ABOUT THE ROLE
Were looking for a Head of Software Engineering to lead our software development efforts and drive technical excellence across our engineering teams. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, this role is perfect for a seasoned engineer who thrives on delivering innovative software solutions that power business growth.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic technical leadership
- Define and execute comprehensive technology roadmap aligned with business objectives and market opportunities
- Drive design decisions for cloud-native applications, microservices and distributed systems
- Establish technical vision for scalable, secure and maintainable software platforms
- Lead digital transformation initiatives and modernisation of legacy systems
- Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies to maintain competitive technical advantages
Engineering excellence & operations
- Implement robust software development processes
- Establish and enforce coding standards, code review protocols and automated testing frameworks
- Oversee CI/CD pipeline architecture, infrastructure as code and deployment automation
- Drive quality assurance processes, performance optimisation and system reliability initiatives
- Manage technical debt reduction and continuous improvement programs
Team leadership & development
- Build and lead a team of software engineers and technical leads
- Recruit top-notch engineering talent and establish clear career development pathways
- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration and technical excellence
- Conduct performance reviews, provide mentorship and drive professional growth
- Create inclusive engineering culture that promotes diversity, learning and continuous improvement
Cross-functional collaboration
- Collaborate with other technology and business teams to ensure seamless system integration
- Work with design and UX teams to deliver exceptional user experiences
- Coordinate with security teams to implement robust cybersecurity measures and compliance standards
- Present technical strategy and progress updates to executive leadership and stakeholders
Delivery & performance management
- Ensure on-time delivery of high-quality software products and features
- Manage engineering resources, project timelines and risk mitigation strategies
- Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for productivity and quality
- Drive incident response, post-mortem analysis and system reliability improvements
- Optimise development velocity while maintaining code quality and system stability
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES
Education & experience
- Honours degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering or related technical field
- 10+ years of software development experience with progressively increasing responsibility
- Minimum 5 years in engineering leadership roles managing teams of 15+ engineers
- Proven track record of scaling engineering organisations through rapid growth phases
- Experience in technology companies, SaaS platforms, or high-growth startups preferred
Technical expertise
- Deep hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and cloud-native architecture patterns
- Strong software engineering expertise
- Extensive experience with containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, EKS/AKS)
- Expert knowledge of microservices architecture, API design, and distributed systems
- Advanced understanding of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation), and DevOps tooling
- Experience with modern frontend frameworks (React, Angular, Vue.js) and backend technologies
Leadership & Management skills
- Exceptional leadership abilities with demonstrated success building and scaling engineering teams
- Strategic thinking and ability to translate business objectives into technical roadmaps
- Excellent communication and presentation skills for technical and non-technical audiences
- Experience managing engineering budgets, vendor relationships and partnerships
- Proven ability to drive cultural change
- Data-driven decision-making approach with strong analytical and problem-solving skills
System & Architecture knowledge
- Understanding scalable system design, performance optimisation and reliability engineering
- Experience with database technologies (relational and NoSQL), data architecture and analytics platforms
- Knowledge of security best practices, compliance frameworks and privacy regulations
- Understanding of monitoring, logging and observability tools (e.g., DataDog, New Relic, AppDynamics)
- Experience with automated testing strategies, quality assurance processes and deployment practices
