Director of Engineering

Bauer Media Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading European media company is seeking an Engineering Director to drive the technical direction and strategy for their operations. The ideal candidate will lead multiple engineering teams, manage B2B products critical to advertisers, and inspire a high-performing department. You will define and execute the engineering vision, guide architecture, and ensure delivery standards at scale. This strategic role offers autonomy in modernising platforms and practices within a collaborative, product-led environment.

Benefits

28 days holiday plus bank holidays

Access to internal training provider

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong communicator to influence in pressured situations.
• Deep understanding of cloud platforms and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the long-term engineering vision.
• Inspire and develop engineering managers and teams.
• Guide architecture and core technical direction.

Skills

Leadership

Technical communication

Cloud platforms (AWS)

CI/CD practices

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Microservices

Job description

Bauer Media Audio is Europe’s biggest commercial audio broadcaster, connecting audiences to the music, stories and experiences they love.

With operations across nine markets, we’re investing heavily in digital transformation and redefining what the future of audio looks like.

Our technology teams sit at the centre of that evolution, creating high-quality products used by millions. It’s an exciting environment for anyone who wants to build at scale and drive meaningful change.

The focus of the role

As Engineering Director, you will define and drive the technical direction for Bauer Media Audio, leading multiple engineering teams that deliver the platforms powering our digital and broadcast products across nine markets.

This role is specifically focused on our B2B products and services that are critical to our advertisers, agency partners, and internal commercial and operational teams. You will shape engineering strategy, elevate delivery standards, and build a high-performing department that is capable of delivering at scale.

You will:

Set the strategy

• Define and execute the long-term engineering vision and roadmap.
• Provide technical leadership and partner with Product and business stakeholders.

Lead the teams

• Inspire and develop engineering managers and senior engineers.
• Drive recruitment, talent development and team performance.

Own technical decisions

• Guide architecture and core technical direction.
• Ensure scalability, reliability, performance and security.
• Optimise delivery practices including Agile, CI/CD and DevOps.
• Introduce tools and technologies that improve productivity.

Drive operational excellence

• Establish and track engineering KPIs.
• Manage budgets, headcount planning and vendor relationships.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy, security and industry standards.

What we are looking for:

Leadership & People Skills

• Proven experience leading high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong communicator able to influence, clarify and guide under pressure.
• High emotional intelligence with a collaborative, empathetic approach.
• Skilled at prioritisation and decision-making in fast-moving environments.

Technical Capability

• Deep understanding of cloud platforms (AWS) and distributed system design.
• Strong knowledge of APIs, microservices, event-driven architectures and backend systems.
• Solid grasp of CI/CD, DevOps practices, containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes) and infrastructure as code.
• Familiarity with observability, monitoring, reliability engineering and performance optimisation.
• Experience running 24/7 services with on-call ownership and incident management.
• Ability to assess, adopt and scale modern engineering tools, frameworks and platforms.

Industry & Delivery Experience

• Experience leading software development in complex or scaled organisations.
• Media or audio streaming experience is a plus.

What Success Looks Like in Your First 90 Days / 6 Months

• You will help the team deliver tangible progress on the platform’s capability and clear technical direction that will build confidence across the organisation.
• You will demonstrate working components that show deep understanding of business needs and reinforce trust in engineering-led delivery.
• You will establish sustained momentum, setting a delivery rhythm that enables the business to make decisions quickly and move forward with clarity and conviction.
• You will establish clarity and confidence across teams, strengthening engineering culture and raising delivery discipline.
• You will build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, ensuring engineering has influence in strategic decision‑making.

Why Join us?

• The chance to shape the future of audio for millions of listeners across Europe.
• A strategic leadership role with real autonomy to modernise platforms and engineering practices.
• A tech organisation investing heavily in digital transformation, with strong executive backing.
• A collaborative, product‑led environment where engineering has a clear voice in shaping business outcomes.
• An environment that values autonomy, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Interview Process

• Intro call with Talent Acquisition
• Remote interview with technical stakeholders
• Remote interview with business stakeholders
• In person interview with hiring manager and senior executive

About Bauer Media Group

We are a media business focused on creating content that matters to millions of people across Europe. Our offering extends from print and online publishing to audio broadcasting and entertainment, alongside investments in other media related sectors. With more than 500 million copies sold each year, we are one of Europe’s largest publishers. From women's and celebrities’ magazines to TV listings to food and special interest, we own some of the most popular publishing brands in Germany, UK, Poland and France – both digital and print. But not only that. Reaching over 61 million listeners weekly, we operate over 150 radio and podcast brands in nine countries, spanning the UK, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Portugal. Family‑owned in the 5th generation, Bauer Media focuses on the long‑term, with a consumer‑first mindset that guides us across our diverse portfolio. Our workforce of 12,000 shares a common purpose: to deliver content and services that enrich people’s everyday lives.

What’s in it for you

• You’ll have 28 days holiday, bank holidays & 2 volunteer days to use.
• Your development matters, so access to our internal training provider – Bauer Academy, is a huge win.
• We have enhanced Maternity/Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Leave Pay.
• You’ll have the opportunity for flexible working.
• And much more! Find the full details of our benefits here.

We are an international employer and equal opportunities are important to us. That's why we welcome everyone in their uniqueness, regardless of e.g. religion, gender, skin colour, disability in our house.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or a long term health condition, and need us to make any reasonable adjustments or do anything differently during any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing [e-mail].

We are actively recruiting for this position, so the job advert may close earlier than expected.

For any feedback regarding our UK recruitment process, please email [e-mail] we would love to hear from you.