Senior Engineering Manager/Head of Engineering

Location: London (Hybrid - 2 days in the office)

Job type: Full Time

Who we are

We're a group of restaurant-obsessed foodies with a passion for shifting restaurants from surviving to thriving.

Our purpose is to supercharge restaurant performance and our mission explains how we're going to do just that. We believe that every restaurant operator should know what's going on in their business and what they can do to optimise their performance.

We are backed by Techstars and leading Silicon Valley venture capitalists and this is an epic opportunity to be part of a fast-growing, exciting start-up with a huge amount of growth potential.

Tenzo team in numbers: 4 offices, 14 nationalities, about 30 Tenzonians.

Diversity and Inclusion

Tenzo is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, or disability status.

About the role

You'll be joining our Product Engineering team, which is responsible for building and maintaining our data pipeline and ETL processes that form the core of our product and define what makes Tenzo unique. We also develop our web and mobile applications that serve our customers daily.

With over 70 integrations and counting, we're constantly expanding our capabilities and processing substantial amounts of data that power our applications. 

You can explore our integrations here: Tenzo Integrations.

This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Engineering Manager or Head of Engineering to help grow and scale our product engineering team while making a meaningful impact at Tenzo. You'll have the chance to work with a talented and engaged team on an innovative product that connects with external systems, partners, and platforms across the industry.

Our Tech Stack:

• Apache Airflow
• Python
• Django
• React/Typescript
• AWS (S3, RDS with Postgresql, ElastiCache, MSK, EC2, ECS, Fargate, Lamda etc.)
• Snowflake
• Terraform
• CircleCI
• Bitbucket

Your mission

• Lead and scale multiple engineering teams simultaneously, drawing on your previous experience to navigate complex organisational challenges and drive technical excellence
• Architect the future structure of our engineering organisation - determining when and how to split teams, establish specialised units, and scale our capabilities to match business growth
• Take a hands-on approach to leadership, getting directly involved in technical challenges to energise the team and drive innovation, particularly in our AI initiatives and core data platform
• Drive exceptional people management practices, including strategic hiring, team development, and facilitating organisational changes with clear communication and vision
• Establish robust engineering processes and project management frameworks that enable our Product Managers to focus on customer needs rather than internal coordination
• Collaborate with leadership to implement the right processes and systems that keep our growing organisation moving efficiently and effectively
• Leverage your product company experience to understand the unique challenges of building and scaling software products that serve real customer needs
• Apply your technical expertise in our stack (Python, Django, React/TypeScript, AWS, Snowflake) to make informed architectural decisions and mentor the team
• Lead the integration of GenAI capabilities into our product, experimenting with new technologies and identifying opportunities to create customer value
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through effective retrospectives, regular team engagement, and adaptive leadership that evolves with our rapidly changing business needs

About you

• You bring 10+ years of engineering experience with a proven track record of scaling teams and products across multiple companies, with specific examples of complex challenges you've solved
• You have hands-on experience leading multiple teams simultaneously, balancing strategic oversight with tactical execution in fast-paced product environments
• You possess deep technical expertise in our stack (Python, Django, React/TypeScript, AWS, Snowflake) and can make informed architectural decisions while mentoring senior engineers
• You demonstrate exceptional people management skills, including strategic hiring, team development, and the ability to navigate organisational changes with clear communication
• You're curious about GenAI technologies and eager to explore how they can create customer value, with ideally some experience implementing AI solutions in production
• You have experience building developer platforms or internal tools that improve engineering productivity and developer experience
• You thrive in product companies and understand the unique challenges of building scalable software products that serve real customer needs
• You're comfortable establishing engineering processes and project management frameworks that enable cross-functional collaboration while maintaining technical excellence
• You bring a hands-on leadership style. You are willing to dive into technical challenges to energise teams and drive innovation when needed
• You excel at strategic thinking about team structure and scaling, with experience determining when to split teams or create specialised units
• You're passionate about fostering continuous improvement through effective retrospectives, regular team engagement, and adaptive leadership approaches

What you'll bring to the role

• 10+ years of engineering experience with demonstrated success scaling teams and products (Must have)
• Proven experience leading and managing multiple engineering teams simultaneously, with strong people management and hiring skills (Must have)
• Hands-on technical expertise in our core stack: Python, Django, React/TypeScript, AWS, and Snowflake (Must have)
• Product company experience with deep understanding of building scalable software products that serve real customer needs (Must have)
• Strong leadership skills with ability to navigate organizational changes and determine optimal team structures as we scale (Highly desirable)
• Experience establishing engineering processes and project management frameworks that enable cross-functional collaboration (Highly desirable)
• Hands-on leadership approach, willing to dive into technical challenges to help teams and drive innovation when needed (Important)
• Experience with GenAI technologies and interest in exploring how they can create customer value (Nice to have)
• Experience building developer platforms or internal tools that improve engineering productivity (Nice to have)
• Strong communication skills with ability to facilitate team retrospectives and drive continuous improvement (Important)
• Strategic thinking capabilities to help evolve our engineering organization for future growth (Important)
• Experience with data engineering concepts, pipeline orchestration, and data warehouse technologies (Nice to have)
• Passion for engineering excellence while maintaining rapid delivery in a dynamic startup environment (Important)

We're looking for someone who can balance strategic leadership with technical execution, helping us build the engineering organisation that will power Tenzo's next phase of growth.

Our hiring process

• Stage 1: Initial interview with the hiring manager (1 hour) - Remote
• Stage 2: Interview with Adam, CTO and co-founder (1 hour) - Remote
• Stage 3: Interview with Christian, CEO and co-founder (30 minutes - 1 hour) - Remote
• Stage 4: Meet the product engineering team (1-2 hours) - In person
• Stage 5: 30/60/90-day plan presentation where you'll share your assessment of what's working well, what needs improvement, and your vision with a detailed execution plan for your first 30, 60, and 90 days - Remote

Work perks and benefits

Tenzo is committed to improving the general well-being of our team members. As our 'Passionate about our people' value states: we aim to create a supportive and diverse environment for our people to grow. Working as part of a small team, you will benefit from a level of responsibility from the get-go. We also commit to a dedicated time for personal development and clear career progression in an exciting time of growth and development of the company.

•  Tenzo Swag
  We'll hook you up with workstation perks, Macbook and all software needed on your first day
•  Work from Home
  You'll receive a £75 work from home set-up budget, which renews every year
•  Flexible Working
  A minimum of 2 days a week in the London office, plus any additional days such as trade shows, team quarterly meet-ups
•  Enhanced Parental Leave
  Having a child is an exciting time in anyone's life. Tenzo is an inclusive employer, meaning we support all types of families equally.
•  Stock Options
  Eligibility to our stock options program
•  Pension
  ESG pension scheme
• Customer Lunches
  Every quarter we plan a team lunch at one of our customer's restaurants
• Tenzo Offsite
  A chance to meet fellow team members from all over the world at our annual team offsite
•  Your Eyesight
  We cover tests and contribute £75 to spectacles (or equivalent in local currency)
•  Your Development
  Dedicated time for personal & professional development (we're supportive of external L&D resources when needed) and monthly lunch and learns
•  Annual Leave
  25 days of holiday + bank holidays (increasing to 27 after 1 year and 29 after 2 years tenure)
•  Work Abroad
  Seeking a change in environment? Enjoy up to 2 weeks during the UK summertime working abroad
•  Socials
  Monthly events both in person and virtually

Please note: exclusively no recruiter emails for this role. We have established recruitment partnership agreements in place and no need to work with additional recruitment partners at this time.