Head of Engineering

Roc Search; England; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading enterprise software provider in the UK is looking for a Head of Engineering on a 6-month contract to drive the transition from legacy solutions to a multi-tenant SaaS model. You will lead multiple product squads, refine engineering strategies, and oversee compliance with quality standards. The ideal candidate has over 8 years of experience in software engineering, specifically in SaaS transitions and managing large teams. This role requires strong leadership skills and technical depth in cloud architectures like Azure, AWS, or GCP.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 4 years in senior leadership.
• Proven record leading teams through SaaS transitions.
• Experience managing 30+ engineers and multiple managers.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering management and mentor teams.
• Refine the engineering career framework and drive hiring strategies.
• Manage relationship with outsourced QA partners.
• Lead evolution to Site Reliability Engineering function.
• Align engineering output with commercial priorities.

Skills

Leadership in software engineering

SaaS transition experience

Cloud architecture knowledge

Strong technical depth in Azure, AWS, GCP

SRE principles understanding

Job description

Head of Engineering - 6-Month Contract – Outside IR35

Role Overview

A market-leading enterprise software provider is undergoing a major 18–24 month transformation. They are seeking a strategic Head of Engineering to lead the core product organisation through a pivotal shift from legacy / hosted solutions to a modern, multi-tenant SaaS delivery model and AI-enabled roadmap.

Logistics

• Duration : 6-month initial contract.
• Location : Buckinghamshire / Bedfordshire
• Requirement : circa 1 day a week on-site, however flexible
• Rate : Negotiable

Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• Engineering Management : Mentor and lead engineering managers and tech leads across multiple product squads. Foster a culture of high performance, quality, and customer-centricity.
• Talent & Growth : Refine the engineering career framework and drive hiring strategies to meet SaaS and AI transformation goals.
• QA & Delivery : Manage the relationship with an outsourced QA partner, ensuring SLAs and quality metrics align with agile delivery cadences.
• SRE Transition : Lead the evolution of traditional Cloud Ops into a product-aligned Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) function, championing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and AI-driven automated provisioning.
• Stakeholder Alignment : Partner with the CTO, Product Management, and Sales to ensure engineering output matches commercial priorities and security-by-design principles.

Technical Strategy

• Provide the architectural vision for the shift to multi-tenant SaaS, microservices, and API-first design.
• Guide the engineering practices required to embed AI / ML capabilities across the product portfolio, ensuring ethical and regulatory standards
• Oversee the technical roadmap for moving existing clients to the new platform, ensuring data integrity and backward compatibility.
• Standards & Compliance : Maintain rigorous standards for code quality and security, ensuring the platform remains compliant with ISO27001 and industry-specific regulations.

Required Experience

• SaaS : A proven record of leading engineering teams through a transition from on-prem / hosted models to enterprise-scale SaaS.
• Senior Leadership : 8+ years in software engineering, with at least 4 years in a senior leadership role (Head of / VP) managing 30+ engineers and multiple managers.
• Cloud & Architecture : Strong technical depth in Azure, AWS, or GCP, and modern microservices architecture.
• Operational Maturity : Understanding of SRE principles, CI / CD pipelines, and observability in a multi-region environment.