Contract - Head of Software / Senior Engineering Manager

Contract - Interim Head of Software Development / Senior Engineering Manager

• Location: Hybrid - Bristol (2-4 Times a Month - Flexible)
• Rate: £600 Inside IR35 (via Umbrella)
• Contract: 6 Months
• Platform Stack: TypeScript, ReactJS, NextJS, AWS, Java/Node Backend

We are seeking a senior technology leader to drive high-impact, business-critical transformation initiatives across a modern digital platform. This role demands strong architectural vision, delivery oversight, and stakeholder engagement across multiple agile engineering teams.

The Role

You will operate in a strategic, hands-off technical leadership capacity, supporting four agile teams (~40 engineers) through large-scale platform modernisation efforts. While you will not have direct line management responsibilities, you will be accountable for technical alignment, DevOps advocacy, architectural consistency, and cross-team delivery enablement.

Key to this role is representing the technology function at programme level - contributing to planning, risk identification, and delivery governance. You'll partner closely with Tech Leads, Enterprise and Solution Architects, and product leadership to guide re-platforming initiatives across Java/Node backends and front-end frameworks (ReactJS, TypeScript), hosted on AWS.

Core Responsibilities

• Provide architectural guidance and ensure alignment with programme-wide technical strategy
• Champion DevOps practices and support CI/CD, observability, and cloud-native tooling adoption
• Represent engineering within programme-level forums, planning sessions, and governance routines
• Ensure delivery is technically robust, scalable, and aligns with evolving business goals
• Mentor senior engineers and technical leads to uplift delivery standards and architectural thinking
• Influence agile maturity and help establish delivery best practices in a scaling environment
• Stay technically involved via architectural reviews, solution shaping, and technical oversight

What we're looking for:

• Proven track record in leading large-scale engineering transformation and re-platforming initiatives
• Deep understanding of cloud-native architecture (preferably on AWS)
• Experience working across both backend (Java/Node) and modern frontend (React, TypeScript) stacks
• Strategic thinker with strong planning, stakeholder management, and programme representation skills
• Advocate for DevOps culture, tooling, and modern software delivery practice

Interview Process

• 1 Stage Interview - 1 Hour with Senior Leadership over teams or onsite

If this opportunity is of interest please apply now or email

Candidates must be UK based residents and have full rights to work, visa sponsorship is not available.

Reasonable Adjustments:

Respect and equality are core values to us. We are proud of the diverse and inclusive community we have built, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives. Our success is driven by our people, united by the spirit of partnership to deliver the best resourcing solutions for our clients.

If you need any help or adjustments during the recruitment process for any reason, please let us know when you apply or talk to the recruiters directly so we can support you.