Senior / Lead Full Stack Engineer (Java) – Financial Services
Location: Manchester (Hybrid)
Salary: Competitive + excellent benefits
We’re working with a global financial services organisation looking to hire a Senior / Lead Full Stack Engineer to join a high-impact engineering function delivering mission-critical systems.
This is a hands-on leadership role, suited to someone who combines deep technical expertise in Java with the ability to lead teams, drive engineering standards, and deliver complex systems end-to-end.
The role
You’ll take ownership of delivering scalable, secure, and resilient software solutions, working closely with product, design and operations teams. Alongside hands-on development, you’ll play a key role in mentoring engineers and shaping best practices across the team.
There is a strong emphasis on backend engineering using Java (Spring), alongside full stack exposure and involvement in modern engineering and AI-driven initiatives.
Key responsibilities
*Lead and mentor engineering teams, supporting development, performance and growth
*Own end-to-end delivery across the full software lifecycle (design, build, test, deploy, support)
*Design and build scalable microservices and APIs using Java (Spring)
*Drive engineering best practices across code quality, testing, DevOps and automation
*Partner with stakeholders to translate business needs into technical solutions
*Contribute to architecture, system integration and modernisation initiatives
*Develop and integrate AI-driven capabilities into applications and workflows
*Ensure systems are secure, observable, and highly performant
What we’re looking for
*Strong Java development experience (Spring) within complex, enterprise environments
*Experience building distributed systems and microservices architectures
*Proven experience leading or mentoring engineering teams
*Strong understanding of DevOps practices (CI/CD, automation, testing)
*Experience with tools such as GitLab, Docker, Splunk, AppDynamics
*Exposure to frontend technologies (JavaScript / TypeScript)
*Experience working in agile environments (Scrum / Kanban)
*Experience or strong interest in AI development and integrating AI into products
*Financial services experience is beneficial
Tech environment
*Backend: Java (Spring), Groovy
*Frontend: JavaScript / TypeScript
*Architecture: Microservices
*Testing: JUnit, Spock
*DevOps & tooling: GitLab, Docker, CI/CD pipelines
*Cloud & monitoring: Private cloud, Splunk, AppDynamics
Why apply
*Join a globally recognised financial services organisation
*Work on large-scale, high-impact systems
*Opportunity to influence engineering standards and technical direction
*Exposure to AI-driven innovation
*Strong career progression within a structured environment