Lead Engineer

Job description

Are you a Lead Engineer ready to drive impactful change at the Home Office? You will play a key role in overseeing the technical delivery of your team, managing their workload, and ensuring that the right skills are in place. As the Lead Engineer, you’ll be responsible for the work carried out by your Developers and DevOps teams, ensuring that services adhere to best practices. You’ll collaborate with Senior and Principal Engineers to ensure technical excellence and innovation.

With your solid technical background, you will provide guidance and mentorship to your team, while also keeping an eye on emerging technologies to inform strategy. You’ll help shape the future of technology within the Home Office, supporting the formation of technical strategies and ensuring they align with organisational goals.

In collaboration with fellow Senior, Lead, and Principal Engineers, you will be responsible for ensuring that all technical approaches are appropriate and endorsed. You’ll engage with senior stakeholders to ensure that product delivery and ongoing maintenance are grounded in sound technical principles. This is a high-impact role, and you’ll work closely with Architects and other technical professions across the engineering function to deliver best-in-class services.

What you will do
• Lead the day to day activities of engineers in your team, ensuring everyone is working effectively and efficiently; reporting any impediments.
• Coach your team as well as Supporting Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and encouraging formal professional qualifications.
• Support capability build in your team and in the organisation.
• Take a hands-on role with engineering delivery when necessary, blending your leadership and technical tasks to achieve team objectives.
• Ensure appropriate methods are being used, as well as leading efforts to identify improved tools/technologies.

What you will bring:
• Managing a delivery focused team with competing priorities and timelines, ensuring adherence to standards within the team.
• Working with senior stakeholders to provide operational support to the portfolio in pursuit of challenging ministerial and legislative deadlines.
• Providing technical knowledge, best practice, and the complete CI/CD build process.
• Creating, executing, and delivering detailed roadmaps that include appropriate quality management and business capacity to ensure successful outcomes.
• Ability to interpret complex system designs and articulate these to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mentoring colleagues in developing skills and capabilities in line with strategy, team, and personal goals.

Tools and Technologies we use:

We are keen for Engineers to continue learning new technologies, we have a large range in the Home Office including:
• Backend: Java, Node.js, Python, Scala, Power platform
• Frontend: React, JavaScript, Typescript, Angular
• Data: PostgreSQL, Mongodb, Apache Cassandra
• DevOps: AWS, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Docker, Ansible, Terraform

Why Join Us?

Exceptional pension: Employer contribution of 28.97%.

Generous leave: 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 with service), 8 public holidays, and 1 day for the King’s Birthday.

Flexible working: Options include full-time, part-time, compressed hours, job sharing, and a hybrid model (minimum 60% on-site).

Learning and development: Access to training, technical accreditations, and funded qualifications (subject to approval).

Recognition and inclusion: A culture that champions diversity, enhanced parental leave schemes, annual bonuses, and recognition awards.

Learn more about our benefits: Benefits – Home Office Careers

Additional Information

This role requires SC clearance. To meet national security vetting requirements, you must typically have been resident in the UK for at least five years.

Ready to lead, innovate, and make an impact? Click “Apply” to explore the full job description and salary details.