Lead Software Developer

Lead Software Engineer – AI & Index Platform

We are seeking a highly skilled and hands‑on Lead Software Engineer with AI proficiency to help build the next generation FTSE Russell Index Platform. This platform underpins the calculation and distribution of FTSE Russell’s global family of indexes and requires advanced engineering, high precision data processing, and deep collaboration across global teams.

This is a deeply technical role focused on designing, building, integrating, and ope rationalising modern software and AI‑driven capabilities across internal platforms and client‑facing products. You will work with innovative technologies, contribute to complex algorithmic design, and drive engineering excellence in a high‑performance, data‑intensive environment.

• Design, develop, and maintain complex Java and Python applications using modern engineering practices. Build and embed AI powered features into critical systems.
• Architect and enhance services that support large‑scale, performance‑critical index computations.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, UX, and engineering teams globally to deliver high‑quality products.
• Lead projects end‑to‑end through requirements, design, development, testing, deployment, and operations.
• Build and maintain automated test suites to ensure performance, scalability, and security.
• Diagnose production issues, identify root causes, and deliver Level 3 support and fixes.
• Conduct peer reviews, provide technical leadership, and mentor junior engineers.

• Degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science or Electronics / Electrical Engineering.

• Support the organisation’s AI adoption journey. Develop and enhance intelligent solutions using LLMs, Lang Chain/Lang Graph, and agentic AI frameworks.
• Establish engineering guidelines for safe, scalable, traceable, and production‑ready AI deployments across internal platforms and external product suites.
• Strong algorithms, data structures, problem‑solving skills, and ability to translate business problems into scalable solutions.
• Good command of coding standards and a strong understanding of both high‑level and low‑level software design.

• Core Java, Python
• Building highly distributed, data‑intensive systems
• Microservices, REST APIs
• RDBMS (Oracle/SQL Server/Postgres)
• CI/CD tools (Jenkins/Git Lab), Dev Ops automation
• Docker, Kubernetes
• JVM profiling & performance optimisation
• Prior exposure to Level 3 production support

• Experience leading or mentoring a team of engineers.
• Experience with in financial services or with financial market data.
• Familiarity with in‑memory caching, Spring Boot, Redis, Kafka.
• Experience with BDD frameworks such as Cucumber, JBehave, or Karate.
• Background as a Scrum Master or experience running Agile teams.

Manager

London, United Kingdom

We are proud to be an equal‑opportunities employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. Conforming with applicable law, we can reasonably accommodate applicants’ and employees’ religious practices and beliefs, as well as mental health or physical disability needs.