Lead Software Engineer (Core Platform) - Remote (UK) at Bjak · London

BJAK is using AI, automation, and backend systems to power end-to-end insurance operations. Our platform handles customer data flows, insurer integrations, document processing, policy issuance, endorsements, and claims at scale.

We're looking for talented Lead Software Engineers based in the UK to design and build the core platform systems that power BJAK’s AI-driven insurance ecosystem, enabling reliable, scalable and extensible product and workflow capabilities.

This is a fully remote position where you'll collaborate closely with our Malaysia-based engineering, product, and operations teams to build high-impact production systems.

The Mission

Lead engineering efforts to design and build the core platform infrastructure that powers all AI-driven insurance workflows, enabling scalability, reliability, and consistent system behavior across products and operations.

What You’ll Own

• Lead design and delivery of core platform systems powering BJAK’s insurance automation ecosystem.
• Translate complex business and technical requirements into scalable platform architecture.
• Design backend systems, APIs, and foundational services used across multiple products and workflows.
• Define system standards for reliability, scalability, observability, and extensibility.
• Own key platform components such as workflow engines, integration layers, and shared services.
• Review architecture and implementation to ensure long-term maintainability and system correctness.
• Mentor engineers and raise overall engineering quality across platform development.
• Work closely with product, operations, QA, and DevOps to deliver end-to-end platform capabilities.
• Improve system stability through monitoring, incident response, debugging and root cause analysis.
• Ensure safe, reliable and predictable production releases across core systems.

What We're Looking For

• Strong software engineering experience building production-grade backend or distributed systems.
• Proven experience leading technical delivery of platform- or infrastructure-level systems.
• Ability to design scalable system architecture across multiple services and domains.
• Strong understanding of APIs, backend systems, and distributed system principles.
• Hands-on engineering capability with a willingness to contribute to implementation and code.
• Strong judgment on architecture trade-offs, scalability, and long-term system design.
• Experience working across product and operations teams in complex system environments.
• Strong communication skills and ability to align technical decisions across stakeholders.
• Calm under pressure when handling production issues or system incidents.
• High ownership mindset with strong follow-through from design to production.

Bonus Points

• Experience building core platforms, infrastructure systems, or shared service layers.
• Experience with workflow engines, orchestration systems, or event-driven architectures.
• Experience with large-scale backend systems or distributed system design.
• Knowledge of Node.js, Python, Java or similar backend technologies.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and system observability tools.
• Familiarity with logging, metrics, tracing, and production monitoring systems.
• Experience designing multi-tenant or multi-product platform architectures.
• Contributions to architecture-level decisions or platform standardization efforts.

The Kind of Builder We Want

• Thinks in terms of platforms, systems and long-term scalability—not just features.
• Hands-on technical leader who stays close to architecture and implementation.
• Clear thinker who simplifies complex systems into scalable designs.
• Stable, structured, and dependable under pressure.
• Strong bias toward reliability, maintainability, and system correctness.
• Actively improves system observability, debugging, and operational clarity.
• Builds foundational systems that enable other engineers to move faster.

This Role Is Not For

• People who only focus on feature delivery without system thinking.
• Engineers who avoid ownership of platform or production systems.
• Candidates who cannot clearly explain architecture trade-offs.
• People who ignore scalability, reliability, or long-term maintainability.
• Individuals who talk like system leaders but do not build systems.

Success in This Role

You'll be successful if you can:

• Build stable and scalable core platform systems that support multiple products.
• Improve system reliability, observability, and engineering efficiency.
• Reduce fragmentation across services through strong platform design.
• Enable faster and safer product development through shared infrastructure.
• Build strong trust with engineering, product, and operations teams.

Why Join BJAK

• Build Core Platform Systems – Own foundational infrastructure powering AI-driven insurance workflows.
• High-Impact Engineering – Solve complex system design and scalability challenges at scale.
• Global Engineering Team – Work with experienced engineers across multiple countries.
• Fully Remote – Work remotely from the UK while collaborating with our Malaysia-based teams.
• International Exposure – Build systems used across Southeast Asia markets.
• Learning & Development Budget – Support continuous technical growth and development.
• High Ownership Environment – Strong autonomy over architecture and platform direction.
• Modern Engineering Culture – Focus on reliability, scalability, and engineering excellence.
• Competitive Compensation – Attractive salary package based on experience and leadership impact.

Interview Process

We assess technical depth, system design ability, leadership mindset, and execution strength. The process usually includes application review, two interviews, and a technical discussion or practical system design exercise.