Staff Backend Software Engineer

Staff Backend Software Engineer

Freetrade Engineers play a pivotal role in developing and maintaining a robust, scalable platform used by thousands daily. We tackle big technical challenges, drive innovation, and build solutions that make a real impact. Here, your code doesn't just run - it powers the decisions of investors across the UK.

We are looking for a Staff Backend Software Engineer to play a pivotal role in our engineering team. In this position you'll drive strategy, intentionally decoupled from day to day team delivery to focus on cross cutting initiatives.

Our hiring philosophy

We hire for engineering excellence, not just a specific list of keywords. Our interview process is language-agnostic; we care about your ability to solve complex problems, design scalable systems, and write clean code in whichever language you're most comfortable with.

Our stack

Once you join, you'll be working primarily with TypeScript, Node.js, and PostgreSQL on GCP. We don't expect you to be an expert in these on Day 1, but we do look for engineers who are excited to master this stack and contribute to its evolution.

What you'll do

• Lead the design of scalable, reliable, and maintainable system architectures

• Write and review production-grade code, upholding high standards of quality and readability

• Provide technical leadership to a team of engineers, guiding architectural direction and project execution without direct line management

• Conduct technical design and code reviews to maintain system integrity and team velocity Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Product, Design, Ops) to design aligned, pragmatic technical solutions

• Mentor engineers and support their technical growth in partnership with engineering managers

• Identify and address technical debt through proactive refactoring and system improvements

• Drive and approve high-impact technical decisions with long-term maintainability and scalability in mind

• Monitor system performance and ensure strong observability, alerting, and incident response practices

• Contribute to architecture documentation and facilitate system knowledge sharing

• Partner with engineering and product leadership to influence long-term engineering strategy and technical roadmap

About you

• Proven track record of leading complex technical projects and influencing engineering direction at scale

• Deep expertise in system architecture, distributed systems, and software design patterns

• Advanced programming skills in at least one language

• Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS or GCP) and CI/CD pipelines

• Skilled in building scalable, secure, and testable codebases in production environments

• Familiarity with both SQL and NoSQL data stores, and when to use each

• Fluent in English, with strong written and verbal communication skills

• Comfortable leading technical discussions and guiding engineers through ambiguity

• Experienced in providing team-wide technical leadership without formal management responsibilities

• Knowledge of code quality, system security, and modern software development lifecycle best practices

• Bonus: Experience in fintech or banking

Our hybrid model

We work from our central London and Budapest offices on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, leaving Wednesday and Friday for dedicated focus time at home. We believe in the power of in-person collaboration to build a strong culture, but we know "life happens." If you have caregiving or personal responsibilities that require extra flexibility, let's talk about it.

Our interview process

We keep things simple and transparent. You'll meet one of our Talent Partners to make sure we are a good match for each other, typically followed by:

1. Hiring Manager Interview

2. Live Coding

3. System Design

4. Exec Interview

We are an Equal Opportunity employer committed to a diverse and representative team. Whatever your race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability - we want to hear from you.

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Please note we are not accepting agency CVs.