Engineering Manager

Connect AI; Warminster; Hybrid; GBP 84,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Pension plan

25 days leave plus holidays

Job summary

Connect AI in Warminster, Wiltshire is seeking an Engineering Manager to build a new engineering team for a UK defence programme. You will hire, shape the team, establish delivery processes and own delivery commitments to the customer.

This is a genuine build opportunity with day-one autonomy: you will stay technically engaged with architecture, reviews and occasional hands-on work, while establishing a strong engineering culture and standards.

Qualifications

• Formal line management of software engineers.
• Personal involvement in hiring and building high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong technical foundations, with experience in architecture, software design and modern engineering practices.
• Experience establishing team structures, processes and engineering standards.
• Delivery of complex software against customer commitments and challenging constraints.
• Evidence of developing engineers and helping them progress in their careers.
• The ability to balance technical quality, customer needs and commercial priorities.

Responsibilities

• Build and onboard engineers, define roles and interview processes.
• Establish engineering standards and delivery practices.
• Own delivery commitments and coordinate across teams.
• Coach engineers and support progression to senior levels.
• Stay closely connected with technical leaders and the customer.
• Remain hands-on in architecture discussions, design reviews, code reviews and occasional development.

Skills

Line management

Hiring

Architecture

Code review

Delivery ownership

Mentoring

Tools

Java

Spring Boot

Distributed systems

Job description

Engineering Manager | Build a Team from Scratch | UK Defence Programme

Permanent

Up to £140,000 P/A

SC/DV Eligibility Required

Most Engineering Manager roles give you a team to inherit. This one gives you the opportunity to build it.

I'm partnering with an established global software product business delivering mission-critical technology across defence, government and resilience.

They're embarking on a major, multi-year UK defence programme and are building a dedicated engineering team in Warminster. They need an Engineering Manager who can shape that team, hire exceptional engineers, establish how it operates and take ownership of delivery to the customer.

This is a genuine build opportunity, with the autonomy to influence the team from day one and the responsibility that comes with delivering on a live programme while it grows.

The opportunity

You'll lead a technically complex engineering team, combining people leadership, technical judgement and delivery ownership.

You'll be responsible for:

• Building the team — defining roles, interviewing, hiring and onboarding engineers.
• Establishing engineering standards, delivery practices, code review and operational processes.
• Owning delivery commitments across your team and collaborating with adjacent engineering teams.
• Coaching and developing engineers, including supporting progression towards Senior and Staff-level positions.
• Working closely with technical leaders and a demanding UK defence customer.
• Remaining technically engaged through architecture discussions, design reviews, code reviews and occasional hands-on development.

This is not a post-technical management role.

We don't expect you to write code every day, but we do want someone who can challenge a design decision, understand the trade-offs, review code meaningfully and get hands-on when necessary.

You'll have the freedom to establish a strong engineering culture rather than inherit someone else's.

What we're looking for

You'll bring genuine software engineering leadership experience, ideally having progressed from a strong Senior or Staff engineering background into management.

We're particularly interested in people who can demonstrate:

• Formal line management of software engineers, including performance, career development and delivery accountability.
• Personal involvement in hiring and building high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong technical foundations, with experience in architecture, software design and modern engineering practices.
• Experience establishing team structures, processes and engineering standards.
• Delivery of complex software against customer commitments and challenging constraints.
• Evidence of developing engineers and helping them progress in their careers.
• The ability to balance technical quality, customer needs and commercial priorities.

Experience with Java/Spring Boot, distributed systems, cloud-native engineering and complex integration environments would be particularly relevant.

Previous defence experience or existing SC/DV clearance would be advantageous, but neither is essential if you meet the programme's security-vetting requirements.

Why this opportunity is different

Build your own team

Help decide who joins, how the team is structured and the engineering culture it develops.

Stay close to engineering

Genuine technical involvement, with architecture, design and code-level credibility valued as highly as people leadership.

Work that has a purpose

Help deliver technology supporting defence, operational readiness and resilience.

Shape the direction

Influence technical standards, delivery decisions and the growth of the wider engineering capability.

Package and working arrangements

Location: Warminster, Wiltshire — hybrid, typically three days per week on-site at the office or customer location.

Employment: Permanent, full-time.

Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience.

Benefits include private healthcare with dental cover, 5% employer pension contribution, 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, enhanced family leave, life assurance and a cycle-to-work scheme.

This position requires eligibility for UK security vetting. Existing SC or DV clearance is welcomed but is not a prerequisite. Nationality, dual nationality and UK residency history will need to be considered as part of the vetting process.

Interested?

This could suit an experienced Engineering Manager who enjoys building teams, or a technically strong engineering leader who wants to take ownership of a new capability rather than maintain an established one.

If you're motivated by building exceptional teams, staying close to the technology and delivering software that genuinely matters, I'd love to tell you more.