Role : Lead Engineer (I)

Reporting To : Chief Technology Officer

Salary : £100,000 - £120,000 dependent on experience

Working Location : Hybrid/ London (2 days a week on site at our Old Street office)

PropTech | SaaS | Software Engingeering

About Searchland

Searchland is a high-growth, B2B prop-tech company transforming how businesses and individuals access and leverage property data. Our platform empowers property developers, land agents, architects, and planners with real-time insights, helping them make smarter, data-driven decisions when acquiring and developing land.

In just five years, we’ve built one of the UK’s most advanced property data pipelines, integrating thousands of data sources and processing terabytes of information with less than 24-hour latency. Our cutting-edge platform is shaping the future of property intelligence.

About The Role

We’re looking for a Lead Full-Stack Engineer who will combine deep technical ability with strong leadership and architectural oversight. You will drive technical excellence across the organisation, mentor and develop engineers, and help shape the long-term direction of Searchland’s platform.

This is a hands-on role - expect to contribute to the codebase daily - but also a highly strategic one. You will influence product direction through technical insight, guide multidisciplinary squads (engineering, data, design), and help build and scale a high-performing engineering organisation.

What You’ll Do

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Provide architectural oversight across frontend, backend, data infrastructure, and platform components
• Set engineering standards and champion best practices in reliability, scalability, and maintainability
• Lead complex technical design discussions, ensuring trade-offs between speed, scope, and scale are well balanced
• Shape Searchland’s technical roadmap in partnership with product and data leaders

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, supporting growth through coaching, pairing, and design reviews
• Foster a positive engineering culture built on autonomy, trust, continuous learning, and pragmatic delivery
• Support multidisciplinary collaboration across data, design, and product teams

Delivery & Hands-On Engineering

• Lead by example with high-quality contributions across the full stack
• Develop performant, accessible front-end features using React (Vite) + Tailwind
• Design and ship scalable APIs using Node.js, Express, and tRPC
• Maintain and improve PostgresQL database and query performance
• Work closely with our data team to evolve Elasticsearch-driven architectures
• Own delivery of complex projects from discovery through deployment and monitoring

Cross-Functional Impact

• Work closely with Product to ensure technical input shapes roadmap and feature direction
• Translate complex technical challenges into clear, actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders
• Proactively identify opportunities to improve product performance, reliability, and developer experience

You Are

An experienced engineer who has led teams or initiatives and thrives on pairing technical depth with leadership impact. You think holistically - systems, teams, product - and you influence through clarity, pragmatism, and strong delivery instincts.

You likely bring:

• A proven track record leading engineering initiatives or teams in a high-growth environment
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence product direction through technical framing
• Experience mentoring engineers and helping teams deliver high-quality software at pace
• Comfort working with data scientists, designers, and product managers in multidisciplinary squads
• A proactive, ownership-driven mindset

Essential Experience

• Right to work in the UK
• 7+ years in software engineering with at least 2–3 years in a lead, staff, or senior-plus role
• Demonstrable experience building and scaling SaaS platforms
• Experience leading technical architecture or system design initiatives
• Experience mentoring or managing engineers

• Strong experience with our stack (or strong adjacent experience):

  • Frontend: React (Vite), Tailwind
  • Backend: Node.js, Express, tRPC
  • Databases: PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch

  
  

  ➕ Desired Experience

  • Working in PropTech or data-heavy product environments
  • Prior experience building or scaling engineering teams
  • Familiarity with UK planning, property, or geospatial data

  
  

  Interview Process

  • Initial introductory call with our HR Team
  • Pre prepared technical task (React + Tailwind + tRPC + PostgreSQL) with a walkthrough & system design interview with a Senior Engineer
  • In depth technical task
  • Final interview with the Chief Technology Officer

  
  

  Why Join Us?

  • Flexibility: Hybrid working with two days in our Old Street office
  • Wellbeing & balance: 25 days holiday + bank holidays, your birthday off, Christmas office shutdown, and a HealthShield employee cash plan including dental
  • Growth & development: Learn across onboarding, customer engagement, and project work, with mentoring and clear opportunities to progress in SaaS.
  • Tools & support: A MacBook and contribution to a home office setup, EMI scheme, and £500 per year personal growth fund.
  • Great culture: Free lunches and team socials (bake-offs, 3 Peaks challenge, staycations, holidays abroad when targets are hit)

  
  

  Our Commitment to Inclusion

  We are committed to creating an inclusive, diverse workplace where every team member feels valued, heard, and empowered. If you need any accommodations during the recruitment process, we are here to support you. We welcome applications from all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or any other characteristic. If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know—we are happy to support you.