Lead Engineer (London, Shoreditch)

AI overview

You'll work on the core API powering millions of flight bookings, tackling unique technical challenges while contributing to the future of travel technology.
Software Engineer London | Full-time | Hybrid | Shoreditch/Liverpool Street

Create the Future of Travel With Us
Whether it's visiting the people closest to us, starting an exciting adventure, or a career-defining business trip, travel is essential. Yet we've all experienced the aches and pains of getting to our destination. More than 4 billion airline passengers rely on technology that hasn't kept up with modern expectations. That's why we're rebuilding the infrastructure that underpins the travel industry - simplifying systems and building tools that will make the future of travel effortless.

We were part of Y Combinator S18's cohort and we're backed by Benchmark, Blossom, Index Ventures, and Kima Ventures - a fantastic set of investors that has helped build some of the world's largest companies.
Our London team is growing, and we're looking for talented people to join us on our journey.

Engineering at Duffel
We're building tools to simplify travel distribution, search, and booking through one seamless API. The technical challenge? Design a beautiful API, then integrate it with hundreds of airlines - each with different systems and requirements - whilst delivering a fantastic developer experience.

We work with Elixir, Phoenix, Kubernetes, and Google Cloud Platform, but we value strong engineering fundamentals over specific tech experience.

You'll Thrive Here If:
✅ You're passionate about designing beautiful APIs and creating great developer experiences
✅ You're interested in working with Elixir (previous experience not required—we value strong engineering fundamentals over specific languages)
✅ You have a high bar for code quality and API design
✅ You have opinions on good engineering standards and processes as we define ours at Duffel
✅ You think big picture - making tradeoffs between technical work and business impact
✅ You communicate clearly, articulating what you're working on and why in a structured way
✅ You thrive collaboratively - you believe in your methods but stay open to feedback and suggestions
Bonus: Experience in travel, flights, hotels, or cars

What You'll Get:
💰 Competitive salary + equity (you'll own part of Duffel)
🏝️ Work from anywhere policy 🛩️ Duffel travel allowance (use what we build)
🍼 Matched parental leave
🧘‍♂️ Sabbatical programme (3 months full paid)
🌎 Visa sponsorship available
🪩 Office in Shoreditch + regular team socials

Why Now Matters
You'll work on the core API powering millions of flight bookings. Early-stage role = outsized impact on how we build and scale.

Perks & Benefits Extracted with AI

  • Office in Shoreditch and team socials: Office in Shoreditch + regular team socials
  • Paid Parental Leave: Matched parental leave
  • Remote-Friendly: Work from anywhere policy
  • Visa Sponsorship: Visa sponsorship available

We offer the most powerful and intuitive tools for starting and growing a travel business. With Duffel, you can search, book and manage flights across more than 20 airlines through one platform.

View all jobs
Ace your job interview

Understand the required skills and qualifications, anticipate the questions you may be asked, and study well-prepared answers using our sample responses.

Lead Engineer Q&A's
Report this job
Apply for this job