Contract – Interim Head of Software Development / Senior Engineering Manager
Location: Hybrid – Bristol (2-4 Times a Month – Flexible)
Contract: 6 Months
Platform Stack: TypeScript, ReactJS, NextJS, AWS, Java/Node Backend
We are seeking a senior technology leader to drive high-impact, business-critical transformation initiatives across a modern digital platform. This role demands strong architectural vision, delivery oversight, and stakeholder engagement across multiple agile engineering teams.
You will operate in a strategic, hands-off technical leadership capacity, supporting four agile teams (~40 engineers) through large-scale platform modernisation efforts. While you will not have direct line management responsibilities, you will be accountable for technical alignment, DevOps advocacy, architectural consistency, and cross-team delivery enablement.
Key to this role is representing the technology function at programme level — contributing to planning, risk identification, and delivery governance. You'll partner closely with Tech Leads, Enterprise and Solution Architects, and product leadership to guide re-platforming initiatives across Java/Node backends and front-end frameworks (ReactJS, TypeScript), hosted on AWS.
Champion DevOps practices and support CI/CD, observability, and cloud-native tooling adoption
Represent engineering within programme-level forums, planning sessions, and governance routines
Mentor senior engineers and technical leads to uplift delivery standards and architectural thinking
Influence agile maturity and help establish delivery best practices in a scaling environment
Proven track record in leading large-scale engineering transformation and re-platforming initiatives
Deep understanding of cloud-native architecture (preferably on AWS)
Experience working across both backend (Java/Node) and modern frontend (React, TypeScript) stacks
Strategic thinker with strong planning, stakeholder management, and programme representation skills
Advocate for DevOps culture, tooling, and modern software delivery practice