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TECH LEAD - OPTIMISATION ENGINEERING

Luton | Full-time | Hybrid

20% bonus • 7% pension • Staff travel benefits

We support hybrid working, and you'll spend 60% of your time each month in the office.

You're a technology leader who enjoys solving complex operational problems and turning them into scalable products that make a real-world impact.

You combine strong engineering leadership with deep technical curiosity, helping teams build high-quality software while working closely with product, optimisation and operational experts. If you're passionate about using technology and optimisation to solve challenging business problems at scale, this role offers the opportunity to shape products that directly support one of Europe's largest airline operations.

The opportunity

As Tech Lead - Optimization Engineering, you'll lead a team responsible for developing decision-support products that help solve some of the airline's most complex operational challenges, including disruption management, recovery planning and crew optimisation.

Working closely with Product Managers, Operations Research specialists, Data Scientists and operational stakeholders, you'll help translate real business challenges into scalable software and optimisation solutions. You'll provide technical leadership across architecture, delivery, quality and reliability while creating an environment where engineers can thrive and deliver their best work.

"The best person for this role will balance strong people leadership with technical excellence. You'll help guide a talented team through complex engineering challenges while delivering solutions that directly support critical operational decision making across the airline."

The team & culture

The Optimization Engineering team sits at the intersection of software engineering, operations research and airline operations. The team develops products that help operational teams make faster, better-informed decisions when managing disruption, crew planning and operational recovery.

You'll be part of a collaborative environment where engineers, optimisation specialists and product teams work together to solve real-world challenges. Curiosity, innovation and continuous improvement are encouraged, and you'll have the opportunity to influence both technical strategy and product direction.

What you'll be doing

You'll lead, mentor and develop a cross-functional engineering team, supporting individual growth while creating a high-performing culture focused on quality, delivery and innovation.

You'll provide technical leadership across software architecture, services, APIs, data pipelines and optimisation platforms, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure and maintainable.

You'll work closely with Product Managers and operational stakeholders to shape roadmaps, define outcomes and translate complex business requirements into deliverable engineering solutions.

You'll collaborate with optimisation specialists to integrate solver technologies into production systems while ensuring solutions remain performant, reliable and explainable for operational users.

You'll help establish and maintain strong engineering practices, including:

• Code reviews and engineering standards.
• Automated testing and quality assurance.
• CI/CD and release management.
• Operational monitoring and observability.
• Incident management and post-incident learning.
• Performance optimisation and reliability improvements.

You'll also remain technically engaged, contributing through architecture reviews, technical guidance, prototyping and critical-path delivery work where needed.

What we're looking for

You'll bring significant experience leading engineering teams delivering production-grade software products, ideally involving optimisation technologies or complex decision-support systems.

You'll also have:

• Strong software engineering and system design expertise.
• Experience building scalable services, APIs and distributed systems.
• Experience delivering optimisation, scheduling or decision-support applications.
• Knowledge of mathematical optimisation concepts such as constraint-based optimisation, heuristics and mixed-integer programming.
• Hands-on programming experience in Python, Java, C# or C .
• Experience integrating optimisation solvers such as Gurobi, CPLEX or equivalent technologies.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• The ability to translate operational challenges into practical engineering solutions.
• A passion for mentoring engineers and developing high-performing teams.

It would be advantageous if you also have:

• Experience within airline operations, transportation, logistics or workforce management.
• Experience with simulation and scenario planning tools.
• Knowledge of cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS or GCP.
• Experience with event-driven architectures and near real-time systems.
• Familiarity with data science and machine learning capabilities that complement optimisation solutions.
• Experience designing human-in-the-loop decision support products that balance automation with operational control.

What you'll get

> > Competitive base salary up to 20% bonus

> > 7% employer pension contribution

> > Private medical insurance

> > 25 days holiday bank holidays

> > Annual credit towards an easyJet holiday

> > Excellent staff travel benefits

> > Flexible benefits package including share schemes

Diversity isn't a checkbox - it's how we fly

Different perspectives help us make better decisions for customers, especially when the operation is under pressure. We welcome leaders from every background who can build trust, value diverse thinking and help people contribute at their best.

Reasonable Adjustments

At easyJet, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse customers we serve across Europe. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds. If you require specific adjustments or support during the application or recruitment process, such as extra time for assessments or accessible interview locations, please contact us at ma.recruitment@easyjet.com. We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to ensure accessibility and accommodation.

Ready to help keep one of Europe's leading airline operations running smoothly? Apply now.

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