Lead Full Stack Engineer

PlannerPal is an AI-powered platform transforming how financial advice and wealth management are delivered. We help advisers and their teams save time, reduce admin, and deliver better client outcomes by automating meeting notes, documentation, and CRM updates.
Trusted by hundreds of advisory firms, PlannerPal is reshaping the advice industry – improving efficiency, compliance, and data quality across the client journey. The company recently signed enterprise contracts with both a top-10 and a top-5 UK wealth management firm, further establishing its position as a key technology partner in the sector.
Recognised by the Financial Times Adviser as one of the Top 3 AI tools for financial advisers, PlannerPal is a UK-based wealth tech company backed by venture capital investors, with deep experience in financial services, technology, and AI. The platform is scaling rapidly through numerous industry technology partnerships, including a strategic AI partnership with Iress Xplan.
The Role;
We’re now looking for a Lead Full-Stack Engineer to take ownership of solution design and lead delivery across a distributed engineering setup.
You will:
* Own the design for key features of our solutions
* Organise and manage the work of a small squad of engineers
* Ensure that coding and testing standards are upheld
This role offers the opportunity to work closely with the founders at a defining stage in our growth.
Tasks
Responsibilities;
_Solution design;_
* Own the end-to-end solution design for new features within a defined architecture framework
* Make pragmatic decisions about trade-offs (scope, performance, scalability, security) in a fast-moving environment.
_Delivery leadership;_
* Act as the day-to-day technical and delivery lead for a squad of engineers
* Define and manage the work: break down Product Requirement Documents and user stories into clear tasks, estimate effort, set priorities and timelines, and track progress to ensure on-time delivery.
* Run or participate in ceremonies (stand-ups, planning, reviews) to keep work aligned and unblock issues quickly.
_Hands-on development;_
* Take ownership of complex or high-impact pieces of work, especially where the architecture, integrations or performance considerations are non-trivial.
* Design, build and optimise the journeys of our service using our tech stack:
* Backend: Python
* Frontend: React + Flutter
* Data / Infra: Postgres, AWS ( S3, ECS etc.)
* Write high-quality, testable code and contribute to our continuous integration and deployment pipelines.
_Technical ownership & continuous improvement;_
* Take ownership of technical design as part of a small, fast-moving team.
* Help evolve our platform architecture for performance, resilience, observability and security as we scale.
* Identify and drive improvements to developer experience, tooling and internal processes (e.g. testing, release, monitoring, on-call), in collaboration with both in-house and outsourced engineers.
Requirements
Key Requirements;
_Essentials;_
* Degree in Computer Science or related developer education (e.g. a reputable coding bootcamp) or equivalent practical experience.
* 7+ years’ experience designing, developing, shipping and maintaining backend applications using Python and front-end web applications using modern JavaScript frameworks (ideally [React.js](https://www.linkedin.com/safety/go/?url=http%3A%2F%2Freact%2Ejs%2F&urlhash=DK4O&mt=O378KG7h180WLpjy50XEvIypT6u-6b15bs-gFAzKjIV7UvlhZfU7ZNelcrIRBXHTok904444mv9lNRoqTLJeEOQ0Gjo&isSdui=true)), including operating at lead level.
* Proven experience leading a squad’s work– including planning and prioritising work, running ceremonies/stand-ups, reviewing output, and ensuring on-time, high-quality delivery across time zones.
* Strong experience working with both Python and React, and some experience working with AWS hosting/back-end services.
* Significant experience using agentic coding tools
* Experienced in designing, building and maintaining automated tests and contributing to CI pipelines.
* Has worked with other developers in an agile set-up(e.g. sprints, stand-ups, retros).
* Experienced in debugging and fixing live incidents in time-pressured situations, and in improving systems/processes to prevent recurrences.
* Experience of working with continuous deployment pipelines (you don’t have to build everything yourself, but should be comfortable working within and improving such setups).
* Strong understanding of industry trends and development best practices– especially regarding security, application performance and scalability.
* Has a strong sense of ownership, attention to detail and the ability to work independently with a team-oriented work ethic.
* Strong communication skills for effective teamwork and collaboration, and confidence interacting with customers and partners in a technical leadership capacity.
* Is proactive, initiates improvements, and offers assistance even without being asked.
* Comfortable in using AI code development tooling
* Right to work in the UK
_Nice to have’s;_
* Experience inB2B SaaS, ideally in fintech, wealth tech or other regulated industries.
* Experience integrating with CRM systems and/or financial platforms.
* Exposure to observability and monitoring tools (e.g. logging, metrics, tracing).
Benefits
* Competitive salary + employee share options
* Remote-first work environment (UK-based team) with a collaborative team culture
* Regular team meet-ups to foster team synergy and alignment
* Work directly with the founding team – your leadership and decisions will have a visible, measurable impact
* An open, transparent work environment where your voice is valued and your contributions directly shape the company’s trajectory
* Clear growth path: as the business scales, you’ll have opportunities to expand your scope, ownership and influence