Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering | Financial Services | Northampton | Permanent

Salary £75,000 - £85,000 (depending on experience, plus uncapped annual bonus typically ranging from 5% to 15% of basic salary)

The Head of Engineering will play a pivotal role in leading the architecture, development, and optimisation of internal applications, web tools, and integrations across our wider technology stack (including Zoho, AWS and custom web applications). This is both a hands‑on technical and leadership role, responsible not only for building high‑quality, scalable systems but also for implementing and maintaining modern development, coding, and deployment practices across the team.

Beyond your own coding contributions, you will take ownership of establishing robust engineering standards, CI/CD pipelines, version control workflows, and peer review processes to ensure consistent code quality, reliability, and scalability. Working closely with stakeholders, CRM developers, and other full‑stack developers, you will drive continuous improvement, mentor team members, and help shape the technical direction that supports Portman Finance Group’s growth and innovation in the Fin Tech space.

• Develop and maintain CRM functionality and integrations within Zoho CRM, including use of Deluge scripting (prior experience not required).
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of full‑stack web applications and business tools using modern frameworks and best practices.
• Define, document, and implement development standards, including version control, testing, code review, and CI/CD processes.
• Mentor and guide existing developers, providing technical leadership and promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Develop and maintain scalable cloud‑based solutions using AWS services such as Lambda, S3, Redshift, Glue.
• Create and manage API integrations between Zoho CRM, internal systems, and third‑party platforms.
• Utilise Python for automation, data transformation, and backend logic, particularly in support of analytics and integration tasks.
• Continuously review and optimise existing codebases for performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Work alongside CRM, Machine Learning, and Data teams to integrate predictive models and analytical insights into operational workflows.
• Provide technical oversight and support for complex issues, ensuring reliability and best practice across all deployments.

• 5+ years of full‑stack development experience in a commercial environment.
• Advanced experience with Node.js and Python for backend development.
• Proven hands‑on experience with AWS cloud technologies, including Lambda, S3, Redshift, and related services.
• Experience designing and maintaining RESTful APIs and database‑driven applications.
• Familiarity with Zoho CRM (customisation, Deluge scripting, integrations) is highly desirable.
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices: testing, version control (Git), deployment pipelines, and security.
• Demonstrated leadership skills — capable of mentoring developers, managing priorities, and driving technical improvement.
• Excellent problem‑solving, analytical, and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across technical and business teams.
• Experience in financial services, lending, or Fin Tech environments is advantageous but not essential.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Strong organisational skills with a high attention to detail.
• Ability to prioritise and handle multiple tasks at any given time in a fast‑paced environment.
• Pro‑active and enthusiastic with a can‑do attitude.
• Good commercial acumen.
• Ability to work on own initiative as well as being a team player.

Portman Finance Group was established in 2007 to provide UK SMEs with access to a range of finance options under one roof. We have arranged over £1bn in funding for over 15,000 companies.

Portman offers secure finance for businesses of all sizes via our own lending and panel of over 40 partners. We provide flexible payment terms, reducing large initial outlays and protecting cash‑flow, and are one of the largest privately owned broker‑lenders in the UK.

Please note that as part of the recruitment process a criminal records check/credit history check will be carried out by an authorised third party.