Optimal

About the Company

At Optimal, recruitment is more than just matching candidates with roles - it's about building lasting relationships and thriving communities.

Our founder, with over 20 years of technical IT recruitment experience, is a passionate advocate for community engagement and the organiser of the first-ever London Ministry of Testing Meetup. Combining technical expertise with a CT-AI certification, they have made Optimal a true recruitment specialist.

Our core expertise lies in Test, Development, and Quality Engineering. Additionally, we cover other specialised tech domains listed below through our trusted partners, vetted over years of collaboration in the recruitment industry.

What sets us apart is our collaborative approach: we partner with boutique recruitment agencies that excel in their fields-whether it's AI/ML, Product Management, Microsoft D365, Cloud & Infrastructure, Cyber Security or Tech Sales.

For businesses seeking a deeper partnership, we offer an embedded onsite talent option, where a member of our team works closely with your talent teams. This allows us to gain a thorough understanding of your company culture and identify exactly what makes a great hire for your organisation.

With Optimal, clients benefit from a streamlined process, a single point of contact, and expert management at every stage - ensuring the recruitment experience is seamless and successful.

Listed Jobs

Company Name

Optimal

Job Title

Software Engineer | Full Stack | Industrial / AI Systems | Must Have Start up Exp

Job Description

Job Title: Software Engineer – Full Stack (Industrial AI Systems) Role Summary: Own end‑to‑end delivery of mission‑critical industrial software platforms. Design, build, and maintain front‑end, back‑end, and infrastructure components that drive real‑world automation and AI workflows. Lead rapid iteration cycles in a high‑autonomy startup environment. Expectations: - Minimum 2–5 years of full‑stack production experience. - Proven startup or high‑stakes engineering background (founder, founding engineer, early CTO, Tier‑1 VC‑backed startup). - Experience delivering front‑end heavy SaaS products with strong UX focus. - Ability to own features from design through deployment, collaborate directly with leadership and non‑technical stakeholders. - Comfortable working 5 days on‑site and operating independently in fast‑moving contexts. Key Responsibilities: - Architect and implement scalable, fault‑tolerant services in TypeScript/Node ecosystems. - Build responsive React interfaces with emphasis on usability and performance. - Own complete feature life‑cycle, including design, coding, testing, deployment, and monitoring. - Collaborate with operators and leadership to translate operational pain points into production‑ready solutions. - Deploy and iterate in live industrial environments, gathering real‑world feedback. - Optimize distributed systems for scalability, reliability, and AI‑driven workflow integration. - Lead projects from concept to production, ensuring quality and on‑time delivery. Required Skills: - Full‑stack development with TypeScript, React, and modern web stack. - Backend building of scalable, fault‑tolerant microservices (Node.js/Scala/Python preferred). - Experience with real‑time data pipelines, automation, and monitoring tools. - Strong command of CI/CD, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and infrastructure as code. - Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and autonomous decision‑making. - Familiarity with industrial, aerospace, defence‑adjacent, or equivalent mission‑critical systems. Required Education & Certifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).

London, United kingdom

On site

Mid level

14-01-2026