Lead Engineer

Salary: 74126 - 92658 FTE DOE Benefits Bonus

Location: Newingreen Kent Fully office based

We care deeply about inclusive working practices and diverse teams. If youd prefer to work full-time part-time or as a job-share well facilitate this wherever we can - whether to help you meet other commitments or to help you strike a great work-life balance.

About

At Holiday Extras were creating a workplace where everyone can thrive build their careers and reach their limitless potential. As a Sunday Times Best Place to Work 2025 were proud to offer a world of benefits designed to enhance your lifestyle and well-being. By joining our team youll feel supported and rewarded every day.

We create seamless digital experiences that help travellers make the most of their trips. From the moment they book to the moment they fly we remove hassle so they can focus on what really matters - their holiday.

Payments are a critical part of that journey. Were dedicated to building a frictionless reliable checkout experience using and TypeScript at its 2025 we made significant strides in our payment platform - including introducing alternative payment methods - and were continuing to evolve our architecture for scalability reliability and compliance.

Were also going all in on AI. We believe it will fundamentally change how we build and operate our products and were investing across the business to make it a core part of how we deliver for this role youll be encouraged to champion AI-assisted tooling and automation within your team - finding smart pragmatic ways to raise the quality and pace of what you ship.

The Role

This is a hands-on technical leadership role with line management responsibility for a small team of engineers. Youll combine deep backend expertise with the ability to develop support and grow the people around you - setting a high bar for quality while creating the conditions for your team to thrive.

Youll be leading a small talented team of full-stack engineers many of whom have a strong frontend background. As AI reshapes how we build were deliberately pivoting towards deeper backend capability - and a meaningful part of this role is guiding that shift. That means upskilling the team setting the technical standard and creating an environment where engineers are genuinely excited to grow.

By joining our team you will:

• Lead and line manage a small team of engineers owning their development wellbeing and performance.
• Define and champion best practices for and TypeScript backend development within the Payments team.
• Set the technical direction for our payment platform making sound architectural decisions that balance innovation with pragmatism.
• Be the go-to expert for complex payment problems - from integration challenges to compliance requirements like PCI-DSS and Payment Services Directives.
• Collaborate closely with Product Delivery Finance Fraud and Data teams as well as third-party Payment Service Providers.
• Drive a culture of technical excellence coaching engineers and fostering professional growth through mentorship and feedback.
• Champion AI tools and automation to increase team productivity and code quality - identifying where they can genuinely add value.
• Keep pace with the evolving payments landscape surfacing opportunities and risks for the business.
• Represent your teams work in regular stakeholder demos and updates.
• Balance delivery pace with long-term sustainability managing technical debt strategically.
• Dedicate 10% of your time to your own learning and development.

What You Can Bring to Our Team

• Substantial experience in backend development with expertise in building scalable reliable and secure systems using and TypeScript.
• Experience leading and line managing engineers - you understand what it means to be accountable for someones development and career progression.
• A track record of technical mentorship and helping engineers grow through feedback pairing and coaching.
• Strong knowledge of payment systems including PSPs alternative payment methods PCI-DSS and Payment Services Directives.
• An outcome-driven mindset - you can articulate how your work has improved key metrics for payment platforms.
• A pragmatic approach to technical decisions balancing innovation with the need to keep things moving.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to adapt your style for technical and non-technical audiences alike.
• Experience managing stakeholders across a range of teams and disciplines.
• A proactive attitude to identifying new opportunities and technologies that can enhance the platform.
• A genuine passion for sharing knowledge - internally through your team and externally in the wider engineering community.
• Openness to adopting AI tools and practices where they add real value to how your team works.

Everyones career path is individual and different so this is just a guide. If your experience doesnt precisely match this youre encouraged to apply so we can discover your unique talents!

How We Hire for This Role

We know your time is precious so we keep our recruitment process as straightforward as possible. If we think you could be a match youll move through these stages:

• Initial conversation with our Recruitment Lead - a chance to learn more about the role and tell us about yourself.
• On-site interview with our Principal Engineers and Solution Architects including a technical discussion and problem-solving exercise.
• Meet the team - an informal opportunity to spend time with the people youd be working with and get a real feel for the culture and environment.

Cultivating a diverse and inclusive culture is paramount for us. If you need us to adapt the process for any reason please get in touch at .

Applications close: Wednesday 22nd April 2026

We reserve the right to close this role before the closing date due to high application volumes. Please apply as soon as possible to be considered.

Why Choose Holiday Extras

We believe that holidays are the most precious time of all so we create products tech and services that make travel and holidays memorable and fun. Were on a mission to be the only place to go for your holiday extras offering unparalleled choice value and service turning our customers ordinary trips into extraordinarily good times.

This role is based full-time at our office in Newingreen in the heart of the Kent countryside - just minutes from Folkestone and the M20 where face-to-face collaboration genuinely matters. Youll find free parking an on-site café and a state of the art campus that makes the commute worth it.

At Holiday Extras were creating a workplace where everyone can thrive build their careers and reach their limitless potential. As a Sunday Times Best Place to Work 2025 were proud to offer a world of benefits designed to enhance your lifestyle and well-being. By joining our team youll feel supported and rewarded every day. Learn more about our culture and benefits.

• Time is precious: 25 days annual leave (BHs) extra holidays through Holiday Buy Birthday Day Off and Sabbaticals at each milestone.
• Parental Leave: Enhanced parental leave - Up to 1 year off including 13 weeks at 100% pay 13 weeks at 50% pay
• Road to well-being: Access to Gym Discounts Private Dental Insurance and Private Medical Insurance (after 4 years)
• Celebrate success together: Enjoy a Profit Share Bonus and a pension scheme with Aviva.
• Good for the soul: Join our Social Club for 25% off any ticket or event in the UK Discounts on the latest tech or give back to your community with our Volunteering Scheme.
• Plan ahead: Income protection Critical illness cover and Life assurance

Required Experience:

IC