Backend Engineering Team Lead
About this role
The Backend Engineering Team Lead will be responsible for establishing and directing a new backend team focused on several critical Netcraft products. These products include the Integration Layer, which connects customer SIEM platforms with Netcraft data, and the Web and SSL Server Spam, which analyzes emails for phishing and scam activity. The Integration Layer supports engagement with criminals conducting conversational scams at scale, while the other products involve a mix of legacy systems and new features supporting the customer base.
This role requires a technical leader who possesses both deep engineering expertise and commercial awareness to modernize legacy platforms and commercialize new offerings. The individual will build the team, contribute directly to product development by creating performant systems, and manage a delivery roadmap. Success in this position hinges on the ability to work autonomously, prioritize effectively, and translate business needs into concrete technical solutions.
This role is ideal for an engineer who thrives on technical leadership, strategic product thinking, and mentoring others. Candidates should have a proven ability to drive technical quality through practices like test-driven development and CI/CD, while also being adept at leveraging AI-first development techniques to enhance productivity.
What you will do
- Establish and lead a new backend team responsible for key Netcraft products.
- Evaluate products with Product and Design colleagues to identify immediate improvements and define long-term strategies.
- Take initiative to solve problems and manage demanding delivery timelines.
- Manage requirements from key stakeholders and customers, translating business needs into technical solutions.
- Prioritize, refine, and sequence the team’s workflow while dedicating time to hands-on engineering.
- Contribute code, demonstrate best practices, and uphold high engineering standards for code quality.
- Build and lead a high-performing team of engineers.
- Deeply engage in conceiving and executing engineering solutions to create performant systems.
What you need
- Possesses strong and demonstrable leadership skills coupled with a constructive approach to problem-solving.
- Requires a strong engineering background spanning a variety of technologies.
- Must have a track record of identifying opportunities to create significant value within existing products.
- Needs experience partnering closely with Product Managers to shape product strategy and define technical solutions.
- Demonstrable experience working with AWS technologies and various machine learning tools and frameworks.
- Experience reverse-engineering codebases is beneficial for understanding legacy products.
- Must have experience interviewing and hiring engineers to build effective teams.
- Familiarity with AI-first development techniques is necessary to boost productivity.
Nice to have
- Strong Go development skills, particularly for technology modernization or uplift projects
- OpenSearch experience
- MongoDB experience
- Perl experience
- Experience with generative AI technologies
Benefits
- 33 days annual leave, including public holidays
- Generous enhanced family leave and pay
- Enhanced company sick pay from day one
- Salary sacrifice pension with matched employer contributions up to 5% + NI savings
- Private health cover, including access to a private GP service
- Life Assurance at 4 x salary
- Equity tracking scheme
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the remote policy for this role?
The posting mentions hybrid and flexible working options.
What is the compensation structure?
The rewards package includes a salary sacrifice pension with matched employer contributions up to 5% plus NI savings.
What is the technology stack used by the team?
Bonus points include experience with Go, OpenSearch, MongoDB, and Perl.
What is the team structure like?
The team is described as talented and enthusiastic, and the company has built a workplace where people feel supported and inspired.