As the Software Development Manager, you will be a "people-first" leader dedicated to coaching and empowering a multidisciplinary team of developers and testers in our Manchester office. Reporting to the Head of Software, you will act as a facilitator and technical guide, fostering an autonomous culture that balances high-quality delivery with continuous professional growth. You will bridge the gap between strategic business goals and day-to-day engineering, serving as a hands-on technical mentor who removes delivery blockers and ensures our desktop, AI, and Azure solutions remain at the cutting edge of the industry.
What You’ll Be Doing
* Leading and empowering a multidisciplinary team through regular 1:1s, goal setting, and active support for career progression and professional development.
* Remaining technically hands-on to review system architectures, participate in code reviews, and evaluate security and data risks across our Azure and AI-driven solutions.
* Acting as a Scrum Master to monitor engineering throughput, manage project timelines, and proactively remove blockers to ensure on-time delivery.
* Overseeing the daily operations and general administrative responsibilities of the Manchester office, ensuring a safe and productive environment.
* Identifying skill gaps and leading the end-to-end recruitment and onboarding process to scale the team effectively.
* Researching and rolling out advanced CI/CD tooling and engineering best practices to keep the team operating with the latest modern technologies.
What You’ll Need
* A proven "people-first" management style with experience building trust and maximizing team autonomy without micromanaging.
* A deep understanding of the Microsoft Azure ecosystem and experience with C#, .NET, and MVVM.
* Familiarity with integrating AI/ML solutions and managing robust CI/CD pipelines and automated testing practices.
* Strong experience managing the software development lifecycle (SDLC) using JIRA and Azure DevOps.
* Excellent interpersonal skills to navigate negotiations between technical engineering needs and wider business priorities.
* Familiarity with frameworks such as WPF, GTK, or Cocoa is highly advantageous.
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