Lead Software Engineer

About Kingfisher plc

We’re Kingfisher, a team made up of over 74,000 passionate people who bring Kingfisher - and all our other brands: Castorama, B&Q, Screwfix, Brico Dépôt and Koçtaş - to life. That’s right, we’re big, but we have ambitions to become even bigger and even better. We want to become the leading home improvement company and grow the largest community of home improvers in the world. And that’s where you come in.

At Kingfisher, our customers come from all walks of life, and so do we. We want to ensure that all colleagues, future colleagues, and applicants to Kingfisher are treated equally regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religious belief, philosophical belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.

We are open to flexible and agile working. Therefore, we offer colleagues a blend of working from home and our office, located in Kraków. Talk to us about how we can best support you!

At Kingfisher, we value the perspectives that any new team members bring, and we want to hear from you. We encourage you to apply for one of our roles, even if you do not feel you meet 100% of the requirements.

In return, we offer an inclusive environment, where what you can achieve is limited only by your imagination! We encourage new ideas, actively support experimentation, and strive to build an environment where everyone can be their best self.

We offer a competitive benefit package and plenty of opportunities to stretch and grow your career:

• Annual performance bonus
• Employee referral bonus
• Private medical coverage with the Regina Maria Priority Plan
• Family medical plan option allowing you to add a spouse or child at no extra cost
• Eyeglasses vouchers
• Life insurance (Metropolitan Life)
• 7Card fitness membership (co‑funded)
• Access to Bookster, LEO Learning and LinkedIn Learning
• Fresh fruit bar and premium coffee in the office
• Hybrid work model – up to 3 days per week in the office
• Flexible working schedule
• 21 days of annual leave + 1 additional day for each year of tenure (up to 25 days)
• Substitution days when public holidays fall on weekends
• Paid leave for wedding and bereavement
• Meal tickets: 40 RON/day (gross)
• Gift vouchers: up to 4 per year x 300 RON (net) each, offered for specific occasions:
• Christmas - all employees
• Easter - all employees
• 8th of March - female employees
• 1st of June - employees with children

About the Role: Lead Software Engineer

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will provide technical leadership while contributing hands-on. You will guide the squad through complex challenges, deliver scalable, high-quality solutions aligned with business goals, and mentor engineers. Working closely with Engineering Leads and Principal Engineers, you will shape technical direction, support strategic decisions, and foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, with a strong focus on frontend excellence.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day technical guidance, ensuring the team is aligned on priorities, technical approaches, and best practices to meet business goals.
• Foster a culture of growth by mentoring engineers, facilitating skill development, and offering constructive feedback to support their career progression.
• Take ownership of complex frontend solutions, ensuring they are scalable, maintainable, and performant while meeting both short- and long-term objectives.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including backend engineers, product managers, and designers, to define and execute on product vision.
• Contribute to shaping the technical direction of frontend architecture, influencing product and technical roadmaps, and supporting the team in navigating evolving business needs.
• Champion high standards of code quality, testing, and deployment processes to ensure reliability and consistency across frontend systems.
• Identify opportunities for process and technical improvements, proactively leading efforts to enhance the development lifecycle, productivity, and product quality.
• Maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, facilitating effective communication and ensuring technical needs and progress are clearly communicated.

Skills

• Proven ability to design, implement, and deliver high-quality software in TypeScript and JavaScript, with focus on maintainability, scalability, and performance.
• Deep expertise in modern frontend development with React and Next.js, including SSR, state management, and performance optimisation.
• Strong command of SCSS and CSS Modules, building modular, scalable, and accessible UI architectures.
• Advanced knowledge of frontend and integration testing using Jest, Testing Library, and MSW.
• Strong understanding of observability and monitoring using Datadog RUM and OpenTelemetry.
• Strong grasp of software engineering best practices, quality engineering, and non-functional requirements.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills in designing complex, cross-cutting technical solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, including mentoring and influencing architectural decisions.
• Excellent command of English (written and spoken).

Key skills/competency

• Frontend Development
• Technical Leadership
• React.js
• Next.js
• TypeScript
• JavaScript
• Scalable Solutions
• Mentorship
• UI Architecture
• Software Engineering Best Practices