Head of Engineering

Head of Software Engineering, ELS Job Family: Technology Job Category: Engineering Career Architecture Role: Software Engineer Role Summary Leads a multidisciplinary Innovation Engineering capability, accountable for translating emerging technologies into scalable, enterprise-ready products and platforms. Sets strategic direction, prioritization, and execution standards across innovation squads, ensuring alignment with business objectives, product strategy, and enterprise architecture. Drives technical excellence, accelerates experimentation-to-production cycles, and builds organizational capability across engineering, data science, and AI—delivering measurable commercial and operational impact. Key Responsibilities 1. Strategic & Functional Leadership Define and execute the innovation engineering strategy, aligning with ELS business priorities, product roadmaps, and enterprise technology standards Set multi-quarter priorities, investment focus, and capacity planning across innovation initiatives Act as a senior technical authority across innovation domains (AI, platforms, emerging tech), influencing enterprise-wide direction 2. Innovation Delivery & Execution Lead delivery of complex, cross-functional innovation programmes, from concept through to scaled deployment Drive experimentation, prototyping, and MVP development, accelerating time-to-value and adoption Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and production-grade, aligned with enterprise architecture and governance 3. Team Leadership & Capability Building Build, lead, and develop a high-performing, cross-functional team (engineering, data science, AI, and specialists) Foster a culture of collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement, strengthening innovation capability across squads Coach and develop senior technical leaders, creating succession pipelines and future capability depth 4. Technical Excellence & Standards Establish and uphold engineering best practices, including architecture, DevOps, CI/CD, and platform reliability Drive improvements in release velocity, quality, and defect reduction through modern engineering practices Ensure alignment with security, data governance, and compliance standards 5. Cross-Functional Influence & Stakeholder Alignment Partner closely with Product, Platform, and Business leadership to prioritise and deliver high-impact innovation outcomes Influence decision-making at senior levels, translating technical possibilities into commercial value propositions Represent Innovation Engineering in executive and cross-functional forums Skills & Competencies Leadership & Collaboration Collaboration (Advanced): Influences and aligns multiple senior stakeholders across Engineering, Product, and Business People Leadership (Advanced): Builds inclusive, high-performing teams and develops future leaders Technical Expertise Software Design & Architecture (Advanced) Cloud Computing, API & Platform Engineering (Advanced) Deep understanding of scalable, distributed systems and enterprise integration Innovation & Problem Solving Innovation & Strategic Thinking (Advanced): Applies emerging technologies (AI, automation, data) to business problems Problem Solving (Advanced): Navigates ambiguity and drives breakthrough solutions Risk, Security & Compliance Data Security & Information Security (Advanced) Strong understanding of enterprise governance and regulatory frameworks Future-Focused Capabilities Artificial Intelligence & AI Agents (Advanced) Learning Agility & Adaptability (Advanced): Continuously evolves capability in line with emerging technologies Qualifications & Experience Significant experience leading software engineering and innovation teams in complex enterprise environments Proven track record delivering large-scale, cross-functional technical programmes Deep expertise in software architecture, cloud-native systems, and emerging technologies (AI/ML platforms) Experience influencing and operating at senior leadership / executive level Demonstrated ability to build and scale multidisciplinary technical teams globally