Front End Developer - Outside IR35

Overview An exciting opportunity has arisen for a hands-on Front End Lead / Interim Tech Lead to join a growing product engineering team and lead the development of a next-generation SaaS platform built on Microsoft Azure.

This role is ideal for a senior engineer who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys building products from the ground up, and wants to remain deeply involved in coding while leading a small team. You'll be responsible for defining front-end engineering standards, implementing AI-assisted development practices, and driving delivery of a modern React-based application.

Initially offered as a day-rate contract, there is a genuine intention to transition the successful candidate into a permanent Tech Lead position as the engineering function expands.

The Role As Front End Lead, you will take ownership of the front-end architecture and delivery of a new React/TypeScript application, working closely with Product, Platform and Data teams.

This is a highly technical leadership position where you will:

• Lead development of a greenfield React/TypeScript front end.
• Remain hands-on in the codebase on a daily basis.
• Line manage and mentor a small front-end engineering team.
• Define and implement engineering best practices.
• Drive AI-assisted software development across the team.
• Establish scalable delivery processes, CI/CD pipelines and quality standards.
• Collaborate with architects and back-end teams to ensure contract-first API integration.

Key ResponsibilitiesTechnical Leadership

• Lead the design, architecture and delivery of a modern React/TypeScript application.
• Act as the technical pace-setter for the front-end team through hands-on coding and code reviews.
• Own front-end API contracts and work closely with back-end engineers to maintain contract-first delivery.
• Build and maintain a scalable component library, design system and application framework.
• Establish engineering standards covering code quality, testing, accessibility, security and performance.

AI-Driven Engineering

• Define and champion AI-assisted development practices.
• Evaluate and implement tooling for:
• Code generation
• Agentic development workflows
• Automated testing
• Code review support

• Establish governance and guardrails around AI usage.
• Measure and demonstrate improvements in engineering productivity and delivery outcomes.

Delivery & Team Management

• Lead a co-located mobilisation period before transitioning to a hybrid working environment.