Hands-On Technical Lead / Head of Engineering (Full-Stack Focus)
I'm working exclusively with an exciting, high-growth commercial group that's seriously disrupting flexible urban stays across Europe.
They're building a brand-new engineering function and need a
pragmatic, sleeves-rolled-up Technical Lead / Head of Engineering
who lives and breathes code while steering technical strategy and scaling a team.
This isn't a pure management role — they want someone who stays close to the keyboard, leads by example through hands-on contributions, and has the leadership chops to grow a talented full-stack team over the coming years.
What you'll be doing day-to-day (very hands-on):
Jump straight into the codebase — building new features, crushing bugs, and optimizing performance on a full-stack booking & guest platform (heavy React frontend + .NET/C# backend on Azure).
Own and evolve a robust microservices architecture — designing for scale, resilience, and easy maintenance as traffic and features grow fast.
Architect and lead complex integrations with third-party systems (think payments gateways, channel managers, CRM tools, analytics/marketing platforms).
Code alongside and mentor your engineers — delivering high-quality work, running code reviews, championing automated testing, observability, and best practices.
Shape the technical roadmap — balancing quick wins for business growth with sustainable architecture, while making smart trade-offs on tech debt vs. speed-to-market.
Collaborate tightly with Product, Design, Commercial, and Ops teams to ensure engineering delivers real business impact (higher conversions, better guest journeys, etc.).
Recruit, onboard, and grow the team — hiring top talent, setting engineering standards, and fostering a high-performing, collaborative culture as the headcount expands.
You'll thrive here if you bring:
Deep, current full-stack expertise — especially strong in
React
(frontend) +
.NET / C#
(backend), with real production experience on
Azure
.
Proven hands-on track record designing/running
microservices
at scale.
Experience building or scaling consumer-facing platforms (bonus points for travel, hospitality, e-commerce, or high-volume booking systems).
Comfort wrangling tricky third-party APIs and integrations without breaking a sweat.
A history of leading/growing full-stack teams while staying technical yourself — mentoring juniors, setting standards, and keeping your hands dirty.
Pragmatic decision-making — you know when to ship fast vs. when to invest in quality, and you use data + business context to guide choices.
A collaborative, kind, and clear leadership style that inspires engineers in a fast-paced environment.
Why join (beyond the tech challenge)?
Join at the perfect time — help shape and scale a greenfield-ish engineering culture in a profitable, expanding business.
Competitive package with strong benefits (flexible/hybrid working, generous holidays, health cover, pension match, performance bonuses, amazing staff stay discounts for you + friends/family, cycle-to-work, learning support, and more).
Real impact — your code and decisions will directly drive revenue and guest love in a booming sector.
If you're a hands-on full-stack wizard who also gets excited about growing teams and owning big-picture tech direction, this could be your next big move.
Apply Now for more.
#J-*****-Ljbffr