Tech Lead - Software Engineering

Technical Lead - Software Engineering (Contract, Outside IR35)
Location: Skelmersdale, hybrid (2 days/week onsite, reducing over time)

Contract: Initial 3 months, likely extension | Outside IR35

Rate: Competitive, DOE

Start: August 2026

Our client is bringing ecommerce and DevOps capability in-house and needs a hands-on Technical Lead to take the technical reins. This is a solo contractor engagement with no formal line management, but you'll be the working technical authority for a team of four (1 infrastructure engineer, 3 Java software engineers) and the key point of governance as external delivery support transitions in-house.

You'll be:

Hands-on across a TypeScript/Node.js commerce platform and a production-scale Java codebase
Owning AWS cloud infrastructure (EC2/Node-based; Azure also fine)
Directing and coordinating a small team without formal line management
Supporting DevOps and integration capability moving in-house
Second-line technical escalation during a defined cover period

Essential

Proven experience as a Technical Lead, Lead Engineer or Principal Engineer in a modern software-engineering environment
Demonstrable record of owning and improving production platforms - including availability, performance and incident management
Experience leading engineers through technical mentoring, code reviews, architecture decisions and delivery
Experience providing technical governance, direction and challenge to external development partners
Active, hands-on experience working in Java codebases at production scale
Expert-level TypeScript, JavaScript and Node.js; experience building scalable, production-grade applications
Strong GraphQL, REST API and PostgreSQL skills; Git-based source control and branching strategies
Strong AWS experience: designing, securing, deploying and operating production cloud environments
Docker, CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform exposure useful) and modern DevOps practices
Experience designing and supporting enterprise integrations, APIs and middleware platforms; Boomi or MuleSoft experience useful
Sound understanding of security-by-design, secrets management, access control and vulnerability management
Excellent written and verbal communication: able to explain complex technical topics to non-technical stakeholders
Comfortable explaining and owning AI-assisted code output, not just using it

Desirable

Experience with Vendure or a comparable open-source commerce platform (e.g. Magento)
Experience with a modern React-based frontend framework, ideally Next.js
Experience with Python, Redis, Payload CMS, Kubernetes or Terraform
Experience with Akamai, Linode or hybrid-cloud environments
Experience with product-catalogue platforms, PIM, search services or ERP integrations
Experience contributing to or maintaining open-source software
AWS certification (Solutions Architect - Associate or above) or equivalent
Experience within B2B commerce, manufacturing or industrial distribution
Familiarity with DORA metrics and engineering effectiveness frameworks
Experience with AI-assisted development tooling (GitHub Copilot, Cursor or equivalent)