Tech Lead - Software Engineering (Java, Spring Boot & AWS)

Who we are

We’re IAG Loyalty - one organisation with two ambitious, growing divisions across Loyalty and Holidays. Each has its own goals, strategy and team, but together we’re united by a shared vision to create a more rewarding world of travel and experiences.

Our Loyalty division is home to Avios, the global loyalty currency, enabling millions of members to collect and spend rewards across travel, retail and financial services.

Our Holidays division, including British Airways Holidays and Iberia Vacaciones, brings together trusted brands, connecting customers to thousands of destinations worldwide through seamless, end-to-end travel experiences.

We’re on an exciting journey of growth and transformation – we’re going places.

The opportunity ✨

Are you a hands-on engineering leader who enjoys solving complex technical challenges, shaping architecture and taking real ownership of the technology you build?

At IAG Loyalty, we're looking for a Tech Lead to drive the evolution of our Pricing Service, a business-critical platform that powers how millions of customers redeem Avios across airlines, partners and travel experiences.

This is an opportunity to take end-to-end technical ownership of a high-impact service at the heart of our global loyalty ecosystem. Working in a small, focused engineering team alongside another Software Engineer, you'll be directly involved in designing, developing and operating the technology, while setting the technical direction for how the platform evolves.

Working with Java, Spring Boot, AWS and Terraform, you'll tackle complex engineering challenges, shape architectural decisions and build secure, scalable and resilient solutions that support millions of Avios redemption requests.

You'll have the autonomy to influence how the platform is designed, built and improved, balancing new product capabilities with the reliability, performance and long-term health of a business-critical service.

Working closely with Product Managers, architects and engineering teams across British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and the wider IAG group, you'll turn complex commercial requirements into practical technical solutions.

Whether you're an established Tech Lead looking for greater technical ownership or an experienced Senior Backend Engineer ready to take the next step, we'd love to hear from you.

What you'll be doing

As our Tech Lead, you'll take ownership of the technical direction, architecture and hands-on engineering behind our Pricing Service, working closely with another Software Engineer to design, build and continuously improve the platform.

You'll design, develop and evolve scalable, cloud-native microservices and APIs using Java, Spring Boot and AWS. From defining architecture and evaluating technical trade-offs to writing production-quality code, you'll be involved throughout the engineering lifecycle, ensuring the platform remains secure, resilient and ready to support evolving business needs.

You'll tackle complex integration and engineering challenges, connecting pricing capabilities with systems across our airline and loyalty ecosystem. Working closely with Product Managers and commercial stakeholders, you'll translate business requirements into effective technical solutions, balancing new features with performance, maintainability and long-term platform health.

You'll champion engineering quality through code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure as Code using Terraform. You'll also use monitoring and observability to understand system performance, identify improvements and strengthen reliability, while contributing to incident response and a shared on-call rota.

Alongside hands-on delivery, you'll provide technical guidance and mentorship to the Software Engineer, sharing knowledge, challenging ideas and helping maintain high engineering standards. You'll also collaborate with architects and engineering teams across IAG Loyalty and our airline partners, influencing technical decisions and introducing improvements that deliver measurable value.

What you'll bring ⚡

We're looking for someone with a strong backend engineering background who enjoys being hands-on, solving complex technical problems and taking ownership of architectural decisions.

• Backend software engineering expertise – strong hands-on experience designing, developing and delivering applications using Java and Spring Boot, with a solid understanding of microservices, REST APIs, distributed systems and software design patterns.
• Architecture and technical design – experience designing scalable, secure and resilient services, with the ability to evaluate technical options, make architectural decisions and balance performance, reliability and long-term maintainability.
• Cloud and DevOps experience – practical experience building and operating cloud-native applications on AWS, alongside knowledge of Terraform, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD pipelines and modern development practices.
• Engineering and operational excellence – a strong understanding of automated testing, code quality, monitoring, observability and production reliability, with experience identifying and resolving complex technical issues.
• Technical ownership and leadership – experience taking responsibility for technical solutions, guiding other engineers, reviewing code and promoting engineering best practices. You don't necessarily need to have held a formal Tech Lead title.
• Collaboration and delivery – the ability to work closely with Product Managers, architects, engineers and commercial stakeholders, translating complex business challenges into technical solutions and delivering value in an agile environment.

Experience with loyalty platforms, pricing systems, business rules engines or the travel industry would be advantageous, but isn't essential.

We're interested in engineers from a variety of industries who can bring strong technical expertise, fresh thinking and experience building complex, high-performing systems.

We might not be right for you if:

• You prefer leading large engineering teams rather than remaining hands-on – this is a small, focused team where you'll be directly involved in architecture, coding and technical delivery.
• You prefer environments where everything is already defined – our technology and products are continuously evolving, so you'll need to be comfortable making technical decisions, navigating ambiguity and balancing engineering quality with delivering business value.
• You enjoy designing solutions but prefer not to build and operate them – this is an end-to-end engineering role where you'll take ownership from initial design and development through to production, monitoring and continuous improvement.

If you think you have what it takes but don't meet every single point above, please do still apply. We'd love to chat and see if you could be a great fit.

The Blend

This role will work as part of our Loyalty division and is based out of our London Victoria office.

We call our approach to hybrid working The Blend – it's about giving you the flexibility to choose where you do your best work, while staying connected with your team and the wider business.

This means you'll be required to spend at least two days per week in the office, with the rest of the time working from home. You may also be required to work from one of our other offices or partner locations, depending on your role and priorities.

Diversity and Inclusion

Our vision is to create a more rewarding world of travel and experiences. Delivering that requires diverse thinking and inclusive leadership. We are committed to building a workplace where people feel they belong and are valued for their perspective. Inclusion drives better decisions, stronger performance and more innovative outcomes. We actively encourage applications from people with different experiences and backgrounds, and are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is fair, inclusive and accessible.