Vice President of Software Engineering
Our client, a rapidly scaling fintech, is seeking an exceptional Vice President of Software Engineering to lead and evolve a large, high-performing engineering organisation.
This role sits at the intersection of technical leadership, organisational scale, and AI-driven innovation.
You will take ownership of an engineering function of 100–120 Software Engineers, supported by 6 Software Engineering Managers, and play a central role in shaping both capability and culture during a critical growth phase.
This is a true player-coach position—requiring deep technical credibility alongside proven leadership at scale.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead, develop, and scale a multi-layered engineering organisation, ensuring strong leadership at every level
* Own delivery against a complex product roadmap, driving measurable business outcomes
* Define engineering strategy, architecture, and organisational design aligned to growth objectives
* Maintain hands‑on technical engagement, contributing to high-level design and decision-making
* Champion AI‑first engineering practices, building on an environment where 80–90% of code is AI-generated, with a roadmap to 95%+
* Embed modern engineering excellence (CI/CD, trunk‑based development, observability, and automated testing)
* Partner cross-functionally across Product, DevOps, Security, and Platform teams
* Build a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement
Your profile
Our client is specifically seeking a candidate with a highly credible blend of leadership experience, technical depth, and modern engineering exposure:
Leadership & Scale
* 8+ years in software engineering leadership roles, with at least 3+ years operating at VP level (or equivalent)
* Proven experience leading large-scale engineering organisations (minimum 50+ engineers)
* Demonstrated success as a manager of managers, including developing senior engineering leaders
* Track record of scaling teams and capabilities in high-growth environments, ideally within startups or SME organisations
Technical Expertise
* Strong hands‑on engineering background with the ability to remain technically engaged
* Deep technical fluency across modern architectures and polyglot environments (including .NET/C#, with exposure to other languages such as Java or Ruby)
* Experience defining architecture and engineering strategy at scale
* Ability to challenge, guide, and influence technical decisions at all levels
* Proven experience working in an AI-enabled or AI-first engineering environment
* Hands‑on use of AI-assisted or agentic development tools (e.g. Claude or similar)
* Clear understanding of how AI can accelerate delivery, improve quality, and reshape engineering workflows
* Experience driving adoption of AI tooling across teams and embedding it into the development lifecycle
Delivery & Engineering Excellence
* Strong background in continuous delivery environments, where software is shipped to production frequently or daily
* Expertise in modern practices including:
* Trunk‑based development
* Automated testing strategies
* Observability and system reliability
* Proven ability to use engineering metrics to drive performance and continuous improvement
Organisational Design & Methodologies
* Experience designing and evolving engineering organisations using modern frameworks (e.g. Lean, Scrum, Kanban, XP)
* Strong understanding of team topologies (stream-aligned, platform, enabling teams)
* Ability to align organisational structure to product and delivery needs
Leadership Mindset & Approach
* Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence executive stakeholders
* Comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
* Strong problem-solving mindset with a willingness to experiment and iterate
* Values transparency, continuous learning, and candid feedback
* Demonstrates curiosity, innovation, and the ability to identify novel solutions to complex challenges
Why This Role?
* Opportunity to lead a large, complex engineering function at scale
* Significant influence over the evolution of AI-driven software development practices
* Join a high-growth fintech at a pivotal stage of its journey
* Work in an environment where engineering excellence and innovation are core to success
If you are a technically credible engineering leader with experience scaling teams, embedding AI into development, and delivering at pace, this is a rare opportunity to make a significant impact.
#J-18808-Ljbffr