Engineering Manager Operations

Syngenta Group; Bracknell; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Bonus scheme

Private medical & life insurance

Up to 31.5 days annual holiday

Job summary

Syngenta Crop Protection is seeking a senior leader to drive durable, scalable IT solutions across R&D applications and day-two operations. You will mentor high-performing teams and shape engineering management practices for reliable service delivery.

Based at Jealott's Hill UK, you will collaborate with engineering, product, and scientific teams to translate complex needs into practical solutions, establish KPIs, and manage budgets and vendor relationships.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in leading platform and infrastructure initiatives.
• Proven track record in engineering management and building high-performing teams.
• Experience with incident/SLA management and operational discipline.
• Delivery management across multiple workstreams and vendor coordination.

Responsibilities

• Lead platform and infrastructure initiatives to deliver scalable IT outcomes for R&D applications and day-two ops.
• Drive engineering management excellence and mentor high-performing teams.
• Establish operational discipline with incident management, SLA tracking and reliability improvements.
• Manage delivery across multiple workstreams and resolve dependencies.
• Oversee vendor relationships and SoW management to optimize cost and quality.
• Develop and maintain operational financial awareness including budgeting.

Skills

Platform & infra fluency

Engineering leadership

Incident management

Delivery across workstreams

Vendor & SoW management

Budget management

Operational metrics

Stakeholder communication

Technical debt modernization

Risk management

Fluent English

Job description

Syngenta Crop Protection is a leader in agricultural innovation, bringing breakthrough technologies and solutions that enable farmers to grow productively and sustainably. We offer a leading portfolio of crop protection solutions for plant and soil health, as well as digital solutions that transform the decision-making capabilities of farmers. Our 17,900 employees serve to advance agriculture in more than 90 countries around the world. Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and is part of the Syngenta Group.

Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. Join us and help shape the future of agriculture.

Job Description

What You'll Do

• Lead platform and infrastructure initiatives to deliver durable, scalable outcomes that support R&D IT applications and day-two operations
• Drive engineering management excellence, building and mentoring high-performing teams while fostering a culture of continuous improvement
• Establish and maintain operational discipline through incident management, SLA tracking, and service reliability improvements
• Manage delivery across multiple workstreams, ensuring coordinated execution and timely resolution of dependencies
• Oversee vendor relationships and Statement of Work (SoW) management to optimize costs and service quality
• Develop and maintain operational financial awareness, including budget planning, resource allocation, and cost optimization strategies
• Collaborate across engineering, product, and scientific teams to translate complex R&D needs into practical, scalable solutions
• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics to measure service delivery effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities
• Lead process improvement initiatives and modernization efforts to enhance system reliability and create capacity for technology migration
• Establish a high bar for quality, documentation standards, and thoughtful integration of AI-assisted engineering practices
• Communicate proactively with stakeholders, providing regular updates on operational status, risks, and strategic initiatives
• Manage risk and incident response protocols, ensuring rapid resolution and continuous learning from operational challenges

Qualifications

What You Bring

• Demonstrable experience in platform and infrastructure fluency
• Demonstrable experience in engineering management and team leadership
• Demonstrable experience in operational leadership and incident/SLA management
• Demonstrable experience in delivery management across multiple workstreams
• Demonstrable experience in vendor and Statement of Work (SoW) management
• Demonstrable experience in operational financial awareness and budget management
• Demonstrable experience in operational metrics, KPI tracking, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Demonstrable experience in stakeholder communication and cross-functional influence across technical and non-technical audiences
• Demonstrable experience managing technical debt and leading modernization or migration initiatives
• Demonstrable experience in risk management and incident response protocols
• Fluent English, written and spoken

Bonus Points

• Experience in agriculture, life sciences, scientific computing, or regulated enterprise environments
• Experience building platforms, products, or services used by multiple internal teams
• Experience working in distributed, international engineering organisations
• Experience with cloud infrastructure platforms and scalable system design
• Experience in organizational scaling, team development, and building high-performing engineering cultures
• Experience integrating AI-assisted tools and practices into engineering workflows

Additional Information

Jealott's Hill International Research Centre UK is situated in pleasant semi-rural surroundings between Bracknell and Maidenhead and is the place of work for approximately 800 Syngenta scientists and support staff.Jealott’s Hill is one of the main global research and development sites and key activities include research into discovery of new active ingredients, new formulation technologies, product safety and technical support of our product range.

What we offer

Extensive benefits package including a generous pension scheme, bonus scheme, private medical & life insurance.

Up to 31.5 days annual holiday.

We offer a position which contributes to valuable and impactful work in a stimulating and international environment.

The opportunity to develop and apply your science within the chemical industry.

The chance to work as part of a global team to address the current and future needs of the agricultural sector.

Learning culture and wide range of training options.

Syngenta has been ranked as atop 5 employer and number 1 in agriculture by Science Journal.

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.