Engineering Manager

MRJ Recruitment; Manchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

MRJ Recruitment is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead a squad of six engineers and drive an AI-first transformation of the customer-facing digital experience across web and mobile apps in Manchester.

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, you will partner with Product to shape plans, own delivery end-to-end, and define architectural direction within an AWS microservices environment, aligning technical delivery with strategic AI initiatives.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as an Engineering Manager / Tech lead
• Experience in AI-driven development and tooling adoption
• Strong software engineering background (Java, Typescript, Node or React)
• Experience in AWS/microservices architectures (Lambda)
• Good governance, coaching-led leadership and delivery excellence
• Comfort with product collaboration and architectural decision making

Responsibilities

• Lead a squad of engineers (6) and foster high-trust delivery culture
• Collaborate with Product Manager to shape plans and execution
• Drive standardisation of AI tooling and cross-team adoption
• Establish and optimise Kanban processes (boards, WIP, flow)
• Promote engineering best practices, code quality, and sustainable delivery
• Encourage pairing and collaborative problem solving to raise quality
• Contribute to principal architectural decisions in an AWS Lambda/microservices setup
• Deliver strategic initiatives for a more AI-driven, personalised customer experience

Job description

Join one of the North Wests leading commerce companies with a clear AI first strategy!

We’re currently looking for a Engineering Manager to lead and direct a high performing squad (6 engineers) and play a pivotal role in transforming the customer facing digital experience across web & mobile apps).

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, this is a hands on leadership opportunity where delivery excellence, strong product partnership, and modern engineering practices meet a clear and ambitious AI strategy.

You’ll work side by side with the Digital Experience Product Manager, drive end-to-end delivery and help shape principal architectural decisions within an AWS microservices environment. The roadmap is exciting and strategic: rebuilding the platform experience to be more personalised, more engaging, and significantly more AI-driven supporting commercial goals while putting the user at the centre.

Person Requirements

• Proven experience as an Engineering Manager (Tech lead) leading small to mid-sized teams
• Enthusiasm for AI-driven development: evaluating tooling, creating standards, and driving adoption in a practical, value-focused way
• Strong software engineering background ideally in Java, Typescript, Node or React
• A mindset rooted in good engineering practice: continuous improvement, pragmatic governance, and coaching-led leadership
• Experience operating in AWS environments, ideally within a microservices architecture using Lambda
• Comfortable contributing to architectural decision-making and aligning technical direction with product strategy
• Confidence working closely with Product/PM counterparts, balancing speed, quality, and stakeholder expectations

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a squad of engineers, creating an environment of high trust, continuous improvement, and strong delivery outcomes
• Partner closely with a Product Manager to shape plans, priorities, and execution across end-to-end project delivery
• Drive a unified assessment of AI tooling to establish standards and consistency, and lead adoption across the team
• Own and embed effective Kanban ways of working: setting up and running boards properly, improving flow, managing WIP, and driving predictable outcomes
• Promote and role-model engineering best practice, including code quality, pragmatic process, and sustainable delivery
• Encourage and normalise pairing and collaborative problem-solving to raise quality and accelerate learning
• Contribute to principal architectural decisions in an AWS / Lambda-based microservices architecture
• Help deliver strategic initiatives including (but not limited to): Rebuilding the customer-facing experience with deeper personalisation and AI-driven journeys; and Developing a more engaging, multi-mechanic “shop front” experience that is commercially focused and user-centric