Job Description

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Description

We're hiring a Principal Tech Lead to help shape the future of our most ambitious client projects.

This is a senior, hands-on role that blends deep technical expertise with strategic consultancy. You'll be working at the earliest stages of client engagements--helping uncover the real problems, defining the right approach, and proposing commercially viable, technically sound solutions. You'll represent Parallax with confidence, pitch ideas persuasively, and guide both clients and internal teams from initial scoping through to architecture, delivery and optimisation. Equally comfortable in the code and leading client workshops, you'll set the technical direction while enabling and mentoring the engineering team to execute it.

Our clients are diverse, operating across multiple sectors and geographies, often targeting global audiences. You must be able to adapt your technical approach to fit existing technology stacks and standards--or define new ones entirely. Working at a strategic level, you will influence project roadmaps, craft Statements of Work and contribute directly to winning new engagements.###

Key Responsibilities

Technical Strategy & Architecture: Define and develop the long-term software architecture strategy; establish and maintain best-practice design patterns, coding standards and technical guidelines across multiple projects. Client Engagement & Business Development: Collaborate with commercial teams to identify strategic opportunities, qualify leads, draft proposals and Statements of Work, and present technical solutions that win new business. Discovery & Requirements: Lead technical discovery workshops with senior stakeholders, unpicking complex requirements, mapping system dependencies and aligning solutions to business objectives. Hands-On Development & Delivery: Balance strategic oversight with hands-on coding--designing, building and deploying critical features; conducting code reviews; and ensuring high performance, security and scalability. DevOps & Operational Excellence: Oversee CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, automated testing and monitoring to drive operational resilience and rapid iteration. Quality Assurance & Best Practice: Champion test-driven development, continuous integration, automated testing frameworks and peer review processes to uphold code quality. Team Leadership & Mentorship: Mentor and inspire a team of software engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning, collaboration and technical excellence. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with UX designers, product managers and QA specialists to deliver quality outcomes Thought Leadership: Represent our Technology Practice internally and externally--presenting at client meetings, industry events and contributing to the broader engineering community on emerging trends and innovations.
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Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Balance leadership with hands-on software development, working with teams to create and ship high-quality solutions. Identify strategic opportunities and contribute to proposals, estimates and Statement of Work scoping. A deep understanding of software architecture principles, design patterns and system integration. Proficiency in multiple programming languages and frameworks Solid experience with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, containerisation and automation tooling. Expertise in Agile/Scrum methodologies and iterative delivery practices. Strong quality assurance mindset, including test-driven development and peer code reviews. Ability to unpick and resolve complex technical problems, architecting scalable, maintainable solutions. Exceptional communication skills, comfortable presenting technical concepts and recommendations to senior stakeholders. Proven track record in business development, lead qualification and sales closing within a consultancy environment. Ability to establish and evolve technical standards, guidelines and reusable component libraries. High emotional intelligence and consultancy mindset for managing client relationships and expectations.


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Benefits

Private medical healthcare (Bupa) 4% matched pension Hybrid, flexible working Hack days & professional development days City centre office 25 days annual leave + bank holidays + up to 5 loyalty days Team events Enhanced maternity & paternity leave 2 streaming services subsidised


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About Parallax

Parallax is a digital transformation consultancy with innovation at its core. We solve complex problems and build leading digital products for local and national SMEs, international clients and blue-chip corporations.

We transform ideas into opportunities, using cutting-edge user experience design, technical innovation, and our passion for digital excellence. We don't shy away from projects that seem too out of reach, unachievable or even impossible. We welcome the challenge and deliver success.

We're always questioning the norm and understand the risks of the latest and greatest and know how to deliver large digital projects at the forefront of technical possibility with a balanced approach to risk mitigation. Our clients trust us to deliver a transformative user experience married with technical excellence across various projects and industry sectors.

Our team features some of the most talented minds in the industry. We work hard to stay on top of the newest innovations and always strive to be the best at what we do.
We believe that our brand, people and behaviours are a powerful platform for social change in the tech industry. Our mission is to become the clear choice for all employees, candidates and clients, bringing out the best in people and giving everyone an equitable chance to find fulfilment in their careers. Parallax values and respects all differences in people (seen and unseen) and encourages applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries. We are committed to having a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences, abilities and backgrounds. If you are not 100% sure that you meet all the requirements but believe you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply and use the application questions to tell us about what you would bring to this role.