Technical Lead - Head of Engineering

Position: Technical Lead - Head of Engineering - 2 Days
Our client is undertaking a bold technology transformation, modernising the systems that power one of the UKs leading media groups. Were looking for a hands-on Tech Lead moving into a Head of Engineering role or current Head of Engineering to lead this change from the front, a full-stack technologist who codes with confidence, architects with foresight, and inspires teams to deliver with purpose.

Youll own the engineering direction across multiple domains; designing scalable cloud-native platforms, embedding Dev Sec Ops  excellence, and ensuring our technology foundation accelerates the business. Dev Sec Ops  would be desirable to have but so long as you have Dev Ops that is fine. This is a role for a technical leader who still builds, who thrives on solving complex problems, automating intelligently, and mentoring the next generation of engineers.

Technology doesnt sit on the sidelines here, it drives their growth, their data, and their customer experience. Your Impact Define and execute the engineering strategy across Azure cloud, integration, and legacy modernisation, aligned to the clients long-term digital roadmap. Design and deliver cloud-native solutions that scale efficiently, perform reliably, and integrate seamlessly across business functions. Lead by example in Azure Dev Sec Ops : create and manage pipelines (YAML), infrastructure-as-code (Bicep, Terraform), and container orchestration (AKS, Docker).

Embed engineering best practice: implement CI/CD, code quality gates, automated testing, and observability from build to production. Guide platform evolution: re-engineer legacy .NET and SQL systems into modular, API-driven architectures. Build and empower teams: mentor full-stack, Dev Ops, and Automation Test engineers fostering autonomy, innovation, and accountability. Champion security and reliability by design: integrate compliance, performance, and monitoring into every stage of delivery.

Collaborate widely: partner with Product, Data, and Infrastructure teams to ensure alignment between technology capability and commercial goals. Drive innovation: pilot emerging technologies (AI, automation, data services) that improve efficiency and insight. Your Technical Toolkit Frontend HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6), Type Script React.js (preferred), Angular, or Vue.js Responsive design (Bootstrap, Tailwind), state management (Redux, Context API) Front-end testing (Jest, React Testing Library, Cypress) Backend C#, ASP.NET

Core / .NET 6 RESTful and Graph

QL APIs Entity Framework Core, LINQ Authentication & authorisation (OAuth2, JWT, Azure AD) Secure coding and API versioning Data & Integration SQL Server, Azure SQL, Cosmos DB ORM optimisation, caching (Redis, Azure Cache for Redis) Data migration and ETL integration (APIs, pipelines) Cloud & Dev Sec Ops  Azure Dev Ops (Repos, Pipelines, Boards, Artifacts, Test Plans) CI/CD automation, gated releases, and environment governance Infrastructure-as-Code (Bicep, ARM, Terraform) Containerisation (Docker, AKS) and serverless (Azure Functions) Monitoring and observability (Application Insights, Log Analytics) Secrets management and vulnerability scanning (Key Vault, Sonar Qube, OWASP) Architecture & Design Microservices and event-driven design (Service Bus, Event Grid, Kafka) Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles Resilient and scalable system patterns (circuit breakers, retries) Integration of legacy and modern platforms within hybrid environments What Success Looks Like 8 years in software engineering, with deep full-stack and cloud experience.

Proven record of leading engineering teams through modernisation or platform rebuilds. Hands-on mastery of Azure Dev Ops and enterprise-scale CI/CD, Dev Sec Ops  highly desirable Excellent architectural judgement balancing delivery speed, stability, and cost efficiency. Track record of developing high-performing, collaborative technical teams. Strong communication and leadership presence able to influence peers and executives alike. A continuous learner, passionate about automation, clean code, and scalable design.

Your Journey with the company:
We believe great leaders inspire by doing. From your first week, youll work alongside engineers, architects, and data specialists shaping not just what we build, but how we build it. Youll have open access to the leadership team, visibility into our transformation roadmap, and the chance to leave a lasting mark on how technology powers the business. The role can be based 2 days a week out of London (City Area) or Peterborough and the rest remote.

If London then occasional trips to Peterborough