Lead Engineer Routing Squad

About HIVED

At HIVED were steamrolling forward as one of Europes fastest growing startups and our momentum shows no signs of slowing.

Based in London we are a climate and logistics start-up building the first sustainable parcel delivery network at scale powered by a 100% electric an ever-growing industry where unreliable service has long been the norm HIVED has been built from the ground-up to meet the demands of modern consumers and disrupt parcel delivery.

A tech company at heart our talent and technology is laser-focused on delivering the best possible delivery experience for end-customers and meeting the needs of our retail partners. From our drivers to our data engineers we are constantly working to improve this customer experience that makes us deliver better.

Already trusted by leading international brands such as John Lewis Nespresso Uniqlo H&M brands and more we are solidifying our position as the leaders in Europe to tackle this growing market.

Our tight-knit team is made up of ex-Revolut Bain HelloFresh ASOS Apple and Google employees and we are backed by some of Europes leading investors and VCs in climate-tech logistics and mobility including Planet A Ventures Maersk Growth Pale Blue Dot VC Eka Ventures NordicNinja VC and the British government. Were passionate about driving innovation and redefining the future of delivery.

In a nutshell

We are looking for a Lead Engineer to take ownership of one of HIVEDs highest-impact technical domains: the planning pipeline that powers supply-demand matching parcel distribution and routing optimisation.

As part of HIVEDs Routing Squad youll lead the team tackling some of the most complex and intellectually demanding problems in computer science building systems that decide how parcels move through the city efficiently reliably and at scale. This is a rare opportunity to combine deep engineering expertise optimisation thinking and real-world domain understanding to shape a core strategic advantage for HIVED.

Youll own the technical direction of the squad set a high bar for engineering quality and lead a team of engineers working closely with data scientists analysts product and operations. Your work will have a direct and visible impact: better routing stronger planning capabilities more efficient operations and a delivery network you can see improving in the city around you.

What youll be doing

• Lead the Routing Squad across technical strategy delivery team leadership and execution of squad goals.

• Own the technical direction for systems supporting routing optimisation supply-demand matching parcel distribution forecasting and planning.

• Translate business priorities and operational needs into clear technical strategy measurable outcomes and pragmatic execution plans.

• Guide architecture and system design for scalable reliable production-grade optimisation and planning systems.

• Work closely with optimisation engineers backend engineers data scientists analysts product and operational stakeholders to turn complex problems into shipped solutions.

• Lead the exploration and evaluation of new approaches across routing scheduling optimisation forecasting and distributed systems.

• Set and uphold a high engineering bar through technical reviews architectural guidance mentoring and accountability for maintainable software.

• Manage coach and develop engineers in the squad including hiring performance management development planning and resourcing.

• Foster a culture of curiosity ownership high performance and continuous learning within the team.

What were looking for

• 5 years of software engineering experience including backend or distributed systems development.

• Experience leading engineers either as a people manager or as a senior technical leader with meaningful ownership over team delivery.

• Proven ability to translate complex ambiguous business or operational problems into robust technical solutions.

• Strong system design and architectural skills in distributed production-grade environments.

• An appetite for hard optimisation problems especially routing scheduling forecasting supply-demand matching or other constraint-heavy domains.

• Strong analytical thinking and the ability to combine technical depth with practical judgement.

• A track record of setting high engineering standards and helping teams consistently meet them.

• Experience working cross-functionally with product operations data scientists analysts and senior leadership.

• Strong ownership mindset: you care about the strategy the system the team and the real-world outcome.

Nice to have

• Experience with routing scheduling optimisation forecasting logistics mobility or marketplace systems.

• Experience productionising algorithms solvers models or data-heavy decision systems.

• Familiarity with optimisation techniques such as linear/integer programming constraint programming heuristics or solver-based approaches.

• Experience working in a fast-scaling operational environment where software has a direct physical-world impact.

Technologies we use

• Backend languages: Python Go

• Tech infrastructure: AWS CDK TypeScript Lambda SQS EventBridge RDS DynamoDB

• Data tooling: GCP BigQuery Looker Looker Studio

• Observability: Loki Tempo Grafana Prometheus

• Event-driven architecture and domain-driven design

Our Values

• We Are Kind - Kind to the planet our team and our partners. We listen with purpose leave our egos at the door and arent afraid to make difficult decisions. We must never confuse kindness with being nice - it requires us to be fair consistent honest thoughtful and compassionate.

• We Are Tenacious - We fight every day to keep the customer promise for every parcel entrusted to us. No matter how hard it gets or whatever stands in our way we are relentless in our pursuit of excellence.

• We Are Curious - We never settle constantly challenge convention and are never afraid to ask why. We believe there is always more to learn always a better way and that were always only just getting started. We never fight the urge to be inquisitive to understand the world around us and to explore where others might not.

• We Are Resourceful - Our planets resources are scarce and our future depends on our ability to use them wisely. Waste is the enemy. We strive to do more with less be more efficient and make the most of what we have.

How we reward our team

• Dynamic hybrid working environment with a diverse and driven team

• Huge opportunity for learning in a high growth environment with progression opportunities based on success in the role

• 25 days of holiday allowance plus public holidays

• 1 Birthday Day Off 2 Tenure-Based Additional Days Off

• Subsidised Private Medical Insurance including dental vision & mental health therapy

• Bi-annual performance reviews and tailored development plans

• Competitive salary EMI options scheme

• Annual compensation review

• Team lunch provided once a week

• Quarterly team socials and annual sports day (HIVED Olympics)

• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption policy as day 1 right

• Community volunteer days

• Cycle to work scheme

• Dog friendly office and depots

• MacBook Air or Windows Laptop (depending on your preference)

Want to learn more

• Meet the team in 60 seconds: Behind the scenes with HIVED

• HIVED is B Corporation certified

• HIVED is #7 on The Sunday Times Tech 100

• Read how HIVED raised $42M to transform parcel delivery with AI and all-electric logistics network

• Check the Impact Report 2024

• Why HIVED loves Go

• Keep up with HIVED here