Lead Technologist

About the role As a Lead Technologist at dxw, you’ll provide technical leadership across teams delivering digital services for the public good. You’ll help shape how services are designed, built and run, ensuring they are reliable, maintainable and aligned with user needs. This is a senior technical role that combines hands-on delivery, technical leadership and people support. You’ll typically work across three areas: Leading development — working within a delivery team, often as the technical lead Technical architecture — supporting multiple teams to design systems and make good technical decisions Engineering management — supporting people, contributing to team development and shaping how we work You won’t be expected to specialise equally in all three. We’ll shape the role around your strengths, while ensuring these capabilities are covered across the wider team. You’ll work closely with designers, product managers, delivery leads and clients to bring together technical and non-technical perspectives and support good decision-making. Key responsibilities Leading development Take a leading technical role within multidisciplinary delivery teams. Set direction for how services are built, ensuring alignment with technical principles. Contribute hands-on where needed, including coding, reviewing and problem solving. Support teams to deliver high-quality, maintainable software. Technical architecture Support the design of systems across one or more projects. Review technical designs and help teams understand trade-offs. Help teams choose appropriate technologies for the problem at hand. Identify risks, constraints and dependencies early. Engineering management and people support Line manage and support engineers (in most cases), helping them develop their skills and confidence. Provide coaching, feedback and day-to-day support. Contribute to hiring and onboarding. Help create a supportive, inclusive team environment. Collaboration and communication Work closely with clients and stakeholders to explain technical decisions clearly. Build shared understanding between technical and non-technical colleagues. Support teams to work effectively in agile, multidisciplinary ways. Help teams navigate ambiguity and unblock delivery. Contributing to practice Contribute to dxw’s technology practices, tools and standards. Share knowledge and learning across teams. Support continuous improvement in how we design and build digital services. Contribute to proposals and early shaping of new work where needed. Emerging technology and AI Support teams to explore and apply emerging technologies, including AI, where appropriate. Ensure AI and data-driven approaches are used responsibly, ethically and pragmatically. Identify opportunities to improve services or delivery through new technologies. Help build shared understanding of AI capabilities and limitations across dxw. About you You’re an experienced technologist who enjoys working across delivery, architecture and team support in complex environments. You: Have strong experience building and delivering production software. Have taken on technical leadership responsibilities within teams. Are comfortable working hands-on as well as contributing to architectural decisions. Understand how to design and build services that are reliable, secure and maintainable. Work effectively in agile, multidisciplinary teams. Communicate technical concepts clearly to a range of audiences. Support others through collaboration, coaching and shared problem-solving. Are comfortable working in complex, evolving environments. Experience with technologies such as .NET, Kotlin, Python or similar is helpful but not essential. About dxw We’re an employee-owned agency of technology, design and delivery experts who work primarily with public and third sector organisations to build usable and accessible digital services that fit seamlessly into user’s lives. We help organisations like the NHS, the Department for Education, and Citizens Advice spend less money on technology, so that they can spend more on helping the most vulnerable. We aim not only to produce better services, but to radically and permanently improve people’s interactions with government to make it a better instrument of good. Recent projects include improving access to adult social care, supporting rehabilitation of people leaving prison, and many more. One of the things that makes us different is that we are employee-owned, so we are not beholden to external shareholders, and are protected against being taken over by private equity. It also means we can prioritise being an inclusive employer, reducing our impact on the planet, and working in the open. We particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented in tech and/or looking for flexible working arrangements. What we offer We want our team to feel supported both inside and outside of work. Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a range of benefits designed to promote flexibility, wellbeing, and long-term security: Time off & balance: A generous 28 days of annual leave per year, plus all England bank holidays. We also offer a holiday buy and sell scheme, giving you the flexibility to customise your time off to suit you. Family-first support: Up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave to support your family, depending on your situation. Health & wellbeing: A healthcare cash plan providing financial support to help cover everyday medical, dental, and optical costs, plus 24/7 confidential support and counselling whenever you need it. Workplace flexibility: Flexible hours to support your work-life balance, top-tier tech, and a home office budget to build a comfortable setup. Collaborative environments: Full access to our London and Leeds offices, alongside a network of co-working spaces across the UK. Financial future & travel: We’ll match your pension contributions up to 6%, provide comprehensive life cover, and offer interest-free season ticket loans alongside the Cycle to Work scheme. How to apply We use Applied for hiring to make our process as fair as possible. As part of our process, we’ll ask you to provide written answers to a few short questions related to the work you’d do on the job. Our hiring panel will review these anonymously. If you score well, we’ll then review your CV and invite you to an initial chat to get the ball rolling. From there, our hiring process typically involves two stages, at least one of which is a formal interview.