Software Engineering Lead

Ready to shape engineering at scale? As our Engineering Lead, you'll drive the platforms and tooling that help teams deliver faster, safer, and smarter.

Here at Cushon by WTW, we like to do things a bit differently... our mission is to help as many people as possible to get comfortable with their finances. Our vision is to bring tech revolution to the financial services industry. We will do this by building simple, convenient, and delightful financial experiences centred on the individual. We offer workplace savings products & pensions to customers, either directly, or through employee benefit programs at some of the largest corporates in the UK. We're a technology-led organisation who believe we can offer great value to customers by building a user-friendly, smart, and cost-effective investment platform that automates many of the processes that would otherwise require large operations teams to manage. So, to support us in this mission, we are looking for an Engineering Lead to provide technical leadership for one of our teams. You will help set direction for shared infrastructure and engineering operations - the production hosting, security perimeter, release pipelines, observability, and developer tooling that every engineering squad depends on to ship safely. This is a role that includes Line Management responsibility for your team of 5-7 Engineers with the assistance of an assigned Engineering Manager.

The Role

Technical Leadership

Lead the evolution of backend architecture across PHP, Go, and API platforms, balancing speed with long-term scalability

Define API and domain design standards, ensuring clear service boundaries and reliable integrations

Drive event-driven architectures and integration patterns that enable teams to deliver independently

Champion automated testing, observability, and production readiness across backend services

Oversee database design, migrations, data integrity, and performance in partnership with platform teams

Lead incident response, post-incident reviews, and continuous operational improvements

Mentor engineers in PHP, Go, security, performance, and backend best practices

Support high-risk releases, rollouts, and cross-team dependencies across modern and legacy systems

Delivery Leadership

Lead delivery of complex, multi-team initiatives by managing dependencies, resources, and blockers

Define and drive technical strategy, improving engineering practices and delivery processes

Build strong partnerships across product, engineering, security, and business teams

Keep teams focused on priorities while balancing technical debt and operational needs

Drive collaboration across teams and lead cross-engineering initiatives with fellow Engineering Leads.

People & Developer experience

Lead, coach, and mentor engineers to strengthen delivery and technical leadership

Stay hands-on when needed, contributing to designs, code, and operational improvements

Enhance developer experience through better tooling, documentation, and onboarding

Support hiring and help raise the bar for engineering talent

Empower teams to take ownership while providing guidance and direction where needed

What you'll bring

Proven experience leading engineering teams in fast-paced, regulated environments

Deep expertise in a relevant engineering discipline, with broad end-to-end technical knowledge

Track record of owning production systems from delivery through to operational support

Experience leading complex, cross-team initiatives and driving technical outcomes

Strong architectural judgement and a pragmatic approach to technical decision-making

Expertise in automated testing, CI/CD, and safe release practices

Strong understanding of observability, monitoring, and incident management

Knowledge of security, compliance, and non-functional requirements in financial services

Comfortable evolving both modern and legacy systems

Hands-on leader who can contribute to code, design, and reviews when needed

Ability to align technical decisions with business goals, delivery timelines, and reliability targets

Champion best practices while balancing speed, quality, and stability

Strong stakeholder management, communication, coaching, and mentoring skills

Strategic thinker who fosters high-performing teams and engineering excellence

What we offer Enjoy a benefits package designed to help you thrive, both professionally and personally. You'll receive 25 days of annual leave plus an extra WTW day to relax and recharge. Our comprehensive health and wellbeing offering includes private healthcare, life insurance, group income protection, and regular health assessments, all giving you peace of mind. Secure your future with our defined contribution pension scheme, featuring matched contributions up to 10% from the company.

We support your growth and balance with hybrid working options, access to an employee assistance programme, and a fully paid volunteer day to make a difference in your community. On top of these, you can opt into a variety of additional perks including an electric vehicle car scheme, share scheme, cycle-to-work programme, dental and optical cover, critical illness protection, and much more. Start making the most of your career and wellbeing with a range of benefits tailored for you.

Equal Opportunity Employer We're committed to equal employment opportunity and provide application, interview and workplace adjustments and accommodations to all applicants. If you foresee any barriers, from the application process through to joining WTW, please email