Head - Engineering

We are posting this job on behalf of our client.

The Engineering Head holds complete ownership of the engineering function. The role carries accountability for technical strategy, delivery governance, engineering capability and organisational structure, in addition to the architecture and quality of every solution the company builds and deploys.

The position combines functional leadership with continued technical depth. The Engineering Head is expected to set direction, build the team and govern delivery, while remaining sufficiently hands-on in architecture and technical review to hold authority over engineering decisions.

Responsibilities:

Engineering Strategy and Function Ownership

• Define the technical strategy for the engineering function across AI, data and analytics, and product engineering.
• Establish the technology roadmap, platform standards and architectural principles adopted across the organisation.
• Build and maintain the engineering capability plan, including skill development, team structure and workforce planning.
• Manage relationships with technology partners and platform vendors and evaluate new tooling and platforms for adoption.
• Own engineering budgets, tooling investment and infrastructure cost governance.

Delivery Governance

• Hold accountability for technical delivery across all client engagements and internal product development.
• Establish delivery methodology, engineering standards, quality gates and release governance.
• Oversee resource allocation, utilisation and capacity planning across concurrent engagements.
• Monitor delivery health, manage technical and schedule risk, and own resolution of technical escalations.
• Report engineering performance, risk and capacity to the Director.

Solution Architecture and Technical Requirements

• Own solution architecture and data architecture standards across the organisation.
• Approve the technical approach, feasibility position and effort estimation for new engagements.
• Contribute directly to architecture design for complex, high-risk or strategically significant engagements.
• Review and approve the technical content of client proposals and statements of work.

Technical Quality and Governance

• Define and enforce code review, design review and security review standards.
• Maintain final approval authority on architecture decisions and technical debt trade-offs.
• Drive the development of reusable frameworks, accelerators and reference implementations.

Organisational and People Leadership

• Lead, structure and scale the engineering organisation across all technical disciplines.
• Own technical hiring, including role definition, assessment frameworks and interview panels.
• Establish performance management, career progression paths and technical competency frameworks.
• Mentor senior engineers and develop the next layer of technical leadership.

Deployment, Security and Compliance

• Ensure all solutions are deployed securely with appropriate access controls, data privacy measures and regulatory compliance.
• Define governance for AI systems including model evaluation, guardrails, monitoring, failure handling and cost control.
• Own production readiness criteria and post-deployment support standards.

Client and Commercial Engagement

• Represent the engineering function in client engagements requiring senior technical authority, including solution workshops, architecture presentations and escalation management.
• Support pre-sales through technical validation, solution design and credibility in client-facing technical discussions.