Job Description

Dona's mission is to support places of worship and charities with fundraising through technology. https://donadonations.com

We partner with over 2,000 charitable organisations across the UK to install contactless card terminals and donation webpages to collect donations.

As Dona's Engineering Lead, you'll guide our development team across the Dona platform, combining hands-on engineering with team leadership and delivery ownership. You'll set direction, mentor developers, manage delivery, and collaborate with internal teams and customers to ensure our technology continues to empower charities through innovation and reliability.

What you'll be doing:

Lead and line-manage a small team of developers Be hands-on with coding, reviews, and technical design Own the product backlog, prioritising features and fixes Run daily standups and team meetings Coordinate releases and ensure quality standards Translate requirements from stakeholders into user stories and tickets Analyse usage data and gather feedback to inform product decisions Support documentation, product walkthroughs, and feature demonstrations

Skills and experience we're looking for in a candidate:

Strong technical background -- ideally with hands-on experience in full-stack development, system architecture, and modern development practices (e.g. CI/CD, Agile, cloud infrastructure, APIs). Leadership and mentoring experience -- able to manage and coach a small team of developers, run stand-ups, prioritise work, and maintain momentum while fostering a collaborative culture. Product thinking -- capable of balancing technical priorities with user and business needs, translating stakeholder feedback into clear user stories and actionable requirements. Excellent communication skills -- confident in explaining complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders, and equally comfortable providing detailed feedback to developers. Highly organised and proactive -- able to manage competing priorities, own the delivery pipeline, and make informed decisions independently. Analytical mindset -- comfortable using data and feedback to evaluate feature success, identify issues, and guide continuous improvement. Adaptable and pragmatic -- thrives in a fast-moving tech start-up environment, switching between hands-on development, planning, and stakeholder communication as needed. Experience level -- at least 3-5 years of professional software development experience, including 1-2 years in a lead or senior role (e.g. Tech Lead, Software Engineering Manager, Engineering Lead).

Values we're looking for in a candidate

Being open and transparent. Particularly, open to and taking on feedback, being transparent about your work and owning your mistakes (we all make them!). Care. Care about the work you do and supporting the charities. For example, handing over work you to do before you go on holiday and going the extra-mile to make sure you hit deadlines. Continuously improving. From a personal perspective and company perspective. There are plenty of things we can improve! Respect. Respecting your colleagues and our customers and expecting the same respect from your colleagues and our customers. Humility. Listening to your colleagues and being open-minded that what you think or do might be wrong.

What's in it for you?

An opportunity to learn and grow in a fast paced tech start-up environment where you can make a difference Contribute to doing something good - we support over 2,000 wide-ranging charities who do fantastic things We will support and train you in your role You'll work with an amazing team! We're a small company (10-15 people) with no HR department so all our HR and employment contracts go through an umbrella company, who offer a wide range of benefits including a pension scheme and statutory sick pay. Holiday allowance of 25 days plus bank holidays.

Required to:

Have your own laptop
Working hours 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday (37.5 hours per week).

Location:

Hybrid home and office working (office based in Hove). Expected to be in the office 1 day a week.
Job Type: Permanent

Pay: 60,000.00-75,000.00 per year

Ability to commute/relocate:

Hove BN3 6HA: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Application question(s):

What are your salary expectations? What's your notice period from your current role? Do you have your own laptop? This is needed for the role as we operate a "bring your own device" policy
Education:

Bachelor's (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Hove BN3 6HA