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Technical Lead - Creative Design Software (C++ / Qt) | Remote-First | £95k + Bonus
Looking for a genuinely interesting technical lead role that blends strong hands-on C++ work with real influence over architecture, delivery, and team culture?
We’re supporting a creative software company (well-established, but fresh off a merger) that’s looking for someone to step in and lead a highly capable but currently leaderless dev team. The tools you’ll be building are used worldwide by designers in fashion, textiles, interiors, and more — helping creatives bring their ideas to life in this technical lead role.
What’s the role all about?
As a technical lead you’ll be leading a cross-functional dev team (currently 4 strong devs across the US and Romania) building desktop creative tools in C++ and Qt, used on both Mac and Windows. You will provide technical direction, introduce best practices, and guide delivery for this team.
It’s a 50/50 split between hands-on coding and leadership. You won’t be a glorified project manager — you’ll still be in the code, but also shaping how the team works, modern architecture, and helping senior devs adopt better habits.
The Tech Stack
- C++ (core language) — you’ll need solid experience here
- Qt — cross-platform development on Mac and Windows
- MFC — legacy knowledge (not essential, but useful)
- CI/CD — they use Azure DevOps, but open to other tooling
- Adobe plugin experience (Illustrator/Photoshop) is a nice-to-have
What they’re really looking for
- C++ background - ideally 5+ years in modern C++
- Qt experience previously
- 2+ years leading teams - not just mentoring, but leading (setting direction, coaching, challenging)
- Agile mindset - knows how to shift teams towards better practices (unit testing, clean code, structured delivery)
- Collaborative leadership - someone who can help develop those around them
- Based in the UK - this helps bridge the US/Romania time zones, but flexibility is built-in
The culture (and why people love working here)
- Remote-first, with flexible hours — allows for flexibility
- Your output matters more than your login time — one of the leads balances work around the school run
- Global team, but mindful of time zones — they avoid meetings outside of reasonable hours
- It’s a grown-up environment — "treat people like adults and they’ll act like it" is the philosophy
Interested?
Drop me a message and I’ll send over the full brief. Happy to have a no-pressure chat if you’re curious — especially if you’ve helped modernise a team before and want to do it again in a supportive, forward-thinking environment.
