Head of Engineering Operations

Education is one of the most important systems in the world. At Kognity, we build the technology that makes it work better, for the teachers delivering it and the students depending on it. The problems are real, the work is challenging, and the results show up in classrooms every day.

We're a 125-person EdTech scale-up powering learning in 120+ countries, helping students and teachers thrive through an intelligent platform that combines rich, interactive pedagogy with smart AI and data.

Why join Kognity?

• Work on problems that matter - Your work directly influences the lives of teachers and students in over 100 countries. The scale is global, and the outcomes are tangible.

• High ownership, high expectations - You are trusted to take initiative, make decisions and drive outcomes. Responsibility comes early, accountability is real, and results matter.

• A fast-moving, high-performing team - You will work with smart, driven colleagues across the globe on complex problems. Standards and expectations are high, feedback is direct, and the pace is fast.

• Continuous growth is the baseline - Everyone is expected and supported to learn quickly, improve constantly and raise their own bar. If you enjoy responsibility, momentum and meaningful challenge, you will thrive here.

What you'll do:

• Take full ownership of the engineering operating system within your first three months: tools, vendor contracts, on-call staffing, and platform support, so no escalations land on the CTO by default and engineers never lose time to broken tooling or unclear process.

• Audit and overhaul the hiring process end to end, improving interviewer calibration, role consistency, and onboarding so that time-to-hire and time-to-first-meaningful-contribution both come down measurably.

• Own TLT facilitation and drive EM layer consistency, with sessions that end in decisions, shared practices aligned across teams, and cross-EM escalations resolving below CTO level within six months.

• Build and maintain the engineering progression framework and performance data infrastructure, from a sharp draft in the first three months to a live, Tech 2.0-aligned framework with salary bands agreed with HR and EMs actively using it in performance conversations.

• Drive cultural and strategic change from decision to operating reality, particularly the Tech 2.0 rollout, owning the rollout plan, adoption tracking, and the rituals that make change stick across the org over an 18-month horizon.

What we're looking for:

• A background as a senior, principal, or staff engineer, with subsequent experience in engineering leadership or management, ideally including people management in a scaling product organisation.

• Proven ability to operate without formal authority, driving change through credibility and relationships rather than positional power, and comfortable influencing senior engineers and EMs alike.

• Strong systems thinking with a bias for simplification: able to look at a complex set of processes and find the version that removes friction without losing what matters.

• High signal-to-noise communication, both written and verbal, with the ability to translate between strategic direction and operational reality and surface the right information at the right level.

• A passion for AI and a drive to experiment with new tools to enhance creativity, decisions, and execution.

How we hire

1. Discovery call with a Recruiter

2. Hiring manager discussion

3. Case study

4. Values discussion

5. Leadership talk

6. References

Every qualified person will be evaluated regardless of age, gender, identity, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status or religion. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive team and welcome people of all backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and abilities.

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