LeadDev London Meetup - 17th July 2025

LeadDev London meetup
🎟 Please RSVP BELOW! 🎟
Join us for our next LeadDev meet-up on July 17th and enjoy an evening of networking and talks.

Date: Thursday, 17th July
Time: 6 - 9pm
Location: Softwire, 315, Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Rd, London NW5 1TL

Spaces are limited - you must RSVP to attend. We hope to see you there!

⏰ SCHEDULE ⏰
18:00 - Arrival, networking and refreshments
18:20 - Welcome from our host - Vahid Panjganj, Senior Principal for Engineering, Elsewhen
18:30 - Creating Compassionate Workplaces for the Journey to Parenthood - Amy Roberts-Hoad, Engineering Manager, Olio
18:50 - Get on the same side of the table - Joel Chippindale, CTO Coach, Monkey's Thumb
19:00 - Break
19:40 - How to lead tech teams responsibly when you don't have all the answers - Jackie Woodburn, Technical Lead, Softwire
19:55 - Networking
21.00 - Close

🎤 SPEAKERS 🎤

• Amy Roberts-Hoad, Engineering Manager at Olio

Bio: Amy has over 12 years experience in the industry, with expertise across multiple fields, from fintech to environmental tech. Early in her career, she discovered her passion for QA and testing, but it was her love for mentoring, coaching, and leadership that truly ignited her professional journey. Today, Amy works as an Engineering Manager at Olio, a sharing app dedicated to reducing waste in local communities. Beyond her day to day work, she actively champions women in tech, LGBTQ+ rights, and disability and health initiatives, using her voice to support and empower others.
Talk: Creating Compassionate Workplaces for the Journey to Parenthood – Helping leaders support employees through the emotional journey to parenthood with empathy, open communication, and practical strategies for a compassionate workplace.

• Joel Chippindale, CTO Coach at Monkey’s Thumb

Bio: Joel is a CTO Coach who works with talented engineering leaders to support them to accelerate their development and grow their impact. Before becoming a CTO Coach, Joel spent over 20 years building, scaling, and leading software development teams, mainly in start-ups, including CTO and COO roles at FutureLearn and CTO roles at Econsultancy and Unmade.
Talk: Get on the same side of the table – You disagree with your colleague (or your manager) but are not able to change their minds. You feel stuck and frustrated. The only options that you feel that you have available to you are to repeat your argument more forcefully or give up. And neither feels like a good option. Does this situation sound familiar to you? In this talk, we will look at how to get unstuck, have better discussions with your colleagues and increase your influence.

• Jackie Woodburn, Technical Lead, Softwire

Bio: Jackie is a technical lead who specialises in turning complex, messy problems into solutions people can actually use. She's an experienced leader both at work and beyond: be it explaining gnarly business logic via spontaneous whiteboard diagrams, or wrangling eggs, flour and a table of friends into a makeshift tortellini factory. Recently, she drove Softwire’s delivery of the Elexon Insights project - a cloud-native data platform central to the GB electricity market. The project transformed a flood of market data into an intuitive user portal and live data feeds, enabling real-time access for energy analysts nationwide and supporting millions of requests each month. Off the clock, she's most likely to be found up a mountain, in the sea, or anywhere else that adventure can be found.
Talk: How to lead tech teams responsibly when you don't have all the answers

🔹 CODE OF CONDUCT 🔹
As with our conferences, LeadDev Meetups are a safe and inclusive event for all. By attending, you agree to our code of conduct.

🔸 SLACK COMMUNITY 🔸
You can also join our Slack workspace to keep up with everything in our London community. Join the channel #leaddev-london or #london.

🙏🏻 THANK YOU 🙏🏻
Thank you to our London meet-up partner Softwire.