Citation Group is the UK's leading provider of compliance and employment law services, supporting over 120,000 clients across the UK, Canada, and Australia. With revenues of £280-300M and backed by HG Capital and KKR, we're at an inflection point in our technology journey—transforming how we build and deliver software through AI-native engineering practices.
Our Technology organisation comprises 200 people with a £40M annual budget, driving innovation across five strategic pillars: Commercial Acceleration, Service Excellence, Product Differentiation, Engineering Transformation, and AI Empowered Culture.
The Opportunity
This is an executive leadership role created to drive engineering execution excellence and enable the Group CTO to focus on AI strategy, Agentic Engineering, architecture, and technology direction.
You will be the single point of accountability for engineering delivery across Citation Group globally.
Citation has grown in scale, complexity, and ambition. AI and agentic engineering are now central to how we build software. Delivery commitments and engineering outcomes are more visible and business-critical than ever. We need a leader who can own engineering delivery with clarity and confidence, ensuring predictability and quality while we transform how engineering works.
Purpose of the Role
The VP Engineering is the accountable owner of engineering delivery and productivity across Citation Group.
This role exists to ensure that:
* Engineering delivery meets commitments
* Quality, reliability and maintainability improve over time
* Engineering productivity continues to increase
* Effective leadership & stakeholder engagement - business stakeholders understand and support engineering delivery
* The engineering function is viewed as high-performing and commercially minded
* Focuses resources on the most important value drivers
* Able to simplify the complex from architecture to engineering to enable the business to make effective decisions
This role is a hands-on, outcomes-driven operator role that turns direction into results. The VP Engineering is the completer–finisher for engineering: disciplined execution, clear accountability, and relentless follow-through.
What You'll Own
Engineering Delivery & Predictability
*(Does it land when we said it would)*
* Own delivery commitments across all engineering teams globally
* Ensure predictability of outcomes through effective planning, capacity management, and prioritisation
* Make explicit trade-off decisions when priorities conflict
* Act as the final escalation point for delivery risk and execution issues
Engineering Quality & Excellence
*(Does it work well and keep working)*
* Own quality outcomes across the engineering portfolio
* Drive practices that improve reliability, maintainability, and production stability
* Establish consistent approaches to managing technical debt and operational risk
* Use meaningful metrics to improve throughput, quality, and flow
Technical Leadership
*(Do we make good technical decisions)*
* Build and sustain a strong technical leadership system across engineering
* Ensure clear ownership of technical decisions within teams
* Develop Engineering Managers and senior technical leaders to lead effectively at scale
* Partner closely with Architecture to ensure decisions support long-term platform health
*(How teams are led day to day)*
* Lead and coach Engineering Managers across the organisation
* Set clear expectations for engineering leadership accountability and performance
* Build high-performing teams through hiring, development, and succession planning
* Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement
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