Software Development Manager – Sheffield – New (REF49)
A market-leading organisation is recruiting a Software Development Manager to lead passionate and dedicated development teams, with the opportunity to make a real impact on all aspects of the product from day one. This is a hands-on, delivery-focused leadership role, accountable for managing the full Software Development Lifecycle to support strategic objectives and maintain exceptional software delivery standards.
The ideal candidate will champion best practices, drive continuous improvement, and work closely with technical and senior business stakeholders to align technology, processes, and product direction. You’ll embed strong development standards, foster innovation, support your team’s growth, and play a key role in the organisation’s ongoing migration and adoption of Azure DevOps tooling and workflows.
Duties & Responsibilities
* Manage the full Software Development Lifecycle to deliver business objectives and maintain exceptional standards of software delivery.
* Lead software development teams and provide strategic leadership input across related functions such as QA and Product.
* Drive continuous improvement in development processes, practices, and automation.
* Define and monitor KPIs for delivery performance and team productivity.
* Oversee and support the organisation’s migration to Azure DevOps, including planning, governance, training, and CI/CD pipeline integration.
* Mentor, coach, and support team members to enable both technical and personal development.
* Work with senior stakeholders across the business to align goals and deliver the product vision.
* Ensure consistent alignment and optimisation of CI/CD pipelines, version control, and project management workflows.
* Attend customer site visits, conferences, and user groups to support product understanding and requirement gathering.
Skills & Experience (Essential)
* 5+ years of industry experience in software development.
* Proven experience managing end-to-end SDLC in complex environments.
* Demonstrated experience leading multi-disciplinary teams (Software Engineering, QA, Product).
* Strong track record collaborating with senior stakeholders to align technology and product strategy.
* Hands-on experience implementing continuous improvement initiatives across development practices.
* Ability to define, track, and report on performance indicators for delivery and team effectiveness.
Desirable
* Familiarity with tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, and Confluence.
* Exposure to architectural decision-making for scalable, secure systems.
* Strong understanding of Agile methodologies and DevOps principles.
* Experience leading organisational or technology change programmes.
* Knowledge of Azure services beyond DevOps (e.g., hosting, monitoring, security).
* Practical experience managing a migration to Azure DevOps, including CI/CD pipeline governance.
Rewards & Benefits
* Competitive holiday allowance inclusive of bank holidays, with additional leave linked to service.
* Annual team event for employees and their families.
* Private medical insurance.
* Company pension scheme.
* Death-in-service benefit.
* Access to various wellbeing and lifestyle benefits.
* On-site facilities to support health and fitness.
* Cycle-to-Work scheme.