Director of Engineering

ZipRecruiter; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company in London is seeking a Director of Product Engineering to drive engineering excellence in AI and digital localisation. You will lead a distributed team of 40+ engineers, defining strategies and fostering a product-driven culture. The ideal candidate has strong software engineering roots, experience in B2B environments, and the ability to navigate complex workflows. This role offers a competitive salary of £160,000 plus bonuses and the chance to shape a high-performing engineering function.

Qualifications

• Proven engineering leader with a track record in delivery and team transformation.
• Experience in managing engineering functions of 40+ people across multiple locations.
• Expertise in B2B services involving complex workflows.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive engineering strategy and standards.
• Partner with Product leadership for integrating product engineering.
• Build scalable engineering practices.

Skills

Strong software engineering background

Process improvement

Emotional intelligence

Leading diverse teams

Cloud platforms (e.g., AWS)

Job description

Overview

Director of Product Engineering – AI & Digital Localisation | Permanent |

Hybrid (1 day/week in London or REMOTE option with some international travel)

Salary: £160,000 + Bonus + LTIP

We’re working with a global leader at the intersection of media, gaming, and technology, backed by private equity and entering a pivotal phase of growth. The business delivers cutting-edge services to some of the most recognisable names in entertainment from content creators to global platforms and is now looking to appoint a Director of Product Engineering to drive engineering excellence and build a product culture that scales.

This is a unique opportunity to lead a large, distributed engineering team and drive the transformation of an AI-led platform that’s redefining how global audiences engage with digital media.

The Opportunity

You’ll step into a high-visibility leadership role, taking ownership of a platform that supports multi-format content from in-game dialogue and narrative, to player engagement tools and AI-powered automation.

You’ll be responsible for leading a 40+ person engineering function, with a focus on:

• Defining and driving engineering strategy, standards, and operating models
• Partnering closely with Product leadership to embed a true product engineering mindset
• Building robust and scalable engineering practices around cloud, automation, and data
• Introducing structure and clarity to a complex, creative environment with a wide-ranging tech stack
• Establishing engineering excellence across CI/CD, architecture, testing, and delivery frameworks
• Leading transformation across people, processes, and technology in a business where change is constant
• Researching the introduction of AI for automation

This is a chance to build a product-led engineering culture from the ground up, in an environment with the ambition, scale, and executive support to back it.

What You’ll Bring

You’re a proven engineering leader who’s transformed teams, led delivery, and built clarity out of complexity. You balance technical depth with product insight and people leadership and you’re at your best in high-growth, ambiguous, fast-paced environments.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• A strong software engineering background, with credibility at both technical and strategic levels
• Demonstrated ability to drive process improvement, build delivery culture, and manage through ambiguity
• Emotional intelligence, resilience, and the ability to lead across matrixed, culturally diverse teams
• Led engineering functions of 40+ people, ideally across multiple geographies or business lines
• Experience in B2B services, ideally in sectors involving complex workflows like manufacturing, localisation, or digital content
• Partnered with Product to own and evolve product vision, delivery pipelines, and long-term strategy
• A strong grasp of cloud platforms (e.g. AWS), modern SDLC practices, and enterprise-scale architecture

Bonus if you’ve worked in:

• Media, creative services, or gaming
• AI/ML-enabled platforms or content workflows
• Businesses that blend physical and digital service delivery

Why Now?

• The business is scaling fast, with growing demand from global clients
• The platform is live, impactful, and already used by major players across the media and entertainment ecosystem
• You’ll be joining a senior leadership team committed to modernising tech, culture, and delivery
• There’s executive backing to reshape engineering from delivery to strategy, with AI at the core
• It’s a rare chance to build a high-performing engineering function around a high-potential product

If you’re an engineering leader ready to shape the future of AI-powered digital experiences, and you want to help a world-class business turn potential into platform, please apply now.