer (Now) -
Lead development across a modern, serverless cloud stack (AWS, Python, React, SQL).
-
Work closely with the senior developers while contributing hands-on.
-
Take ownership of development standards, technical decision-making and tooling.
-
Support agile delivery within small, self-managing teams.
Phase 2: Engineering Manager / Future Technical Leader -
Grow, mentor and manage multiple development teams (approx. 3 teams of 3).
-
Coach junior developers and guide technical career paths.
-
Shape the engineering culture, best-practice processes and delivery frameworks.
-
Take increasing ownership of technical strategy as the founders step back.
This is a perfect role for a Lead Developer or Senior Developer who enjoys leading people and wants a realistic path into Engineering Management and eventually CTO-level ownership.
What They Are Prioritising (in order of importance)1. Engineering Leadership -
Experience leading or managing developers.
-
Proven mentoring, coaching or developing junior engineers.
-
Comfortable shaping best practices, processes and team culture.
2. Technical Foundations Experience with any of the following is beneficial (they are open-minded):
Strong back-end or cloud developers from other stacks will still be considered.
3. Energy Sector Experience (Nice-to-Have) Beneficial but not essential.
Why Join -
Join a fast-growing business with major new clients.
-
Direct mentorship from highly experienced senior developers and founders.
-
Opportunity to shape the future engineering organisation.
-
Clear, credible route to Engineering Manager to CTO-level leadership.
-
Hybrid working with flexibi