App Engineering Innovation Lead

Janus Henderson Investors; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Health & wellbeing benefits

Volunteer time

Professional development

Lunch allowance

Job summary

Janus Henderson Investors is seeking a senior engineering leader to drive the guild responsible for API platforms and AI-enabled engineering. You will ship strategies for Azure API Management and related shared services, while guiding a specialist team across multiple squads.

You will collaborate with enterprise architecture, cyber security, risk, and procurement, ensuring governance, reliability and cost transparency.

Qualifications

• Extensive hands-on software-engineering experience with leadership across multiple teams.
• Deep expertise in API and integration architecture, cloud platforms, software quality, and delivery automation.
• Experience applying AI-assisted engineering and automation beyond individual experimentation.
• Proven ability to translate ambiguous business problems into validated technical approaches through research and prototyping.
• Experience leading shared technology platforms, including roadmaps, lifecycle, service outcomes, and developer experience.
• Ability to lead specialists and influence peer leaders and senior stakeholders without relying solely on line authority.
• Strong commercial and risk judgement, with the ability to communicate technical opportunity, cost, trade-offs and risk clearly.

Responsibilities

• Define and deliver the guild’s roadmap for AI-enabled engineering, automation and modern software-development practices.
• Lead a prioritised portfolio of time-boxed research, proofs of concept and prototypes.
• Frame ambiguous problems, test assumptions and recommend direction.
• Contribute directly to complex experiments and problem-solving, addressing constraints early.
• Develop practical integration patterns and reusable components across platforms.
• Coach teams and enable shared tooling and patterns for improved developer experience.
• Own the strategy and lifecycle for Azure API Management and the BlackRock Aladdin API platform.
• Ensure platform reliability, security, capacity, onboarding and cost transparency.
• Collaborate with architecture, security, risk and procurement stakeholders.
• Lead a high-calibre engineering team and balance research with live-service obligations.
• Track improvements and knowledge transfer across the guild.

Skills

API architecture

Cloud platforms

Software engineering

Delivery automation

AI-assisted engineering

Leadership

Stakeholder influence

Tools

Azure API Management

BlackRock Aladdin API

Job description

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A career at Janus Henderson is more than a job, it’s about investing in a brighter future together .

Our Mission at Janus Henderson is to help clients define and achieve superior financial outcomes through differentiated insights, disciplined investments, and world-class service. We will do this by protecting and growing our core business, amplifying our strengths and diversifying where we have the right.

Our Values are key to driving our success, and are at the heart of everything we do:

Clients Come First - Always | Execution Supersedes Intention | Together We Win | Diversity Improves Results | Truth Builds Trust

If our mission, values, and purpose align with your own, we would love to hear from you!

Your opportunity

This role offers the opportunity to lead a specialist engineering capability with influence across the Application Engineering Guild. It combines hands-on technical leadership, applied innovation and ownership of shared API platforms.

• Are you motivated by turning emerging technology into practical engineering capabilities?
• Do you enjoy solving ambiguous business and technical problems through rapid, evidence-led experimentation?
• Can you establish reusable patterns and improve engineering practices across multiple teams?
• Do you want accountability for strategic API platforms as well as leading a specialist engineering team?

What to expect when you join our firm

• Hybrid working and reasonable accommodations
• Excellent Health and Wellbeing benefits including corporate membership to Wellhub
• Paid volunteer time to step away from your desk and into the community
• Support to grow through professional development courses, tuition/qualification reimbursement and more
• Maternal/paternal leave benefits and family services
• All employee events including networking opportunities and social activities
• Lunch allowance for use within our subsidized onsite canteen

What you will do

• Engineering innovation and strategy: Define and deliver the guild’s roadmap for AI-enabled engineering, automation and modern software-development practices, aligned with enterprise architecture, security, risk and AI governance.
• Applied research and rapid prototyping: Lead a prioritised portfolio of time-boxed research, proofs of concept and prototypes addressing material business opportunities and engineering barriers.
• Evidence-led decision-making: Work with business sponsors and engineering leaders to frame ambiguous problems, test assumptions and recommend whether to proceed, change direction or stop.
• Hands-on technical leadership: Contribute directly to complex experiments and technical problem-solving, identifying integration, data, security, performance and operational constraints early.
• Cross-guild patterns and standards: Develop practical integration patterns, reference implementations, reusable components and automated controls covering secure development, testing, deployment, observability, resilience and maintainability.
• Engineering enablement: Coach teams, run practical enablement activities and use delivery feedback to improve shared tooling and patterns, increasing team self-sufficiency.
• Platform ownership: Own the strategy, roadmap, lifecycle, developer experience and service outcomes for Azure API Management (APIM) and the BlackRock Aladdin API platform.
• Platform service management: Establish clear accountability for platform reliability, security, capacity, onboarding, support, cost transparency, vendor dependencies and continuous improvement.
• Stakeholder and vendor leadership: Work with engineering leads, Solution Architecture, Cyber Security, Risk, Infrastructure and Operations, Procurement, business sponsors and strategic suppliers.
• Team and portfolio leadership: Build and lead a high-calibre specialist engineering team, set priorities, develop capability and balance innovation work with live-service platform obligations.
• Outcome measurement: Track improvements such as faster validation and handover, adoption of supported patterns, reduced delivery friction and rework, improved reliability and successful knowledge transfer.

Required skills

• Extensive hands-on software-engineering experience, including technical leadership across multiple teams, shared capabilities or enterprise platforms.
• Deep expertise in API and integration architecture, cloud platforms, software quality, delivery automation and operationally sustainable engineering.
• Experience applying AI-assisted engineering and automation beyond individual experimentation, with the ability to convert learning into reusable capabilities.
• A proven ability to translate ambiguous business problems into validated technical approaches through research, prototyping and evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience leading shared technology platforms, including roadmaps, lifecycle, service outcomes, vendor relationships and developer experience.
• Ability to lead specialists and influence peer leaders and senior stakeholders without relying solely on line authority.
• Strong commercial and risk judgement, with the ability to communicate technical opportunity, cost, trade-offs and risk clearly.

Nice to have

• Experience in investment management, financial services or another highly controlled environment.
• Hands-on experience with Azure API Management or comparable enterprise API-management platforms.
• Experience integrating with, governing or operating the BlackRock Aladdin API platform.
• Experience creating engineering-agent instructions, evaluation approaches, developer tooling or AI-augmented software-delivery workflows.

Supervisory responsibilities

• Lead a specialist engineering team, setting objectives, priorities and technical direction while supporting professional development.
• Balance the team’s research and enablement portfolio with the operational responsibilities of the shared platforms in scope.
• Provide day-to-day leadership for technical decisions, quality expectations, work allocation and stakeholder commitments.

Potential for growth

• Opportunity to shape engineering innovation and enablement across the Application Engineering Guild.
• Broad exposure to business sponsors, engineering leadership, architecture, security, risk and strategic technology partners.
• Leadership development, technical training and relevant professional certification pathways.
• Potential to expand the portfolio of reusable engineering capabilities and shared platforms as the operating model matures.
• Regular training
• Continuing education courses

You will be expected to understand the regulatory obligations of the firm, and abide by the regulated entity requirements and JHI policies applicable for your role.

At Janus Henderson Investors we’re committed to an inclusive and supportive environment. We believe diversity improves results and we welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds. Don’t worry if you don’t think you tick every box, we still want to hear from you! We understand everyone has different commitments and while we can’t accommodate every flexible working request we’re happy to be asked about work flexibility and our hybrid working environment. If you need any reasonable accommodations during our recruitment process, please get in touch and let us know at [e-mail].

#LI-LN2 #LI-Hybrid

Annual Bonus Opportunity:Position may be eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus award from the profit pool. The profit pool is funded based on Company profits. Individual bonuses are determined based on Company, department, team and individual performance.

Benefits: Janus Henderson is committed to offering a comprehensive total rewards package to eligible employees that includes; competitive compensation, pension/retirement plans, and various health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits. To learn more about our offerings please visit the Why Join Us section on the career page here .

Janus Henderson Investors is an equal opportunity employer.All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. All applications are subject to background checks.

Janus Henderson (including its subsidiaries) will not maintain existing or sponsor new industry registrations or licenses where not supported by an employee’s job functions (as determined by Janus Henderson at its sole discretion).

You should be willing to adhere to the provisions of our Investment Advisory Code of Ethics related to personal securities activities and other disclosure and certification requirements, including past political contributions and political activities. Applicants’ past political contributions or activity may impact applicants’ eligibility for this position.

You will be expected to understand the regulatory obligations of the firm, and abide by the regulated entity requirements and JHI policies applicable for your role.