Head of Engineering

We’re excited to be partnering with one of the UKs most prominent brands as they embark on a major digital & AI transformation focussed on growth and experience.

As part of this, an opportunity has come available for an experienced Head of Software Engineering to lead and scale a high-performing and talented team of 100+ engineers.

Your mission: enable engineering excellence, drive speed and quality through DevOps and modern architecture, and partner closely with Product and Design to ship features that matter.

This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of a major digital transformation. You’ll play a central role in shaping how we build, scale, and operate our platforms — balancing innovation, resilience, and business outcomes AND combining software engineering, DevOps, and platform thinking to deliver exceptional customer experiences at scale.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

 Leadership & Strategy

• Set the strategic direction for engineering across product squads, platforms, and enabling teams.
• Shape the long-term technology roadmap in partnership with Product, Architecture, and Data leaders.
• Drive engineering culture, ways of working, and rituals that support speed, quality, and continuous improvement.

 Team & People

• Lead and mentor a diverse group of engineering managers, tech leads, and senior engineers.
• Build succession plans and grow internal leadership capabilities.
• Promote a high-trust environment with a focus on autonomy, inclusion, and career development.

 Execution & Delivery

• Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery of product features, platform capabilities, and technical initiatives.
• Oversee delivery pipelines, velocity, and stability across multiple domains and systems.
• Drive the adoption of DevOps, CI/CD, TDD/BDD, and cloud-native development practices.

 Technology & Operations

• Work closely with the Head of Architecture and Platform teams to modernise legacy systems and reduce technical debt.
• Promote scalability, resilience, and observability across our engineering landscape.
• Own SLAs, operational metrics, and runbooks for engineering-owned systems and services.

 Cross-functional Collaboration

• Act as a key partner to Product, UX, Data, Infrastructure, and Security to align on delivery goals and shared priorities.
• Participate in planning cycles, budgeting, OKRs, and quarterly business reviews.
• Bring a commercial lens to engineering decisions — balancing innovation with value delivery.

WHAT EXPERIENCE WILL YOU OFFER?

• Proven experience leading large-scale engineering teams (100+) in high-growth, product-led organisations.
• Deep knowledge of modern software development, cloud platforms (AWS preferred), DevOps/SRE
• Experience and/or interest in emerging AI/Data Science & Automation solutions
• Exceptional people leadership: you build empowered, high-trust teams with a strong engineering culture.
• Track record of delivering large-scale digital transformation in complex, fast-paced environments.
• Strong partner to Product and Commercial teams — you understand how tech drives business growth.

WHY JOIN US?

A real seat at the table: shaping the future of our platforms, teams, and technology.

The scale to make an impact — and the agility to do it fast.

A strong leadership team that values autonomy, creativity, and customer-first thinking.

Flexible hybrid working, a supportive culture, and significant investment in technology and people.

Interested? Let’s build something extraordinary. Apply now or reach out for a confidential conversation.