Job Details
Job title: Lead Engineer (Salesforce Marketing Automation)
Advert reference number: 1165
Location: Milton Keynes, Remote/Hybrid
Salary: £59,966 to £67,468 + Market Related Pay Allowance of £9,981 per year until 31 July 2027
Closing date: 12 November 2025
Weekly working hours: 37
Contract type: Permanent (fixed term contract)
About the Role
As a Lead Engineer (Salesforce Marketing Automation) at The Open University, you will spearhead technical innovation and excellence within our engineering teams. You’ll take ownership of complex projects, guiding them from concept to completion while ensuring they align with university objectives and technical standards.
In this strategic role within the newly formed marketing automation capability, you will help shape the technical roadmap, make key architectural decisions, and integrate existing and emerging technologies into our chosen marketing automation platform (Salesforce Marketing Cloud) and associated communications systems to ensure robust, secure, and efficient delivery of strategic outcomes.
You’ll mentor and inspire your team, advancing a DevOps culture by promoting automation, integrating practical AI, and fostering a continuous improvement mindset to enhance workflow efficiency, accelerate feedback loops, and support ongoing learning.
This role offers a unique opportunity to showcase your leadership and engineering expertise in using technology to solve complex challenges with a significant social impact.
About Digital Services
Digital Services is at the heart of delivering life‑changing learning experiences that enrich society. We combine trusted design, data expertise, and cutting‑edge technology to support lifelong learning.
Our objectives are to:
* Enhance the student and staff experience through simple, evidence‑based solutions.
* Deliver value iteratively, securely, and at speed.
* Foster a vibrant, supportive workplace that embraces continuous learning and growth, empowering everyone to succeed.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead and manage engineering teams: Take charge of performance management, team motivation, and setting clear objectives to ensure successful delivery of high‑quality projects.
* Develop and mentor your team: Support the professional development of team members, mentoring junior engineers and helping them grow their skills.
* Contribute to the wider engineering community: Lead process improvements (aligned to Agile & DevOps), drive technology management, and champion best practices. Engage with the wider engineering profession to inspire and shape future technology standards.
* Resource and supplier management: Allocate project resources and manage relationships with external suppliers for smooth project execution.
* Architect technical solutions: Lead the design and development of complex systems, conducting in‑depth analysis of potential solutions considering cost, performance, scalability, and maintainability.
* Oversee the full development lifecycle: Ensure seamless systems integration, configuration management, and rigorous testing practices throughout the entire software lifecycle.
* Data and database design: Oversee data modelling and design processes with Data Architects to ensure optimal performance and scalability.
* Ensure security and compliance: Lead robust security implementation and ensure compliance with information assurance standards across all systems.
* Drive innovation: Stay ahead of emerging technologies and evaluate new tools and trends that can improve our technology stack.
* Manage analysis and feasibility assessments: Collaborate with stakeholders to analyse needs, define requirements, and assess feasibility of technical solutions.
* Ensure service and application support: Oversee service level management and support applications and infrastructure, including out‑of‑hours as required.
* Capacity and problem management: Lead capacity management efforts and problem resolution to ensure scalability and efficiency.
* Collaborate with the Product Lead and Design Lead: Work closely with Product and Design leads to balance the product roadmap and technical priorities, ensuring clear communication of the technology agenda.
About You
Essential Requirements:
* Strong technical leadership in software and systems development, with a proven track record of delivering high‑quality solutions on time.
* Excellent people management and mentoring skills, with the ability to inspire and grow engineering teams.
* Proven Software Engineering Expertise: Extensive experience in software development, reviewing others’ work, and deep understanding of programming, system design, and testing.
* Expertise in systems architecture and designing scalable, reliable software solutions with deep expertise in cloud services, microservices, and distributed systems.
* Advanced programming and software development experience with proficiency in modern development practices and tools.
* In‑depth knowledge of testing and configuration management, especially TDD and automated testing processes.
* Data and database design expertise, ensuring efficient data structures and performance.
* Information security and compliance awareness, with the ability to implement and monitor security protocols.
* Experience in non‑functional testing to ensure systems meet performance, security, and scalability requirements.
* Stakeholder relationship management, with strong communication skills to convey technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders.
Behaviours
* Leadership and Ownership: Take full ownership and lead by example.
* Collaboration: Foster a collaborative environment and share knowledge across functions.
* Problem‑Solving: Diagnose complex problems and offer innovative solutions.
* Adaptability: Thrive in a rapidly changing environment.
* Strategic Thinking: Continuously improve processes, systems, and technology.
Support with Your Application
If you have any questions or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.
What's in it for you?
At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute to a great work‑life balance.
Flexible Working
We are open to discussions about flexible working, including job share, part time, compressed hours, or other arrangements. It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted, with some attendance at the Milton Keynes office on a monthly basis.
Next Steps in the Recruitment Process
We anticipate a two‑stage interview process, with the first stage taking place online via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 24 November 2025.
Early Closing Date Notification
We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We encourage early applications.
How to Apply
To apply for this role please submit the following documents:
* CV
* A personal statement of up to 1000 words, describing why you are interested in the role and providing examples of where your skills meet the essential requirements.
You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.
Contact Us
If you have any queries about the recruitment process or your application, please contact careers@open.ac.uk.
EHP Statement
The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, reflecting our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength. We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all under‑represented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.
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