Software Team Lead

Join Smartbox and make a meaningful impact as our newest team member!

Are you a passionate Software Team Lead who wants to play a part in creating technology that gives a voice to those without speech Smartbox is seeking a dedicated and talented individual like you to join our team and make a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

At Smartbox we take pride in being a leading company in assistive communication technology. Our innovative products combining specialised hardware advanced software and engaging content are used by individuals with diverse needs worldwide. All around the world our products accomplishments and aspirations are a reflection of our teams values: passionate caring empowering achieving together and enabling change.

We believe that everyone deserves a voice and our inclusive culture reflects this belief. By joining Smartbox you will become part of a team that values diversity fosters collaboration and supports a community of users who rely on our technology to communicate effectively.

In addition to the rewarding nature of our work you will collaborate with talented professionals who share a common goal of pushing the boundaries of innovation while considering the environmental impact of our products and processes. We strive to develop sustainable solutions that minimise our carbon footprint and promote a greener world. By joining Smartbox you will have the chance to shape a more inclusive society while actively contributing to our sustainability efforts. Together lets make a difference that extends beyond communication technology and leaves a positive mark on our planet.

• Leading and mentoring a team of software engineers and QA specialists.
• Actively leverage modern AI-assisted development tools (e.g. Claude Code or similar) to improve individual and team productivity code quality and learning and support the team in adopting these tools effectively and responsibly.
• Foster a strong focus on delivering meaningful user outcomes ensuring that technical decisions are grounded in a deep understanding of the product domain and real user needs.
• Encourage and enable the team to use product insight user feedback and data to inform design and engineering decisions balancing speed of delivery with long-term value.
• Understanding our users problems product domain and our commercial constraints and opportunities and bringing technology expertise to bear to solve them in creative ways.
• Working with product and technical leadership to build a combined roadmap that balances product and engineering priorities.
• Leading the collaborative planning of your teams work.
• Working on anything from UI to core functionality and data stores from fixing bugs to integrating new technologies.
• Joint responsibility for designing and implementing a scalable and high-performance software architecture using appropriate architectural standards and best practices.
• Writing clean working cross-platform C# code (.NET 8) and associated tests and improving the standard of existing code as you touch it to make it more testable reliable and maintainable.
• Working closely with electronics engineers product specialists UX designers and other developers to design develop and support robust solutions.
• Collaborating with stakeholders and customers to build an understanding that helps to solve problems in a way that meets their needs.
• Being responsible for driving collaborative improvement in team practices and processes.
• Assisting the Head of Software Development in recruitment activities.

The successful applicant will also be asked to perform other duties on an ad-hoc basis and will need a proactive attitude to this.

• Passionate about changing lives with assistive technology.
• A history of making an impact in a software team lead role.
• Experience leading effective agile software teams including first-hand experience of lean and iterative development.
• Good understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies and their use in software teams.
• 5 years of professional software development experience in modern C# or similar (e.g. Java C).
• Experience using AI-assisted software development tools (e.g. Claude Code or similar) to improve development efficiency code quality or team effectiveness.
• Demonstrated ability to apply strong product and domain understanding to guide technical decisions and prioritisation.
• Track record of delivering measurable user or business outcomes not just technical outputs.
• Knowledge of Computer Science fundamentals in data structures algorithm design problem-solving and complexity analysis.
• Excellent understanding of software design principles.
• Cloud and Windows/iOS application development.
• Knowledge of professional software engineering best practices including coding standards architecture patterns code reviews source control continuous integration build processes testing and operations.
• Highly confident and experienced with automated testing from unit tests to system and integration tests.
• Confident working on problems from scratch resourceful in turning problems into simple solutions and proactive in working with stakeholders and users to resolve ambiguity and maximise value.
• Confident picking up an existing codebase refactoring and improving test coverage to deliver safe code changes.
• Versatility enjoying turning your hand to new things with a flexible approach to evolving business priorities.
• Strong analytical thinking with attention to detail.
• Proven experience in people or team management with the ability to lead motivate and develop others.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to build positive working relationships at all levels.
• Skilled in providing constructive feedback conducting performance reviews and supporting staff development.
• Proven ability to foster high-performing engaged and collaborative teams.

• Cloud experience (particularly best practices around deployment security permissions and resource management).
• Any of the following technologies: WPF/XAML Avalonia Entity Framework SQL Server Android JavaScript .
• Experience in configuring build systems (e.g. Team City Jenkins etc.).
• Keen interest in the product and in customer needs.
• Experience with AAC or assistive technology.
• Experience managing recruitment onboarding and other people processes in collaboration with the People/HR team.
• Understanding of performance management and continuous improvement principles.
• Formal training or qualification in leadership management or coaching.

• In this role you will have the flexibility to work between your home and our office locations in Malvern and Bristol. For this role we require the candidate to work in the Bristol office twice a week as a minimum.
• You will gain in-depth knowledge of our products and see first-hand the impact they have on empowering people every day.
• You will have the opportunity to collaborate with teams across the business and contribute to shared goals.

Here at Smartbox we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments providing flexible working and encouraging all staff to engage in a diverse range of year-round learning and personal development addition you will work alongside highly motivated colleagues in an environment of strong teamwork whilst also having fun. This is a hugely rewarding role and a career to be proud of where every day you will go home knowing you made a positive difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

Discover a world of rewards and benefits tailored to your wellbeing at Smartbox. Beyond a competitive salary and private medical insurance explore perks like a hybrid working model wellness benefits and paid volunteering days. Dive into our website to uncover all the fantastic benefits waiting for you at Smartbox: Commitments

At Smartbox we are committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment where every individuals unique background and perspective are valued and respected but how are we doing it

We are proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status by the UK Governments Department of Work and Pensions. We are also the Founding Partner of Purple Tuesday. You can find out more on .

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment practices are barrier-free and as inclusive as possible. This includes making adjustments during the job application process and throughout your future career with us. Please email to discuss any such adjustments that we can make.

At Smartbox its not about fitting into our culture its about adding to it. Our dive...