Technical Lead

About the Role

We are hiring a Technical Lead to own the technical direction, quality and client relationship for a new dedicated Appnovation team serving a health and longevity client.

You will be the team's technical voice to the client, translating business goals into a clear technical plan and communicating trade-offs, risk and progress to stakeholders.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, not a line-management position. You will design, code and review across a React and Next.js frontend and Python and Node.js services, while being accountable for the technical outcome of the whole team.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical direction and quality

• Set the team's technical direction and own architecture and design decisions.
• Uphold coding standards and best practices through consistent code review.
• Ensure developers test their own work before it reaches QA.

Documentation and knowledge sharing

• Own documentation for architecture, design decisions and technical specifications.
• Turn one-to-one guidance into reusable material so onboarding and handoff don't depend on any one person.
• Stay current on compliance requirements for handling personal health data.

Team leadership and mentoring

• Break plans down into well-formed tasks and stories the team can act on.
• Delegate work fairly and evenly across the team.
• Coach and mentor developers to grow the team's capability.

Client communication and stakeholder management

• Serve as the client's primary contact for technical discussions.
• Explain technical concepts, options and status to non-technical stakeholders in plain language.
• Manage client expectations honestly on scope, effort and risk.

Delivery

• Lead technical input to planning, estimation and backlog refinement.
• Track progress against milestones and budget with the project manager.
• Identify technical risks early and escalate critical issues before they become surprises.

Commercial awareness

• Seek client feedback and fold it into development cycles.
• Spot genuine opportunities to add value for the client, and bring them to the account team.

What we are looking for

Must-Have:

• At least 8 years of professional software engineering experience, including 2+ years leading a team's technical direction.
• Proven ability to turn a technical vision into a clear, actionable plan a team can execute.
• Excellent communication with non-technical audiences.

Technologies

• Frontend: React, Next.js, TypeScript
• Backend: Python, Node.js

Nice to Have

• Consulting or agency experience, managing client relationships alongside delivery.
• Experience in health, life sciences or other regulated industries, including handling sensitive personal data.
• Experience establishing team practices from scratch on a new engagement.

Who you are

• You make decisions with incomplete information, document the reasoning, and revisit them when the evidence changes.
• You lead by raising the capability of the people around you, so the team never depends on one person.
• You earn trust by explaining technology in terms of the outcomes people care about.

What Appnovation Offers

• Challenging and rewarding work with real impact
• Direct Access to Cutting-Edge AI Platforms
• Diverse and Inclusive Culture
• Growth opportunities for personal and professional development
• A collaborative and innovative work environment where your ideas are valued
• Exposure to exciting projects and high-profile clients
• Supportive work environment with access to company leaders
• Hybrid working model