Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering

Location: Nottingham (Remote)

About the Company

A high-growth technology company developing an advanced data optimisation and analytics platform used within large-scale infrastructure environments. The platform provides real-time visibility, risk reduction, and performance optimisation, leveraging AI-driven analytics and domain expertise.

The business operates at the intersection of SaaS, real-time data processing, and physical infrastructure (IoT / sensors), helping customers improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and enhance resilience.

The Role

The Head of Engineering will lead the engineering organisation, owning delivery, execution, and continuous improvement of the platform.

Reporting to senior leadership, this is a hands-on leadership role requiring experience managing multidisciplinary teams across software, DevOps, QA, and integration/hardware functions.

You’ll be responsible for translating strategy into execution, ensuring predictable delivery, scalability, and engineering excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Delivery

• Own end-to-end delivery of the engineering roadmap
• Drive consistent, high-quality releases and delivery predictability
• Implement and optimise Agile processes, planning frameworks, and KPIs
• Align closely with Product and business stakeholders on priorities
• Work cross-functionally to ensure customer-focused outcomes

Team Leadership

• Lead and scale engineering teams across:
• Software development
• Cloud / DevOps engineering
• QA and test automation
• Integration / hardware / edge systems
• Build a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Develop team capability and support ongoing growth and experimentation

Software Architecture & Development

• Oversee design and delivery of scalable SaaS platforms
• Ensure adoption of modern engineering practices (microservices, APIs, event-driven systems)
• Maintain high standards of code quality, consistency, and maintainability
• Contribute to long-term technical strategy and architecture

Cloud & DevOps

• Own cloud infrastructure strategy (AWS environment)
• Drive CI/CD maturity, automation, and infrastructure-as-code
• Ensure platform scalability, reliability, observability, and cost efficiency
• Establish strong SRE and incident management practices

Quality Engineering

• Build and scale a robust QA function with a strong focus on automation
• Implement comprehensive testing strategies (unit, integration, performance, security)
• Embed quality across the full development lifecycle

Integration & Edge Systems

• Oversee teams working on hardware, sensors, and edge connectivity
• Ensure seamless integration between physical systems and cloud platform
• Support delivery in complex, real-world environments

Security & Compliance

• Ensure alignment with security best practices and compliance standards (e.g. ISO 27001)
• Embed secure development and proactive risk management practices
• Support regulatory, customer, and audit requirements
• Lead incident post-mortems and continuous improvement initiatives

Technical Environment

• Backend: Node.js (TypeScript), REST APIs
• Frontend: Modern JavaScript frameworks
• Databases: SQL & NoSQL (e.g. PostgreSQL, Redis, cloud-native DBs)
• Cloud: AWS (compute, storage, serverless, containerisation)
• DevOps: CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Infrastructure-as-Code
• Security & Observability: Modern tooling and monitoring platforms

Requirements

Experience

• Proven experience as a Head of Engineering or senior engineering leader
• Background in SaaS or product-led technology environments
• Strong experience delivering complex platforms at scale
• Experience leading:
• Software engineering teams
• Cloud / DevOps teams
• QA / automation functions
• Integration / systems engineering teams
• Exposure to real-time systems, IoT, or infrastructure environments is advantageous

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of modern software architecture
• Experience with AWS, CI/CD, and DevOps practices
• Knowledge of real-time data systems and large-scale platforms
• Familiarity with distributed systems and event-driven architectures

Leadership & Attributes

• Delivery-focused with strong accountability
• Excellent communicator across technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Data-driven and focused on continuous improvement
• Comfortable operating in a scale-up environment
• Passionate about building and developing high-performing teams

What Success Looks Like

• Consistent delivery of high-quality product releases
• Scalable, resilient platform supporting growth
• High-performing engineering teams with strong engagement
• Continuous improvements in delivery, quality, and efficiency
• High system reliability and reduced critical incidents
• Ongoing reduction in technical debt and improved platform health