Managed API Services Technical Lead

About our company

Clicks Group

Introduction

To provide hands-on technical leadership and first-line people management for a team of Junior, Intermediate and Senior Backend Service Developers. The role is accountable for the design, development, quality, delivery and operational support of secure RESTful services and microservices in a containerized environment, primarily using .NET and C#. The Technical Lead balances approximately 60% hands-on solution design and development with 40% team coaching, management and leadership, ensuring that delivery commitments, engineering standards and employee development are managed effectively.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

Hands-on Technical Design and Development - Approximately 60%

·Lead the detailed technical design of backend services, RESTful APIs and microservices within approved solution architecture and enterprise standards.

·Remain hands-on in developing, reviewing, testing, troubleshooting and improving .NET and C# services, particularly for complex or high-risk components.

·Decompose solution designs and business requirements into implementable technical tasks, service boundaries, interfaces and acceptance criteria.

·Guide the implementation of containerised services using Docker and approved orchestration and deployment platforms.

·Ensure services meet non-functional requirements for security, resilience, scalability, performance, supportability, observability and maintainability.

·Define and enforce engineering practices covering coding standards, API design, automated testing, version control, branching, documentation and secure development.

·Lead peer reviews of code and technical designs and ensure that material defects and technical risks are resolved before release.

·Work with Solution Architects, integration specialists, DevOps engineers, security teams, analysts, testers and product stakeholders to deliver end-to-end solutions.

·Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, release automation, environment configuration, operational readiness and production-support practices.

·Lead diagnosis and resolution of complex defects and production incidents, including root-cause analysis and preventative improvements.

·Identify technical debt and recommend practical remediation, modernisation and continuous-improvement actions.

·Evaluate relevant frameworks, libraries, platforms and development approaches through controlled technical assessments or proofs of concept.

Team Leadership and First-line Management - Approximately 40%

·Lead, coach and manage Junior, Intermediate and Senior Backend Service Developers, setting clear expectations for delivery, quality and professional conduct.

·Allocate work according to delivery priorities, developer capability, development needs and available capacity.

·Monitor work progress, remove impediments, manage dependencies and escalate delivery, quality, capacity or people risks early.

·Conduct regular one-on-one discussions, provide timely feedback and support individual development plans and career progression.

·Manage performance objectives and formal performance-review activities in accordance with organisational processes.

·Manage day-to-day people administration, including leave planning and approval, attendance, team coverage and workload balancing.

·Support recruitment, technical assessment, selection, onboarding and probation activities for backend development roles.

·Create mentoring, pairing and knowledge-sharing opportunities across junior, intermediate and senior levels.

·Promote an inclusive, accountable and collaborative engineering culture focused on learning, quality and continuous improvement.

·Participate in sprint and capacity planning and provide transparent reporting on delivery status, risks, resource needs and team health.

·Address performance or conduct concerns fairly, consistently and promptly, engaging Human Resources and the line manager where required.

·Support succession planning and development of future senior developers and technical leaders.

Minimum requirements

Job Related Knowledge

·Advanced knowledge of C#, .NET, ASP.NET Core and object-oriented software development.

·Strong knowledge of REST API design, HTTP, OpenAPI, service versioning, error handling and backward compatibility.

·Strong understanding of microservices, distributed systems, service boundaries, resilience patterns and asynchronous processing.

·Practical experience with Docker and working knowledge of Kubernetes or an equivalent container-orchestration platform.

·Software architecture and design principles including SOLID, dependency injection, domain modelling and common enterprise patterns.

·API and application security, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JSON Web Tokens, OWASP principles, secrets management and least-privilege access.

·Relational database design, SQL, transactions, indexing and data-access frameworks such as Entity Framework Core.

·Automated testing approaches including unit, integration, contract, API, performance and regression testing.

·CI/CD, source control, pull-request workflows, release management and DevSecOps practices.

·Observability practices including structured logging, metrics, tracing, correlation, alerting and production diagnostics.

·Agile delivery, estimation, work planning, risk management and the software development lifecycle.

·First-line people-management practices including performance management, coaching, leave administration, recruitment and employee development.

·Working understanding of architecture governance and the respective accountabilities of Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects and Technical Leads.

Job Experience

·10 or more years of software development experience, preferably with a substantial focus on backend services and enterprise application development.

·At least 5 years of strong practical experience developing backend services using .NET and C#.

·Proven experience designing and delivering RESTful APIs, microservices and containerised services in production environments.

·Experience acting as a Technical Lead, Lead Developer or equivalent, with accountability for technical design, code quality and delivery outcomes.

·Practical experience coaching developers and coordinating technical work across mixed levels of seniority.

·Previous formal line-management experience is advantageous; candidates must demonstrate readiness to perform first-level managerial responsibilities.

·Experience with production support, root-cause analysis and remediation of complex service issues.

·Experience collaborating with architects, product or business stakeholders, security, quality assurance, DevOps and operational teams.

·Experience with cloud platforms, container orchestration, API management, event-driven architecture or messaging is advantageous.

Education

Essential

·Bachelor's degree or diploma in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.

Preferred

·Relevant Microsoft .NET or cloud certification.

·Leadership or people-management training.

·Certification or formal training in Kubernetes, secure software development, Agile delivery or DevOps is advantageous.

Job Related Competencies

Technical Competencies

·Technical design and hands-on backend development

·REST API and microservices engineering

·Containerised application delivery

·Code quality and engineering governance

·Secure software development

·Troubleshooting and technical decision-making

·DevOps, CI/CD and operational readiness

·Technical risk and dependency management

Leadership and Management Competencies

·People leadership and coaching

·Performance and development management

·Work allocation and capacity planning

·Decision-making and accountability

·Constructive feedback and conflict resolution

·Stakeholder communication and influence

·Planning, organising and delivery management

·Building team capability and succession

Behavioural Competencies

·Leads by example

·Balances delivery urgency with engineering quality

·Creates psychological safety for learning and challenge

·Communicates clearly and transparently

·Acts fairly and consistently as a people manager

·Maintains composure under pressure

·Demonstrates business and customer awareness

·Promotes continuous improvement

Desirable Skills

·Azure, AWS or another enterprise cloud platform.

·Kubernetes and service-platform operations.

·Event-driven architecture and messaging using Kafka, RabbitMQ, Azure Service Bus or similar technologies.

·API gateways and API management platforms.

·Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, Bicep or equivalent.

·NoSQL databases, distributed caching and high-volume service design.

·Application performance monitoring and observability platforms.

·Experience supporting enterprise architecture standards and solution-governance reviews.

Key Success Measures

·Predictable delivery of backend services that meet agreed functional and non-functional requirements.

·Consistent adherence to coding, security, testing, documentation and deployment standards.

·Reduction in escaped defects, recurring incidents and unmanaged technical debt.

·Effective team capacity, leave coverage, work allocation and delivery visibility.

·Completion of performance reviews, development plans, coaching and people-management activities within required cycles.

·Measurable growth in developer capability, autonomy and succession readiness.

·Positive collaboration with architecture, product, delivery, security, DevOps and operational stakeholders.

Career Development

This role provides a progression path toward Software Development Manager, Engineering Manager, Principal Engineer, Solution Architect or other senior technical and people-leadership roles. Development should balance increasing accountability for people leadership with continued depth in backend service architecture, engineering governance and enterprise delivery.