Chief Engineering & ExCo Tech Leader

StrideUp Homes Limited; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary: Competitive based onExperience

Discretionary annual bonus

25 days annual holiday

Birthday Leave

Health insurance

Life insurance

Enhanced Parental Leave & Pay

Hybrid working environment

Monthly socials

Central London location

Friendly and informal startup culture

Job summary

StrideUp in London is seeking a Head of Engineering to lead our engineering function as we scale. You will be the senior technology leader, reporting to the CEO and sitting on ExCo, shaping architecture, standards, and tooling.

You will champion AI and automation, own IT and security, and partner with product managers to translate business goals into deliverable plans while ensuring regulatory compliance and strategic tech investments.

Qualifications

• Extensive engineering leadership experience in a scale-up.
• Deep depth across backend, frontend and cloud infrastructure.
• Experience setting technology strategy and managing budgets.
• Familiarity with regulatory obligations (e.g., FCA) is a plus.
• ExCo-level communication and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Own platform architecture and strategic technical decisions.
• Line manage engineers and define structure, hiring, and growth.
• Translate business objectives into deliverable technical plans.
• Oversee IT, security, risk, and regulatory compliance with stakeholders.

Skills

Engineering leadership

System architecture

Cloud infrastructure

CI/CD

Code review

Job description

StrideUp is leading a new era of values-driven finance. Ranked the 5th fastest growing fintech in the UK and Ireland in 2025, we have already deployed hundreds of millions in property finance, supporting people in achieving their financial goals.

What makes us different is how we combine purpose with performance. We began with home finance, creating an alternative trusted by the Muslim community and welcomed by anyone seeking fairer, more transparent products. This product-market fit has powered our growth, and is only the beginning. Our vision is bigger; to expand our offering and build a financial institution that opens doors for communities often left behind.

Joining StrideUp means being part of a high-performing, values-driven team at the most exciting point in our journey. We have proven success behind us and huge opportunity ahead, and now we are ready to build beyond. Are you?

StrideUp is backed by leading VC and private equity investors, having raised over £40m in corporate funding, and over £600m in institutional funding lines.

The Role

We are looking for a Head of Engineering to lead StrideUp’s engineering function as we enter our next phase of growth. You will be our most senior technology leader, reporting to the CEO and sitting on the Executive Committee (ExCo).

This is a technical leadership role. You will lead and coach our engineers, own technical strategy, and stay close to the detail: architecture and design, engineering standards and best practices, tooling choices and code review. Above all, you will treat technology as a tool for solving business problems, keeping the team focused on what moves the business forward.

You will also own IT, cyber and information security, and represent technology to stakeholders including investors and regulators. These responsibilities may be reallocated over time as we scale.

You will champion smarter use of AI and automation to raise quality and speed, rather than simply adding headcount, and work closely with our Product Manager and Product Team.

What You'll Do

Engineering Ownership

• Own platform architecture and strategic technical decisions, including build vs buy and technical debt
• Set and uphold standards for code quality, testing and QA, CI/CD and incident management
• Review code and designs, and choose the tools, patterns and best practices the team works to

Team Leadership

• Line manage and coach our engineers, with regular 1:1s, clear objectives and a visible path for growth
• Set the team structure and operating model, and lead hiring and retention as we scale
• Develop future technical leaders, so the function does not depend on one person

Business Alignment & Delivery

• Start with the business problem, and work with the CEO and Product Manager to turn commercial objectives into deliverable plans
• Own the budget and annual OKRs, and deliver predictably so technology drives growth
• Champion AI, automation and agentic tooling where they clearly raise quality and speed

Technology, Security & Risk

• Own IT infrastructure, workplace technology, cybersecurity and information security, including vendors
• Own technology risk, working with Compliance & Risk to meet regulatory obligations

ExCo Leadership

• Sit on ExCo and contribute to company-wide strategy beyond technology
• Explain technical decisions in plain language, linked to commercial outcomes
• Be the senior voice on technology with senior stakeholders including investors, funders, auditors and regulators, including technical due diligence for fundraising

You Are

• An exceptional engineer: you set a high technical bar through architecture, design, tooling choices and code review
• A leader and coach who develops engineers and gets the best out of them
• Commercially minded: you start with the business problem and treat engineering as the tool to solve it
• An ExCo-level operator who can present ideas and explain trade-offs without jargon
• Pragmatic and accountable: you make sound decisions under uncertainty, own outcomes and never compromise on security or compliance
• Open to challenge and feedback, and comfortable building structure in a scale-up

Requirements

• Extensive engineering experience, including leading and developing engineers in a scale-up
• Exceptional engineering depth across back-end, front-end and cloud infrastructure, with the judgement to set architecture, patterns, tooling and standards
• Accountable ownership of IT infrastructure, cybersecurity and information security, with working knowledge of FCA technology risk obligations
• Experience setting technology strategy, managing a budget and making build vs buy decisions
• Commercially astute and confident at ExCo level
• Practical interest in AI-assisted development, with the ability to build and execute an adoption strategy

Bonus

• Experience in lending or an FCA-regulated firm
• Experience supporting technical due diligence for fundraising or funding lines

Benefits

• Salary: Competitive, based on experience
• Discretionary annual bonus
• 25 days annual holiday
• Birthday Leave
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Enhanced Parental Leave & Pay
• Hybrid working environment
• Monthly socials
• Central London location
• Friendly and informal startup environment with a focus on performance and impact

Equal Opportunity Employer

StrideUp is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We celebrate the diversity of our team and encourage applications from all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, pregnancy, or any other characteristic.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and look forward to seeing how you can contribute to our mission.