Lead Staff Software Engineer (Backend)

TL;DR

Lead Staff Software Engineer (Backend): Designing and operating high-traffic backend systems and APIs for a global digital advertising platform with an accent on reliability and scalability. Focus on driving technical direction for complex distributed systems and transitioning into people management.

Location: Must be based in London

Company

hirify.global is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising.

What you will do

• Design, build, and operate backend systems for a high-traffic web and data platform as a technical authority.
• Drive technical direction on ambiguous, cross-cutting problems, balancing performance and delivery speed.
• Act as a technical reviewer and mentor in design and code reviews to raise the engineering bar.
• Transition into people management, starting with direct management of a senior engineer and growing into a larger team lead.
• Collaborate with platform governance groups and adjacent teams to align on shared standards.
• Develop infrastructure for AI agents, including data scanning and caching systems.

Requirements

• Operating at a Staff engineer level as a recognized technical authority.
• Hands-on experience building and operating backend systems for web or data platforms of meaningful scale.
• Must be based in the London office.
• Active pursuit of a path into people management with prior mentoring or leadership experience.
• Ability to operate independently in ambiguity and drive execution on complex backend problems.
• Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience with C#/.NET and SQL.
• Experience designing or building GraphQL and/or REST APIs.
• Experience with reporting or scheduled-reporting systems.
• Experience building AI or agentic systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative, agile environment based on ownership and trust.
• Opportunities to tackle petabyte-scale data challenges and machine learning.
• Inclusive culture that values diversity, curiosity, and learning from one another.
• Clear growth track specifically designed for technical leaders transitioning into management.