Lead/Principal Python (Django) Engineer, Architect the Future of Retail Tech Location: London/West (Remote-first 1 day a week in office) Salary: £100k Equity Options A leading provider of white-labelled drop-shipping middleware, powering some of the UK’s most recognised retail brands, is looking for a Lead/Principal Python Engineer to help shape the next phase of their journey. Following significant investment and a proven track record in streamlining complex supply chains, the company is now scaling internationally and bringing its technology fully in-house. This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned engineer to take ownership of architecture, modernise legacy elements, and lead technical decision-making from the ground up. The Role The company’s platform has been developed over time by a mix of in-house and third-party teams. To support global growth, they are now consolidating their engineering efforts internally, and they're looking for someone to define how that happens. This role will involve: Partnering closely with the CTO to define technical direction and system architecture Taking ownership of a microservices-based platform with a focus on scalability, resilience, and performance Setting engineering best practices and guiding team culture Playing a central role in hiring, mentoring, and shaping the growing engineering team The Stack Backend: Python, Django, AWS Lambda, Docker, Kubernetes Frontend: React, TypeScript Cloud: AWS, IBM Cloud CI/CD: CircleCI Roadmap: TBC The internal team currently comprises 7–8 core engineers, with new DevOps and QA leads joining to strengthen operational excellence. Ideal Candidate Proven expertise in Python and Django at scale Strong experience designing distributed, microservices-based architectures Hands-on leadership style with a collaborative, team-first mindset A passion for clean code, automation, and delivery excellence Want to help shape the foundation of a next-generation retail platform? This is a rare opportunity to make high-impact decisions and lead engineering from the inside out. To learn more, apply directly.