Lead Software Engineer

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by ourpioneeringagentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation nected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

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1772 - Lead Software Engineer

At Code, we design and build digital products and platforms for a range of clients.

We’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer who wants to stay hands‑on. You’ll write production code, make and shape technical decisions, and support a small group of engineers. This isn’t a role where you step away from engineering to manage from the side lines. You’ll be involved in the day‑to‑day work: thinking through architecture, reviewing code, tackling difficult problems and helping the team find sensible ways forward when things get complicated.

You’ll line manage 3–4 engineers, with regular 1:1s and responsibility for supporting their development. A big part of the role is helping other engineers get better at what they do — not by having all the answers, but by giving them the support and technical direction they need.

You’ll work closely with delivery managers, designers, product managers, principal engineers and clients. Sometimes that means working through a difficult technical problem; sometimes it means challenging a requirement, explaining a trade‑off or finding a simpler way to achieve the same thing.

Most of our web work is built around Type Script, React and Next.js, alongside APIs, cloud services, headless platforms and other backend technologies.

• Write production code across the stack and stay involved in the day‑to‑day engineering work.
• Take the lead on technical decisions within the team, bringing in principal engineers and others when decisions have wider implications.
• Help turn large or difficult problems into work the team can understand and deliver.
• Line manage 3–4 engineers through regular 1:1s, feedback, coaching and career conversations.
• Review code, talk through designs and help engineers make good technical decisions rather than simply making those decisions for them.
• Work with delivery, design, product and client teams to understand what we’re trying to achieve and find an appropriate technical approach.
• Keep an eye on the things that make software good to work with and reliable in production: testing, CI/CD, observability, security, accessibility and performance.
• Help design and evolve web platforms that integrate with APIs, headless systems and third‑party services.
• Contribute to the wider engineering team at Code, sharing what works, challenging what doesn’t and helping us improve how we build software.

• You’ve probably already worked as a senior or lead engineer in a team building and shipping software.
• You’re comfortable taking responsibility for technical decisions, but you also know when a decision needs wider discussion.
• You’ll need strong hands‑on Type Script experience and good experience with modern web development using React, Next.js or similar frameworks.
• You should also be comfortable working beyond the frontend. That might mean Node.js, C#/.NET or another server‑side technology. We care more about your ability to understand APIs, backend services and how the whole system fits together than whether your experience exactly matches our stack.
• We’d also expect you to be comfortable with many of the things that come with building modern web platforms: APIs, server‑side rendering, automated testing, CI/CD, cloud services, web performance and integrating with third‑party or headless systems.
• You’ll need to be able to explain technical ideas clearly. Some conversations will be with engineers; others will be with designers, delivery people, clients or stakeholders who don’t particularly care how…