Role: Lead Software EngineerLocation: Milton Keynes (Hybrid – Once a Month On-Site)Salary: £60,000 – £67,000 Network IT are partnering with a large, service-focused organisation undergoing significant modernisation across its digital and engineering landscape. We’re seeking an experienced Lead Engineer to drive technical excellence, shape modern engineering practices, and provide end-to-end leadership across complex software and systems delivery.This role is ideal for a proven technical leader who enjoys balancing architecture, hands-on engineering, mentoring, and driving continuous improvement. You’ll help define the technical roadmap, uplift engineering standards, and support the delivery of secure, scalable, and high-performing applications across cloud and on-prem environments.Role Overview & ResponsibilitiesAs a Lead Engineer, you’ll take technical ownership of products and platforms, leading multidisciplinary engineering teams to deliver robust, secure, and scalable solutions.Key responsibilities include:

• Leading day-to-day performance, motivation, and objectives for engineering teams.
• Mentoring and developing engineers, supporting skills growth and professional development.
• Driving engineering best practice across DevOps, agile delivery, tooling, automation, testing, and CI/CD.
• Designing and architecting complex systems, ensuring scalable, cost-effective, and maintainable solutions.
• Owning local architecture decisions, collaborating closely with solution architects and product leads.
• Overseeing full lifecycle delivery including design, development, integration, configuration, and testing.
• Leading data modelling and database design in partnership with data architects.
• Managing supplier relationships and contributing to effective resource allocation.
• Promoting DevOps culture, automation, observability, and practical application of AI where beneficial.
• Supporting continuous improvement and the uplift of engineering standards across the wider organisation.

Essential Skills & ExperienceTo succeed in this role, you will bring:

• Expertise in systems architecture, distributed systems, microservices, cloud platforms (AWS/Azure), and API-led design.
• Proven background in software engineering, including coding, debugging, reviews, and modern development practices.
• Strong technical leadership experience across software and systems engineering.
• Excellent people management and mentoring skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of testing approaches including TDD, automated testing, and non-functional testing.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, infrastructure-as-code, and automation.
• Strong data and database design skills.
• Familiarity with modern digital architectures (e.g., MACH – Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless).