Job description
Waracle is looking for a Lead Backend Developer to join our world-class digital technology consultancy. We are a diverse, smart, and ambitious community of specialists dedicated to technology-driven transformation. We partner with bold clients to solve their most significant business challenges, creating intelligent digital products that make a real impact. We thrive on complexity and deliver business-critical IT transformation, moving seamlessly from strategy and design to delivery and operations.
This is a Hybrid role working from the Bristol office 2 days per week.
The Opportunity
As a Lead Developer, you will be a cornerstone of our technical community, operating at a strategic level to define project-level architecture and technical approaches. This role is about more than just code; it’s about empowerment. You will foster a psychologically safe environment where your squads can flourish, translating big-picture business objectives into clear, achievable technical tasks. You’ll be a key influencer, ensuring our technical roadmaps align with long-term goals while managing expectations with heart and transparency.
Key Aspects of the Role
- Technical Leadership: Defining architecture for squads and proactively anticipating risks in scaling systems.
- Strategic Planning: Turning business dreams into technical reality and ensuring our solutions meet long-term client needs.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Facilitating workshops to deeply understand requirements and managing the balance between scope, budget, and priorities.
- Team Empowerment: Leading a project squad with accountability for delivery while championing a collaborative culture.
- Operational Excellence: Taking ownership of technical outcomes and making thoughtful trade-offs to maintain a healthy delivery pace.
- Practice Leadership: Owning Community of Practice (CoP) initiatives and setting the gold standard for coding and shared practices.
Flexible & Sustainable Delivery
We believe in work-life harmony and being transparent about how we work. To ensure our releases are supported smoothly, this role involves a predictable, rotating shift pattern just two days a month.
- Rotation: On these two days, you’ll work either 6 AM – 2 PM or 12 PM – 8 PM.
- Standard Hours: Aside from these two pre-planned days, all other working time follows our standard business hours.
What you'll bring
- Core Technical Expertise: Deep experience in defining and scaling microservices, specifically maintaining and troubleshooting secure Go (Golang) systems at scale.
- Polyglot Mindset: Senior-level experience in at least one other major programming language, showing your ability to lead across diverse environments.
- Orchestration Mastery: Expert-level command of Kubernetes and Helm for complex, cloud-native deployments.
- Strategic Delivery: A proven track record of leading squads through the full Agile lifecycle, from initial design to Continuous Delivery (CD).
- Quality Mentorship: Mastery of coding best practices and the ability to inspire and enforce high standards across teams.
- Analytical Acumen: Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to manage technical trade-offs effectively.
Recruitment process
- Initial Chat: You’ll start with a call with your dedicated Talent Acquisition Partner to talk about Waracle, your aspirations, salary, and benefits.
- Two-Stage Interview: You’ll then be invited to a two-stage process to dive deeper into the role and showcase your unique skills and experience.
- Supportive Guidance: Your Talent Partner will be by your side, guiding you through every step until your first day.
Our Benefits
We believe in supporting our team, inside and outside of work. Here's a glimpse of what you can expect:
You'll receive 27 days of annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays, totalling 35 days of holiday to unwind and pursue your passions.
Plan for retirement with our company-matched 5% pension contribution. For added peace of mind, we also offer a Death in Service benefit, providing 2 x your annual salary for your loved ones.
Our Medicash Health Cash Plans help cover everyday healthcare costs, complemented by an Employee Assistance Programme for confidential support, and Group Sickness Cover for peace of mind.
We champion hybrid working, providing a home office setup budget to ensure you're comfortable and productive wherever you are.
Invest in yourself with access to Udemy Business and a dedicated learning and development budget for continuous growth.
Make the most of our Cycle to Work Scheme, and enjoy exclusive gym and retail discounts.
Our enhanced parental leave policies include support for fertility journeys, recognising diverse family needs.
We foster a vibrant culture with regular fun meet-ups and lunch on us in the office once a month. You'll also have the opportunity to make a local impact through Spirit of Waracle, our initiative for getting involved in charitable causes locally, building strong team bonds and giving back.
Our values
To make the world a better place through impactful software
We take pride in delivering high quality work and seeing the impact it has. We are curious, proactive, and always learning; continuously improving ourselves and our skills. We strive for excellence in everything we do. We see every opportunity as a chance to raise the bar - for Waracle, our clients, and for our own professional growth.
We succeed together: whether we’re leading, supporting or learning. We lead with empathy, working as a unified team to understand and appreciate other people’s perspectives and experiences. This commitment to one another empowers everyone to do their best work and reach their full potential. We build trust, celebrate every contribution, and create a space where everyone has the opportunity to shine.
We have big goals, but we don’t try to do everything. We know there are a limited number of hours in a day, so we make every one of them count. We accomplish this by regularly pausing to assess the potential impact of our work, prioritising what matters most and then acting with purpose.
We are transparent in how we think and act. We seek and share context, give and accept feedback, and communicate openly. We take full ownership of what we deliver as individuals and as a team, and hold ourselves accountable. This openness and accountability gives us the clarity and purpose to deliver at our best.
We love what we do and find the fun in each day, celebrating our shared successes and the satisfaction of doing hard work well. We’re in this together, creating space for connection, laughter, and fun. When we look after our clients and each other, and do work we’re proud of, we go home happy.
Frequently-asked questions
Here are some of the things that people tend to ask about working at Waracle.
Absolutely! At Waracle, we welcome both permanent and contract applicants. Each job posting indicates if it's open to contract applications. We offer a diverse range of projects, both within and outside IR35 regulations, catering to various preferences and expertise levels.
We work on a Hybrid working model and offer flexible working hours. We're spread across 4 vibrant UK offices, but our teamwork isn't confined to those spaces, it's all about collaboration! While using the office is encouraged for our teams to work together, each of us has a home office setup, relishing the freedom of hybrid workstyles. As of now, remote work outside the UK isn't part of our standard practice.
We always want to hear from talented people, join our talent pool 👇 and we'll contact you when a new opportunity becomes available.
Equal Opportunities
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, gender, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.
We are not accepting applications from recruitment agencies.
