Lead Python Developer

Job Title: Lead Python Developer

Location: United Kingdom (Remote)

Salary/Rate: £425 - £450 (Inside IR35)

Start Date: Immediately

Job Type: 12 Month Contract

We are seeking an experienced Lead Python Developer to join a distributed development team and take ownership of both technical delivery and day-to-day leadership. This role requires a hands‑on developer with strong Python and Django expertise, combined with the confidence and experience to lead a small team of engineers, guide best practices, and support successful project outcomes.

• Act as technical lead for a small team of developers, providing guidance, code reviews, and mentoring
• Lead by example with hands‑on development using Python and Django
• Design, develop, and maintain backend applications and services
• Build and support APIs using Django Rest Framework, with occasional exposure to GraphQL
• Collaborate with product owners, stakeholders, and engineers to shape technical solutions
• Contribute to system architecture, refactoring, and performance optimisation
• Ensure high code quality through PEP8 compliance, automated formatting (Black, isort), and best practices
• Drive strong testing culture, including unit and integration tests, supporting CI/CD pipelines
• Oversee containerisation and local development workflows using Docker
• Support and unblock team members across backend, API, and data layers
• Work closely with frontend developers using React, Vue, or similar frameworks
• Manage and optimise relational databases (Postgre
  
  SQL/MySQL) and complex SQL queries

• Strong commercial experience with Python and Django, across multiple projects or industries
• Proven experience building and maintaining RESTful APIs
• Prior experience in a Lead Developer / Tech Lead role, managing or mentoring a small development team
• Solid understanding of software architecture and system design principles
• Strong experience with relational databases and SQL optimisation
• Hands‑on experience with Docker (Dockerfiles, Docker Compose)
• Excellent knowledge of software engineering best practices, testing, and CI/CD workflows
• Confidence working in Linux‑based environments

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.

Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.