cover image
PolyAI

Lead Software Engineer - People Manager (London Based 2-3x week)

Hybrid

London, United kingdom

Senior

Full Time

04-11-2025

Share this job:

Skills

Leadership Python TypeScript Customer Service Coaching Architecture Software Architecture Azure AWS GCP Maven

Job Specifications

PolyAI automates customer service through lifelike voice assistants that let customers lead a conversation. Our voice assistants make it possible for businesses to deliver outstanding customer service that rivals their human agents. Our customers, which include the world’s leading logos, are expanding how they use our platform, driving automation of critical customer service operations and integrating PolyAI into their daily customer service workflows.

Join us a Lead Software Engineers (People Manager) on our Data - Engineering team. You will play a key role in delivering the next generation of our no-code agent studio platform. In this role, you’ll be leading the design and development of features that power insight generation, reporting, and the data-driven backbone of our no-code platform for building voice assistants.

You’ll balance hands-on technical design with people leadership, shaping architecture, reviewing code, and helping your team grow through clear feedback and development paths. Working closely with Product, you’ll turn ambitious ideas into scalable, reliable systems that power millions of AI-driven conversations. This is a role for someone who loves both building and leading: setting the technical direction, driving predictable delivery, and cultivating a culture where engineers thrive and great software gets shipped.

Responsibilities

Lead and mentor a cross-functional team of engineers, balancing hands-on technical work with people leadership.
Participate directly in review cycles and career development paths for team, while setting the bar for technical quality and maintainability.
Drive sprint and review cycles, ensuring clear goals, predictable delivery, and accountability across the team.
Partner closely with Product to translate business goals into an actionable roadmap and measurable outcomes.
Drive the software architecture of our multitenant conversational AI platform, ensuring robustness, scalability, and reliability - particularly in externally facing developer APIs.
Champion and enforce strong engineering standards and best practices across the team.

Requirements

Proven experience leading a team of 3+ engineers, including sprint planning, performance reviews, technical mentorship, technical project planning, scoping, architecture and delivery.
Experience coaching engineers through design decisions, trade-offs, and technical challenges.
Comfortable leading people and setting technical direction while staying closely engaged with the engineering work.
5+ years of professional experience as a Software Engineer in a people management role, with a track record of delivering production features.
Significant expertise in Python and Typescript is a must
Experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP, or Azure).

We currently have multiple engineering roles open across different teams. Please apply to the one role that feels like the best match for your skills and experience. Our Talent team will review your application against all open positions. If we believe you may be a stronger fit for another role or team, we’ll ensure your application is considered there as well.

We offer competitive compensation based on experience, expertise, and the level of responsibility. This role also includes equity, giving you the opportunity to share in the long-term success of the business. The listed expectations reflect what we're hiring for, so we encourage you to review the job description carefully.

Benefits

Participation in the company’s employee share options plan

25 days holiday, plus bank holidays

Flexible working from home policy

Work from outside of the UK for up to 6 months each year

TELUS Health EAP 24/7 - offers you and your chosen family confidential, judgment-free support for any work, health, or life challenge

Enhanced parental leave

Bike2Work scheme

Annual learning and development allowance

We’re all about making WFH work for you - that’s why we offer a one-off WFH allowance when you join. Offering perks like noise-cancelling headphones or a comfortable desk chair to boost your comfort and focus!

Company-funded fertility and family-forming programmes

Menopause care programme with Maven

Private healthcare and dental cover, discounts on gym members and relaxation apps, and access to a range of mental health programs

At PolyAI, we take great pride in our values - they guide everything we do. We believe that a strong culture leads to meaningful work and lasting impact.

Our Core Values Are

Only the best

We expect the best from our people, we hire people that expect the best from themselves, and we nurture this drive for excellence.

Ownership

We care deeply about what we do. We take ownership of our initiatives, decisions and outcomes.

Relentlessly improve

We demand more from ourselves and are always evolving. Continuous, obsessive improvement is the only way we will transform the world of conversational AI.

Bias for action

Our world move

About the Company

The leading provider of enterprise AI agents for customer service. PolyAI resolves millions of customer service inquiries on behalf of the world's most trusted brands, providing engaging and lifelike experiences that feel like talking to a real person. Know more