This is a SaaS business that has scaled quickly and is now restructuring how engineering and delivery work together to support that growth.
As part of this, they are evolving how customer-facing development is delivered. Rather than keeping this work inside core engineering, they are embedding it into delivery, creating a dedicated function focused on building, extending and configuring the platform for customers.
This has created a need for a strong, hands-on Tech Lead to take ownership of that function and lift the technical standard across it.
This is not a typical Tech Lead role. It sits between engineering and delivery and plays a critical role in how the platform is applied in real-world customer environments.
The Role
- You will lead a team of engineers responsible for customer-driven platform development. This includes enhancements, extensions and configuration work that directly impacts how the product is implemented and used by customers.
- The platform is Java-based with a Groovy configuration layer, so this role requires someone who can operate confidently within that environment and guide others in doing so.
- You will set the technical direction for the team, ensure solutions are well designed and scalable, and remain hands-on where needed, particularly when solving complex problems or setting standards.
- The team you lead is largely offshore, so strong structure, communication and technical leadership will be critical.
- You will work closely with Engineering, Product and Delivery to ensure that customer requirements are translated into clean, maintainable and scalable technical outcomes.
What makes this different:
Most Tech Lead roles sit purely within product engineering. This one does not.
This role owns the technical quality of customer-facing development work. It requires someone who can balance engineering best practice with delivery realities and bring structure to a function that is still evolving.
You will also be the primary technical authority within this team, working under a non-technical leader, which gives you genuine ownership and influence over how the function operates.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership
- Define solution design and guide engineering approaches across the team
- Ensure alignment with platform architecture and long-term technical strategy
- Maintain strong engineering standards across code quality, testing, performance and maintainability
Hands-On Engineering
- Contribute to development where required, particularly across complex customer-driven work
- Set the benchmark for engineering quality and problem solving
Team Leadership
- Lead, mentor and develop a team of engineers
- Manage and improve performance across an offshore team
- Build a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement
Delivery Alignment
- Translate customer and product requirements into clear technical execution
- Balance speed, quality and scalability in a delivery-driven environment
- Identify and manage technical risks, dependencies and complexity
What you bring
- Strong hands-on experience working within Java-based backend platforms
- Experience working with Groovy or similar JVM-based scripting or configuration layers
- Proven experience leading technical delivery within SaaS or platform environments
- Experience working with configurable systems where customer-specific logic sits on top of a core platform
- Experience leading offshore or distributed engineering teams
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work across Engineering, Product and Delivery
- A pragmatic mindset with the ability to operate in environments that are not yet fully structured
Why this role is worth considering
- High ownership role with real influence over how customer-facing engineering is delivered
- Exposure across both engineering and delivery functions
- Opportunity to bring structure and quality to a critical part of the business
- Clear pathway into broader technical or engineering leadership roles
If you are looking for a role that combines hands-on engineering, leadership and real-world impact, this is worth a conversation.
Apply directly or reach out for a confidential discussion.
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- Own and rebuild the operating model of a fast-scaling SaaS business
- Lead transformation across systems, processes and internal operations
- High-impact role working closely with the COO to drive scalable growth
Java Groovy Tech Lead SaaS Platform Engineering Offshore Delivery Configuration Architecture