Head of Engineering

This is a senior Head of Engineering opportunity with an established technology organisation going through a significant period of change. The organisation has a well-established software portfolio and a strong base of technical knowledge, but is now bringing more engineering capability in-house, developing new products and evolving the way its engineering function operates. With a current team of around 12 and plans for significant growth, this person will have genuine influence over the structure, capability and ways of working within engineering as the function develops.

The role will suit someone who is comfortable being close to the technical detail when needed, but who also has the leadership experience to build capability, develop engineering leaders and establish the foundations for a high-performing function as the team grows.

A key part of the role will be balancing two very different areas of engineering. The established product portfolio is business-critical and needs to remain reliable, secure and performant. It comes with a long history, complex technology and significant institutional knowledge, so the focus will be on understanding where investment and modernisation will have the greatest impact, while maintaining the stability of the products customers rely on. Alongside this, there is a strong focus on developing new products using modern, cloud-native technology and AI-enabled engineering practices. This will require a different approach, with smaller teams, clear ownership, strong engineering foundations and faster feedback loops.

The successful person will need to be experienced enough to understand these different environments and confident enough to adapt their approach accordingly, while providing consistent technical leadership across the engineering function.

What you'll be responsible for

You'll own the engineering function and its technical direction, working closely with Product and the wider leadership team.

Your remit will include:

• Setting the engineering strategy and technical direction across the portfolio
• Shaping the engineering organisation as the team grows, including structure, capability and leadership
• Bringing more development capability in-house and building strong engineering practices
• Providing genuine technical leadership across architecture, software engineering, quality and DevOps
• Improving the way software is designed, built, tested, released and supported
• Building stronger automation, CI/CD, observability and quality practices
• Improving reliability and addressing chronic technical and performance issues at their root
• Establishing clear ownership across teams and creating an environment where engineers own what they build
• Working with Product to make sensible decisions around technical investment, delivery and priorities
• Developing engineering leaders and building the capability of the wider team
• Managing external engineering partners where required and reducing reliance on critical external knowledge
• Embedding security and privacy into engineering practices
• Helping establish a modern, scalable developer platform and engineering environment

AI will also be an important part of the role. You'll be expected to help shape how AI is used across engineering, from improving development productivity and quality through to supporting teams with coding, testing, documentation and problem solving. This will require a practical understanding of the opportunities AI presents, alongside good judgement around security, privacy, code quality and maintainability.

Technical depth is equally important. While this is a senior leadership position, it isn't a role that sits entirely at a distance from the engineering work. You'll need to be comfortable getting into the detail when required, whether that's reviewing architecture, challenging a technical decision, working through a delivery issue, getting involved in an incident or helping an engineer navigate a complex problem.

You won't be expected to write production code day-to-day, but you'll need enough technical credibility to engage confidently with experienced engineers and understand the decisions being made across the function. As the team grows, the role will naturally become more strategic. In the early stages, however, there is significant groundwork to do, so the ability to move comfortably between technical detail, people leadership and the wider engineering strategy will be important.

What we're looking for

We're looking for a senior engineering leader with significant experience across software engineering and engineering leadership.

You'll ideally bring:

• 12+ years' software engineering experience
• 5+ years leading engineering teams, including through other leaders
• Experience building, transforming or scaling an engineering function
• Strong architectural and technical depth
• Experience working with modern cloud platforms
• Strong DevOps, CI/CD, automation and platform engineering experience
• A strong understanding of software quality, test automation and quality engineering
• Experience improving engineering delivery, predictability and ways of working
• Experience balancing mature or legacy technology with modern product development
• A track record of building capable engineering leaders and developing teams
• Experience bringing outsourced or externally delivered engineering capability in-house would be highly valuable

You should already be using AI in your own work and have a practical understanding of where it can add value across engineering. Experience introducing AI-assisted development across teams, or building AI capabilities into products, would be valuable. Experience in healthcare or another regulated or high-consequence environment would also be advantageous, although it isn't essential.

About you

We're looking for someone who is comfortable operating at different levels. You can get into the detail with a senior engineer when needed, while also stepping back to think about organisational structure, capability, delivery and the broader engineering strategy.

You'll be technically strong, pragmatic and comfortable working in an environment where there is still plenty to build and shape. You'll care about engineering quality and good technical practice, but will also understand how those things need to translate into reliable, valuable outcomes for the organisation and its customers.

This is an opportunity to have a genuine influence on the engineering function as it develops. You'll help shape the team, build capability and establish the practices and ways of working that will support the organisation as it continues to grow.

If you're looking for a senior engineering leadership role where you can combine technical depth with people leadership and have a meaningful role in shaping what comes next, please apply via this advert and we'll be in touch.