Lead Backend Engineer (Routing Squad)

We are looking for a Lead Engineer to take ownership of one of HIVED’s highest-impact technical domains: the planning pipeline that powers supply-demand matching, parcel distribution, and routing optimisation. As part of HIVED’s Routing Squad, you’ll lead the team tackling some of the most complex and intellectually demanding problems in computer science — building systems that decide how parcels move through the city efficiently, reliably, and at scale. This is a rare opportunity to combine deep engineering expertise, optimisation thinking, and real-world domain understanding to shape a core strategic advantage for HIVED. You’ll own the technical direction of the squad, set a high bar for engineering quality, and lead a team of engineers working closely with data scientists, analysts, product, and operations. Your work will have a direct and visible impact: better routing, stronger planning capabilities, more efficient operations, and a delivery network you can see improving in the city around you.

Responsibilities

Lead the Routing Squad across technical strategy, delivery, team leadership, and execution of squad goals; Own the technical direction for systems supporting routing optimisation, supply-demand matching, parcel distribution, forecasting, and planning; Translate business priorities and operational needs into clear technical strategy, measurable outcomes, and pragmatic execution plans; Guide architecture and system design for scalable, reliable, production-grade optimisation and planning systems; Work closely with optimisation engineers, backend engineers, data scientists, analysts, product, and operational stakeholders to turn complex problems into shipped solutions; Lead the exploration and evaluation of new approaches across routing, scheduling, optimisation, forecasting, and distributed systems; Set and uphold a high engineering bar through technical reviews, architectural guidance, mentoring, and accountability for maintainable software; Manage, coach, and develop engineers in the squad, including hiring, performance management, development planning, and resourcing; Foster a culture of curiosity, ownership, high performance, and continuous learning within the team

Requirements

5+ years of software engineering experience, including backend or distributed systems development; Experience leading engineers, either as a people manager or as a senior technical leader with meaningful ownership over team delivery; Proven ability to translate complex, ambiguous business or operational problems into robust technical solutions; Strong system design and architectural skills in distributed, production-grade environments; An appetite for hard optimisation problems — especially routing, scheduling, forecasting, supply-demand matching, or other constraint-heavy domains; Strong analytical thinking and the ability to combine technical depth with practical judgement; A track record of setting high engineering standards and helping teams consistently meet them; Experience working cross-functionally with product, operations, data scientists, analysts, and senior leadership; Strong ownership mindset: you care about the strategy, the system, the team, and the real-world outcome

Nice to have

Experience with routing, scheduling, optimisation, forecasting, logistics, mobility, or marketplace systems; Experience productionising algorithms, solvers, models, or data-heavy decision systems; Familiarity with optimisation techniques such as linear/integer programming, constraint programming, heuristics, or solver-based approaches; Experience working in a fast-scaling operational environment where software has a direct physical-world impact

Benefits

Dynamic hybrid working environment with a diverse and driven team; Huge opportunity for learning in a high growth environment, with progression opportunities based on success in the role; 25 days of holiday allowance plus public holidays; 1 Birthday Day Off + 2 Tenure-Based Additional Days Off; Subsidised Private Medical Insurance including dental, vision & mental health therapy; Bi-annual performance reviews and tailored development plans; Competitive salary + EMI options scheme; Annual compensation review; Team lunch provided once a week; Quarterly team socials and annual sports day (HIVED Olympics); Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption policy as day 1 right; Community volunteer days; Cycle to work scheme; Dog friendly office and depots; MacBook Air or Windows Laptop (depending on your preference)