Software Engineering Director Position

The Software Engineering Director will lead and drive the software engineering team to develop innovative platforms and applications. This role requires a visionary leader with a strong technical background and a deep understanding of agile methodologies to ensure efficient and effective product development.

• Strategic Leadership: Define and implement the technology strategy jointly with the Heatly Managing Director and wider United Living Group CTO ensuring it is aligned with the company's business goals. Drive innovation and ensure the technology roadmap supports the development of new platforms and applications.
• Team Management: Lead, mentor, and inspire a diverse team of software engineers, fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and high performance.
• Architectural Design: Lead the design and architecture of our SaaS platform, ensuring it is scalable, robust, and secure. Utilising best practices to develop architectural blueprints and detailed documentation to guide the development team. Ensure the architecture supports high availability, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Design and implement dynamic, scalable cloud architecture using mainstream public cloud technology ensuring you optimise cloud infrastructure for performance, cost-efficiency, and security. Design and oversee the implementation of infrastructure as code (IaC) practices and toolsets.
• Agile Methodology: Champion agile practices within the team, ensuring adherence to agile principles and methodologies. Facilitate agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Product Development: Oversee the end-to-end development process of new platforms and applications, from ideation to deployment. Ensure products are scalable, secure, and meet quality standards.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including product management, design, and marketing, to align technology initiatives with business objectives. Communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders effectively.
• Technology Stack: Evaluate and select appropriate technologies and tools to support development efforts. Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends to drive innovation. Working closely with the Heatly Managing Director and United Living Group CTO to ensure alignment with wider group technology strategies and transformations.
• Budget Management: Manage the technology budget, ensuring cost-effective solutions and efficient resource allocation. Delivering the product roadmap on-time and on-budget.
• Technical Architecture: Design and oversee the implementation of robust, dynamically scalable, and secure technical architectures. Ensure that architectural solutions align with business goals and are adaptable to future needs. Lead the development of architectural standards and best practices, including microservices, API management, and cloud-native architectures. Conduct regular architecture reviews and provide guidance on complex technical issues.
• Cybersecurity: Develop and implement a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to protect the company's digital assets and develop Secure Coding Standard with appropriate practices. Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations. Oversee the integration of security best practices into the software development lifecycle and withing a DevSecOps pipeline. Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments. Lead incident response efforts in conjunction with the United Living cyber security team, and ensure the software engineering team is prepared to handle security breaches effectively.
• Data Privacy: Establish and enforce data privacy policies and practices to ensure compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR). Oversee the implementation of data protection measures, including encryption, access controls, and data anonymisation. Conduct regular privacy impact assessments and audits. Collaborate with legal and compliance teams to address data privacy concerns and ensure the company's data handling practices are transparent and ethical.
• DevOps and DevSecOps: Implement and promote DevOps practices to enhance collaboration between development and operations teams, ensuring continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines are efficient and reliable. Integrate security into the DevSecOps process to ensure that security is a core component of the development lifecycle. Oversee the automation of infrastructure provisioning (IaC), configuration management, and deployment processes. Ensure the team is equipped with the necessary tools and skills to maintain high availability, dynamic scalability, and security of applications.
• Rapid Prototyping: Foster a culture of rapid prototyping to quickly validate ideas and iterate on product designs. Utilise rapid prototyping tools and techniques to create functional prototypes that can be tested and refined. Encourage the team to experiment and innovate, reducing time-to-market for new features and products. Ensure that rapid prototyping efforts are aligned with overall product strategy and customer needs.
• Documentation: Create and maintain comprehensive architectural documentation to support ongoing development and maintenance. Develop and maintain technical standards, guidelines, and best practices and ensure the entire team maintain the documentation to a robust, high standard through the lifecycle of the products.

• Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience: Experience in software development within the Technology Start-Up business sector and a focus on developing and bringing to market innovative technology products and/or services, with a strong background in a leadership role. Proven track record of successfully leading agile teams.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in multiple programming languages and frameworks. Strong understanding of cloud computing including Infrastructure as Code, DevSecOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and modern software architecture. MVP is currently built using the following technologies and development languages, PREACT, MYSQL, Docker,.Net6, C#, C++ and Python.
• Leadership Skills: Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills. Ability to inspire and motivate a team, manage conflicts, and drive change. Delivering on-time and on-budget.
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to make data-driven decisions and navigate complex technical challenges.
• Personal Attributes:
  • Visionary: Ability to see the big picture and drive long-term technology strategies.
  • Innovative: Passion for innovation and staying ahead of industry trends.
  • Collaborative: Strong team player with a collaborative mindset.
  • Adaptable: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our colleagues, such as access to our WeCare programme, with a 24/7 online GP, mental health support and virtual wellbeing. We also offer gym discounts, RAC breakdown cover, savings with providers such as Dell and Vodafone, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, and many more.