C++ Engineer

A growing technology business is hiring a Lead Software Engineer to take ownership of its backend engineering function and help shape the next phase of its platform. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone with deep C++ experience who enjoys combining technical delivery with mentoring, architecture and modern AI adoption. You’ll work closely with Product, Front End and R&D teams to improve platform performance, engineering quality and development velocity. Role: Lead Backend Engineer Salary: Up to £70k depending on experience Location: Birmingham, hybrid working, 2 to 3 days per week onsite What you'll be doing Lead the development and evolution of scalable backend systems and APIs.Take technical ownership of backend projects from planning through to production delivery.Work closely with Product Managers, Architects and Engineers to define technical requirements.Lead and mentor a team of backend engineers, supporting their development and technical progression.Drive improvements across architecture, performance, reliability and observability.Identify bottlenecks and optimise database queries, services and system performance.Evaluate and implement AI-powered tools to improve engineering productivity and software quality.Help shape the adoption of LLMs, AI-assisted development and modern AI engineering practices across the team.Lead sprint planning, stand-ups and retrospectives alongside Product and Delivery teams.Champion secure coding, testing, code review and engineering best practice. What you'll need Strong commercial experience as a Lead Backend Engineer, Senior Backend Engineer or similar technical leadership role.Expert-level C++ experience with strong knowledge of the standard library, STL containers and algorithms.Experience designing and maintaining scalable backend services and APIs.Strong understanding of database systems and performance optimisation.Previous experience leading, mentoring or coaching software engineers.Experience working within Agile engineering environments.Hands-on experience developing, integrating or deploying AI or Machine Learning-powered solutions.Familiarity with LLMs, AI-assisted development tools and modern AI frameworks.Understanding of AI architecture including prompt engineering, vector databases, RAG and AI service integration.Experience evaluating and introducing AI tools that improve developer productivity.Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive and pragmatic approach to engineering. Nice to have Experience contributing to hiring and onboarding technical teams.Exposure to hardware-integrated software, access control, security or workforce management platforms.Experience improving engineering observability, reliability and secure development practices. This role would suit an experienced C++ engineer who wants to combine hands-on development with technical leadership and play a key role in introducing modern AI capabilities into an established engineering environment.