Head of AI-Driven Manufacturing Engineering

IFS; Staines-upon-Thames; Hybrid; GBP 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

IFS is seeking a senior Head of Engineering for Manufacturing with AI-native focus. You will lead a multi-layered engineering organization across Manufacturing, Sustainability and Supply Chain product lines, guiding strategy, architecture, and delivery at scale.

You will drive AI-enabled engineering practices, ensure strong technical discipline, and partner with Product Management and domain leaders to deliver high-impact solutions worldwide.

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in software engineering and enterprise application development.
• Experience leading Directors/Managers and senior technical experts.
• Proven track record delivering large-scale software systems across teams.
• Deep understanding of modern architectures (cloud-native, APIs, distributed systems).

Responsibilities

• Organizational Leadership: Lead a multi-layered engineering organization incl. Directors, Architects, and Principal Engineers.
• Delivery and Execution: Own delivery outcomes across teams with quality and speed at scale.
• Technical & Architectural Leadership: Set strategic tech direction, influence architecture decisions, maintain high standards in cloud-native, CI/CD, testing, observability and security.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with Product Management and Manufacturing leaders to align engineering with business goals.
• Manufacturing Domain Leadership: Guide end-to-end manufacturing lifecycle, regulatory requirements, multi-tenant manufacturing solutions.
• WhatWe’reLooking For: Balance strategic leadership with deep technical depth and a focus on quality and customer value.

Skills

Leadership

Engineering strategy

AI adoption

Cross-functional

Stakeholder mgmt

Software architecture

Tools

CI/CD tooling

DevOps practices

Job description

IFS is seeking a senior Head of Engineering for Manufacturing with AI-native focus. You will lead a multi-layered engineering organization across Manufacturing, Sustainability and Supply Chain product lines, guiding strategy, architecture, and delivery at scale.

You will drive AI-enabled engineering practices, ensure strong technical discipline, and partner with Product Management and domain leaders to deliver high-impact solutions worldwide.