Technical Lead

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. 

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual. 

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

Overview of the role

Digital innovation and technical excellence are central to our purpose, and we are known for our digital portfolio across the architecture, engineering and construction sector. We constantly strive to be at the forefront of the intersection between technology and engineering.

As a hands-on Technical Lead in our Connect Projects team you will help shape the product’s technical direction, guide engineering decisions, mentor developers and ensure we build secure, scalable and maintainable software.

This role combines technical leadership with collaboration across product, design, delivery, engineering and Moata platform teams to deliver high-quality capabilities that solve real customer problems.

You will also help identify practical, responsible opportunities to apply AI, improving user experience, streamlining workflows and delivering measurable value.

The Technical Lead will be responsible for providing technical leadership across the Connect Projects team. The role requires someone who can operate at both strategic and hands-on levels: setting technical direction, contributing to architecture, supporting delivery planning, reviewing code and design decisions, and helping the team continuously improve.

You will act as a senior technical point of contact for the team, helping to balance product priorities, platform standards, engineering quality, security, reliability and long-term maintainability. You will also support the growth of engineers in the team by creating a positive engineering culture built on collaboration, learning, constructive challenge and technical excellence.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Technical Leadership and Architecture
  • Set technical direction for Connect Projects components and services
  • Lead architecture and technical decisions for product capabilities
  • Assess trade-offs and align decisions with product, platform and business goals
  • Own and evolve the technical roadmap, balancing innovation, scalability, maintainability and resilience
  • Ensure solutions are secure, reliable, performant and enterprise-ready
  • Contribute to Moata architecture standards, patterns and platform principles
  • Resolve complex technical challenges and guide deeper analysis
• Delivery and Engineering Execution
  • Support predictable delivery against product and technical roadmaps
  • Turn features into clear, achievable technical plans
  • Identify risks, dependencies and constraints early to support planning
  • Ensure work is well-designed, tested, reviewed and documented
  • Contribute hands-on to complex or high-impact development
  • Promote testing, CI/CD, observability, performance and secure development practices
• Engineering Quality and Governance
  • Champion engineering excellence through reviews, documentation and shared standards
  • Ensure compliance with technical governance, security and data protection standards
  • Use architecture decision records for significant technical decisions
  • Identify technical debt and propose pragmatic improvements
  • Embed reliability, monitoring and supportability into design
  • Align solutions with Moata platform principles and enterprise architecture
• Team Leadership and Mentoring
  • Act as the team’s senior contact for technical excellence
  • Mentor developers through pairing, reviews, design discussions and knowledge sharing
  • Help junior developers build judgement and confidence
  • Foster a collaborative, inclusive and positive engineering culture
  • Encourage constructive challenge, improvement and shared ownership
  • Bring people together around clear technical direction
• Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Work with product, design and stakeholders to shape the roadmap early
  • Align with Moata technical leads on standards, patterns and shared opportunities
  • Communicate technical decisions clearly to technical and non-technical audiences
  • Build trusted relationships across product, engineering, platform and delivery teams
  • Explain feasibility, risks, options and trade-offs pragmatically
• AI, Innovation and Continuous Improvement
  • Identify practical AI and emerging technology opportunities for Connect Projects
  • Champion responsible AI adoption across security, privacy, governance, quality and value
  • Support AI-assisted development where it improves productivity and quality
  • Encourage measurable experimentation aligned with business outcomes
  • Translate relevant technology trends into practical product and team improvements

Candidate specification

We are looking for a talented and motivated technical leader with strong commercial software engineering experience, a passion for technology and a proven ability to guide, support and influence others.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working across architecture, hands-on development, delivery planning and team leadership. They will be able to describe their specific contribution to complex software products and demonstrate how they have helped improve technical quality, delivery outcomes and team capability.

The candidate should have a strong understanding of software design and architecture, engineering best practice, secure development, cloud-based systems and modern web application development. They should also have an interest in AI and emerging technologies, with a practical understanding of how these can be applied responsibly to deliver real value.

Skills & abilities:

The successful candidate will have at least 8 years of relevant work experience, including experience in technical leadership, people management, and will be a strong team player and effective communicator. They will be confident in their technical capability while being open to feedback, collaboration and continuous learning.

They should be able to think creatively, solve complex problems and seek better ways to improve both the product and the way the team works. They should be comfortable balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution and able to make pragmatic decisions in a fast-moving product environment.

Essential:

• Strong technical leadership and communication skills
• Ability to influence and collaborate across functions, teams and geographies
• Ability to explain complex technical topics clearly to different audiences
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Ability to balance product goals, user needs, technical quality and delivery constraints
• A coaching mindset with a genuine interest in developing others
• A commitment to high-quality, maintainable and secure software
• An ability to challenge constructively and support a culture of continuous improvement
• Good awareness of responsible AI, data protection and security considerations

Technical skills & experience:

The candidate should have strong commercial experience in modern software development.

Essential:

• .NET/C# and/or Python
• JavaScript ES2016+ with TypeScript
• React, ideally React 18+, Redux Toolkit, React Query
• HTML5, Material UI and SCSS
• Testing frameworks such as Jest and React Testing Library
• Working with and designing RESTful APIs
• SQL databases such as Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL or similar
• Cloud technologies, preferably Microsoft Azure
• CI/CD and modern DevOps practices
• Containerisation, such as Docker or Kubernetes
• Secure software development practices
• Software architecture, design patterns, scalability, reliability and maintainability
• Code review, design review and technical documentation
• Agile software delivery, preferably Scrum or similar

Desirable:

• Azure architecture patterns and cloud-native application design
• Identity and access management concepts
• Observability, monitoring and diagnostics
• Integration testing and end-to-end testing approaches
• Caching techniques and performance-focused design
• Database ORMs
• PowerShell or Python
• Responsible AI principles
• Experience contributing to platform standards or shared engineering practices

Why join us?

This is an exciting opportunity to take a leading technical role in the future of Connect Projects and the wider Moata digital product portfolio. You will help shape software used to support complex infrastructure projects, influence technical direction, mentor engineers and contribute to products that create meaningful outcomes for our clients and the communities they serve.

You will join a collaborative and ambitious digital team that values technical excellence, practical innovation and continuous improvement. The role offers the opportunity to work with modern technologies, shape responsible AI adoption and make a lasting contribution to how Mott MacDonald delivers digital products at scale.

We value diverse skills and perspectives. If you meet most of the requirements and are excited by the opportunity, we encourage you to apply.

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Agile working  

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Employee Ownership

• Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
• Our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, giving them a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.
• As your career grows, so does your stake, recognising your long-term impact and contribution.
• Your voice matters, with the opportunity to connect directly with senior leadership through formal channels to help shape our future.
• For our senior roles you will have a direct pathway towards ownership from day one.

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• 10 days additional paid leave for Armed Forces Reservists and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

 Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.
• We offer policies and dedicated support to help military families balance service life with career and wellbeing.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and Gold Award holders in the MOD Employer Recognition Scheme, supported by our dedicated internal Armed Forces Network.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.