Global Head of Software Engineering

CellPoint Digital; Greater London; On-site; GBP 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

CellPoint Digital is seeking a Global Head of Software Engineering to lead its worldwide software development organization. This VP-level role oversees engineering execution across distributed teams, reporting to the CTO and partnering with US and European leaders.

You will drive technical direction, platform health, and organizational rhythm while shaping performance and talent development across geographies.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in software engineering with at least 5 years in senior engineering management.
• Proven track record leading distributed, multi-site teams.
• Ability to improve engineering delivery predictability and quality.
• Strong architecture and system design knowledge.
• Experience in PE-backed high-growth or turnaround environments.
• Familiarity with payments/fintech domains is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead global engineering delivery across multiple geographies and sites.
• Directly manage senior engineering managers and coordinate with CTO/Head of Architecture.
• Shape and drive the global engineering operating model and standards.
• Improve delivery velocity, code quality, tests, CI/CD, and incident prevention.
• Foster a high-performance engineering culture with talent development and succession planning.
• Engage with executive stakeholders and align engineering with commercial goals.

Skills

Distributed leadership

Engineering delivery

Architecture discussions

Offshore/nearshore mgmt

PE-backed environment

GCP familiarity

Tools

GCP

Job description

Join CellPoint Digital: Shape the Future of Payments with Us!

At CellPoint Digital, we’re revolutionizing the way businesses in the air, travel, and hospitality sectors manage their payments.

Our leading payment orchestration platform helps some of the world’s leading brands make payments simpler, smarter and profitable- from improving payment experiences and maximizing approval rates, to reducing costs and unlocking new opportunities.

But technology is only part of the story. It’s our people who make the difference.

We’re a global team of innovators, problem-solvers and ambitious professionals who care about the work we do and the impact we have. We work across borders, functions and cultures, bringing different perspectives together to solve complex problems and deliver meaningful results for our customers.

Join us as a Global Head of Software Engineering on our mission to turn payments into possibilities!

Global Head of Software Engineering

We are looking for a Global Head of Software Engineering to lead CellPoint's worldwide software development organization. This is a VP-level role with full accountability for engineering execution across our distributed teams — including direct management of our Head of Development in India and close partnership with engineering leadership in the US and Europe.

This role sits at the intersection of technical leadership, organizational design, and delivery excellence. You will be the senior engineering voice in a fast-moving, PE-backed payments company — setting the standard for how software gets built, shipped, and improved across a multi-site, multi-team organization. You report directly to the CTO and operate as a key member of the technology leadership team.

How You Will Make an Impact:

Global Engineering Leadership

Own end-to-end software engineering delivery across all geographies — Dallas, Copenhagen, and Pune

Directly manage the Head of Development in India, providing strategic direction, performance oversight, and organizational support

Partner with the Head of Architecture and CTO to set and evolve the global engineering operating model

Establish consistent engineering standards, quality gates, and delivery practices across all development centers

Serve as the primary escalation point for engineering execution risk across the organization

Technical Direction & Platform Health

Shape technical strategy in partnership with architecture — ensuring engineering decisions align with platform roadmap and commercial commitments

Drive resolution of systemic technical debt and establish frameworks for sustainable platform evolution

Champion engineering excellence: code quality, test coverage, CI/CD maturity, and incident reduction

Evaluate and introduce tooling, frameworks, and engineering practices that improve team velocity and output quality

Delivery & Organisational Rhythm

Own global delivery predictability — from sprint-level coordination to quarterly roadmap commitments

Establish and continuously improve cross-site planning, capacity forecasting, and release management processes

Create visibility across all active work streams and surface risks proactively to CTO and executive leadership

Lead cross-functional coordination between engineering, product, architecture, and customer-facing teams

People, Culture & Organisational Development

Lead, develop, and retain senior engineering talent globally — including managers, staff engineers, and technical leads

Build a high-performance engineering culture grounded in accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement

Own performance management, succession planning, and career development frameworks for the global SWE organization

Drive hiring strategy for software engineering roles across all locations in partnership with the CTO and HR

Executive Stakeholder Engagement

Represent engineering in executive-level forums, board updates, and commercial conversations as required

Build strong working relationships with the CPO, Head of Architecture, and commercial leadership to ensure engineering is a strategic enabler — not a bottleneck

Travel to India, Dallas, and Copenhagen on a regular cadence to maintain team cohesion and organizational alignment — UK base provides strong timezone overlap with both Copenhagen and Pune

Skills you will have fine-tuned:

Required experience:

12+ years in software engineering with at least 5 years in senior engineering management, including management of managers

Demonstrated success leading distributed, multi-site engineering organizations — with specific experience managing offshore or nearshore development teams

Proven track record of improving engineering delivery predictability, quality, and team performance in a complex product environment

Strong technical credibility — you can engage at depth on architecture, system design, and platform trade-offs and earn the respect of senior engineers

Experience operating in a PE-backed, high-growth, or turnaround environment where pace and pragmatism matter

Preferred experience:

Background in payments, fintech, or transaction processing platforms — familiarity with PSP ecosystems, acquirer routing, PCI DSS, or payment orchestration is a strong differentiator

Experience leading engineering through a platform modernization or legacy-to-cloud migration program

Familiarity with GCP or equivalent cloud-native engineering environments

Prior experience partnering closely with a Product organization undergoing transformation or restructuring

What's in it for you:

A seat at the table — direct reporting line to the CTO and meaningful influence over how a global engineering organization is built and run

Real complexity — CellPoint's orchestration platform handles billions in transaction value across 60+ countries, with multiple concurrent platform generations in flight

Organizational impact — this is a role where your decisions shape the engineering culture, delivery capability, and talent trajectory of a global tech organization

Growth context — CellPoint is in an active investment phase with a clear mandate to scale engineering capability and platform maturity

Please note, we retain applicant data for 12 months for recruitment purposes and future opportunities, after which it is securely deleted. At CellPoint Digital we are committed to be globally compliant with robust data protection.