Overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a hands-on Front End Lead / Interim Tech Lead to join a growing product engineering team and lead the development of a next-generation SaaS platform built on Microsoft Azure.
This role is ideal for a senior engineer who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys building products from the ground up, and wants to remain deeply involved in coding while leading a small team. You'll be responsible for defining front-end engineering standards, implementing AI-assisted development practices, and driving delivery of a modern React-based application.
Initially offered as a day-rate contract, there is a genuine intention to transition the successful candidate into a permanent Tech Lead position as the engineering function expands.
The Role
As Front End Lead, you will take ownership of the front-end architecture and delivery of a new React/TypeScript application, working closely with Product, Platform and Data teams.
This is a highly technical leadership position where you will:
- Lead development of a greenfield React/TypeScript front end.
- Remain hands-on in the codebase on a daily basis.
- Line manage and mentor a small front-end engineering team.
- Define and implement engineering best practices.
- Drive AI-assisted software development across the team.
- Establish scalable delivery processes, CI/CD pipelines and quality standards.
- Collaborate with architects and back-end teams to ensure contract-first API integration.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership
- Lead the design, architecture and delivery of a modern React/TypeScript application.
- Act as the technical pace-setter for the front-end team through hands-on coding and code reviews.
- Own front-end API contracts and work closely with back-end engineers to maintain contract-first delivery.
- Build and maintain a scalable component library, design system and application framework.
- Establish engineering standards covering code quality, testing, accessibility, security and performance.
AI-Driven Engineering
- Define and champion AI-assisted development practices.
- Evaluate and implement tooling for:
- Code generation
- Agentic development workflows
- Automated testing
- Code review support
- Establish governance and guardrails around AI usage.
- Measure and demonstrate improvements in engineering productivity and delivery outcomes.
Delivery & Team Management
- Lead a co-located mobilisation period before transitioning to a hybrid working environment.
- Mentor, coach and line manage front-end engineers.
- Drive continuous improvement through pairing, reviews and knowledge sharing.
- Establish clear ways of working, delivery metrics and quality measures.
- Work closely with Product and Architecture teams to deliver against the product roadmap.
Security & Governance
- Ensure security remains a core part of the development lifecycle.
- Support implementation of secure authentication and authorisation using Microsoft Entra ID / MSAL.
- Contribute to customer security assurance activities and secure coding practices.
- Maintain eligibility for work within security-conscious environments.
Essential Experience
- 8+ years' experience in software engineering.
- Strong commercial experience with:
- TypeScript
- React
- Modern front-end architecture and tooling
- Proven experience leading small engineering teams while remaining hands-on.
- Experience delivering SaaS products and greenfield applications.
- Strong API-first / contract-first development experience.
- Deep understanding of:
- Automated testing strategies
- CI/CD pipelines
- Code quality tooling
- Engineering governance
- Demonstrable experience implementing AI-assisted software development practices within production environments.
- Eligibility for UK Security Check (SC) clearance.
Desirable Experience
- Microsoft Azure.
- Microsoft Entra ID / MSAL authentication.
- Data-rich dashboard and analytics products.
- Storybook and design system development.
- Mantine UI framework.
- Defence, regulated industries, logistics or supply chain environments.
- Current SC clearance.
- Experience introducing emerging AI development tooling and agentic workflows.
- Previous contract roles that have transitioned into permanent leadership positions.
Working Arrangements
- Initially based on-site in Bristol for a collaborative mobilisation period.
- Hybrid working model thereafter.
- 40-hour working week with flexibility based on project and business requirements.
- Initial contract engagement of approximately three months with a clear route to a permanent leadership position for the right individual.
Why Join?
- Build a market-leading SaaS product from the ground up.
- Shape engineering culture, standards and ways of working.
- Lead adoption of cutting-edge AI development practices.
- Work within a growing technology team where your influence will directly impact product success.
- Opportunity to move into a long-term permanent Technical Leadership role.
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