About the role
The Engineering Manager exists to lead the delivery performance and professional development of engineers within a designated product domain or problem area. The role is responsible for driving team health, engagement, and operational predictability across multiple cross-functional engineering squads. The position focuses purely on people leadership and delivery optimisation rather than hands-on coding, serving to connect engineering execution directly with an ambitious product roadmap. Ultimately, this role ensures the sustainable delivery of high-quality SaaS solutions that directly advance the organisation's mission to transform how schools work.
Dimensions
- Financials: No direct budget ownership; indirectly impacts infrastructure efficiency and resource allocation across assigned squads to ensure projects are delivered. - Team: Direct line management, coaching, and career development of software engineers and Technical Leads within a designated domain, coordinating squads typically composed of a Tech Lead, QA Engineer, and multiple developers, alongside cross-team DevOps and Staff Engineers. - Scope: Tactical and operational leadership across the Ecosystem engineering area, impacting distributed teams situated across the UK and Serbia.
Key Responsibilities
1. Delivery Leadership & Roadmap Execution
- Drive delivery performance and predictable execution across multiple product and engineering teams. - Lead planning sessions, technical estimations, sprint reviews, and delivery tracking activities. - Partner with Product Managers to define priorities, shape feature roadmaps, and ensure alignment between business objectives and engineering capabilities. - Provide visibility into delivery progress, risks, dependencies, and mitigation plans. - Ensure engineering outputs meet agreed quality standards and delivery commitments.
2. Performance Metrics & Flow Optimization
- Manage engineering workflow and optimize team throughput, efficiency, and software reliability. - Establish, monitor, and improve operational engineering metrics using DORA and SPACE frameworks. - Identify bottlenecks and implement data-driven improvements to delivery processes. - Support and embed Agile delivery practices, including Scrum and Kanban methodologies. - Promote sustainable delivery cadences while maintaining team autonomy.
3. People Leadership & Talent Development
- Coach, mentor, and develop engineers and Technical Leads. - Create and support individual development and career progression plans. - Conduct performance reviews and provide regular feedback and development guidance. - Address performance concerns proactively and fairly. - Foster a high-performing, inclusive culture based on accountability, ownership, and collaboration.
4. Team Wellbeing & Psychological Safety
- Champion psychological safety, employee engagement, and overall team wellbeing. - Promote sustainable engineering practices that balance delivery speed with long-term maintainability. - Resolve team conflicts and remove barriers that impact productivity and engagement. - Encourage open communication and continuous feedback across teams.
5. Process Excellence & Engineering Governance
- Standardize delivery workflows, release management practices, and operational processes across teams. - Ensure adherence to quality standards, deployment governance, documentation requirements, and testing best practices. - Collaborate with Staff Engineers and Technical Leads to align delivery practices with the organization's technical strategy. - Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance engineering effectiveness and quality.
6. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Dependency Management
- Manage technical dependencies and delivery risks across engineering teams and business functions. - Partner with Portfolio, Product, and Engineering Leadership teams to track roadmap progress and resolve blockers. - Facilitate transparency and alignment across stakeholders. - Contribute to strategic planning and organizational prioritization activities.
7. Organizational Capability & Leadership
- Actively contribute to engineering leadership forums and organizational improvement initiatives. - Promote a data-driven culture focused on continuous learning and operational excellence. - Represent the engineering function in leadership meetings, presentations, and external professional communities. - Support the maturation of engineering management practices across the organization.
8. Distributed Team Leadership
- Build and maintain a strong, unified culture across distributed engineering teams. - Facilitate collaboration across multiple locations and time zones. - Lead team offsites, workshops, and collaborative engagement initiatives. - Ensure equitable access to development, mentorship, and growth opportunities for all team members.
Requirements
- Proven experience leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams comprising Software Engineering, QA, and DevOps professionals. - Experience managing teams of at least 5+ engineers. - Strong expertise in engineering performance frameworks such as DORA and SPACE metrics. - Extensive experience with Agile delivery methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban. - Deep understanding of CI/CD pipelines, continuous delivery, and modern software development practices. - Strong people management experience, including coaching, mentoring, career development, and performance management. - Experience working with distributed teams across multiple locations and time zones. - Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and presentation skills. - Strong systems-thinking mindset and understanding of software engineering principles.
Desirable
- Previous background in software engineering or technical leadership. - Familiarity with PHP, Node.js, TypeScript, AWS, Kong API Gateway, or similar technologies. - Experience delivering SaaS, platform, or API-driven products. - Understanding of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and platform performance management. - Experience leading engineering transformations and scaling delivery practices within growing organizations. - Exposure to DevOps culture, cloud-native technologies, and modern engineering operating models.
Benefits
What we offer
The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work every day.
We also offer:
- Flexible work environment (3 days work from office) - Group Term Life Insurance paid out at 3x Annual CTC (Arbor India) - 32 days holiday (plus Arbor Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra companywide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas - Work time: 9.30 am to 6 pm (8.5 hours only) - Compensation - 100% fixed salary disbursement and no variable component.
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