Director of Middleware

Location: Remote (UK)Permanent RS Group is seeking a dynamic Director of Middleware & Integration to take full ownership of our global middleware and integration ecosystem. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, you will lead the platforms that connect all our critical systems — including SAP, Adobe Commerce, Salesforce, Snowflake (our enterprise data lake), external supplier/client APIs, and warehouse backend systems.This is not a custodial role. It is a position of strategic importance, central to RS Group’s digital and operational capabilities. You will define the future of this backbone while ensuring its daily reliability, scalability, and performance. As the ultimate point of accountability, you will oversee the health, strategy, and delivery of a multi-million-pound platform that underpins billions in revenue.What you’ll be doing:Strategic & Technical Ownership:Be accountable for defining, owning and executing the global Middleware and Integration strategy. This platform is a strategic asset, and you will be responsible for its evolution and business value. Hold ultimate accountability for the availability, performance, reliability and scalability of the entire integration ecosystem of RS, which serves as the critical connective tissues for the business. Provide authoritative guidance in architectural discussions, evaluating and deciding on technical solutions and direction for the platform. Lead the evaluation of new middleware tools and technologies to drive innovation, with accountability for the technical and business outcomes of these choices. Operational & Delivery Accountability:Be accountable for the end-to-end delivery of all integration services, from large-scale strategic projects to KTLO (Keep The Lights On), ensuring they meet business requirements on time, within budget, and to quality standards. Take ownership of critical issues and complex problems, providing hands-on technical leadership to guide the team to a solution and being the ultimate escalation point for major incidents. Be accountable for managing the platform's technical debt, ensuring a lean, secure, and maintainable environment that balances innovation with stability. Ensure integration platforms meet all business SLAs and performance guidelines, as their performance directly impacts core business operations. Be accountable for the resilience and performance of middleware solutions that are fundamental to our £2.7 billion e-commerce revenue system, ensuring maximum uptime and rapid recovery from any incidents. People Leadership & Stakeholder Management:Be accountable for leading, mentoring, and scaling a high-performing, global distributed team of 40+ professionals, with plans for strategic growth. Be a visible and passionate advocate for the teams while holding them accountable for deliverables and excellence. Proactively manage and be accountable for relationships with a complex stakeholder landscape, including C/VP-level technology leaders and key business partners across the organisation. Own the budget for the Middleware & Integration domain, with accountability for financial planning, vendor management, and demonstrating ROIAbout you:You are a pragmatic and deeply technical leader with a proven track record of managing large-scale platforms. You are defined by your ability to bridge the gap between high-level strategy and ground-level execution. You gain respect through your technical credibility and your willingness to engage deeply with your teams' challenges. You are a leader who mentors through action and is driven by delivering robust, scalable solutions that meet real business needs.What you’ll need:Proven experience in a senior leadership role (Director, Head of, or Senior Manager) with full accountability for technology platforms. A demonstrated ability to be both strategic and tactical, with a hands-on approach to leadership and problem-solving. Extensive experience in developing and executing technology strategies, coupled with the ability to lead detailed architectural and technical discussions. Demonstrable experience leading and mentoring a large, distributed team of engineers and managers. Background expertise with enterprise-grade integration technologies (Such as SAP CPI, MuleSoft, IBM Integration Bus, Informatica, MuleSoft or equivalent). You can credibly challenge and guide your architects. Strong background in building integrations between core enterprise systems such as SAP, Salesforce, Workday/SuccessFactors, Ariba, and e-commerce platforms. A proven track record of effectively managing and influencing stakeholders across technology and the wider business. Comprehensive knowledge of integration patterns, protocols, and adapters (SOAP, REST, SFTP, RFC, JMS, EDI, etc.). The extras you’ll get:At RS, as well as the usual employee benefits you’d expect from a FTSE listed company, including annual performance bonus, enhanced maternity and paternity leave, private healthcare, in the UK&I, we’ve just introduced a number of new Family Friendly Policies including:Help for people to take control of ongoing Health conditions such as diabetes or asthma with £500 a year available for monitoring & consultation Support for Neurodiverse colleagues and families with neurodiverse members with needs assessment, diagnosis and post diagnostic support for autism spectrum, ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome Support for Women at different life stages from streamlined fertility support through to diagnosis and monitoring of both endometriosis and menopause Helping our LGBTQ+ community through enhanced coverage for trans colleagues, including voice coaching, facial surgery, and gender confirmation surgery Additions to Fertility coverage including IVF for lesbian couples and information/support around surrogacy and adoption for all. We are RSAt RS we’ve been solving engineering problems for over 80 years: big ones, small ones, easy and difficult ones. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible.Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world.We offer service and product solutions. We send out a parcel every 2 seconds, to over 130 countries. We provide over 700,000 in-stock and over 3 million unstocked products to more than 1.2 million customers.We want people like you, as you are curious about things, you like doing things differently and also in a human way with empathy. Because that’s exactly how we partner with people – our customers, suppliers, colleagues and communities – to solve problems.We’ll also invest in your development and wellbeing – because building a more diverse and inclusive culture, being ethical, responsible, and committed to our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) action plan is at the heart of everything we do.Come and join us and we’ll help you to think big, do more and unleash your brilliance, so you do amazing things too. REMOTE