Head of Engineering

Hiiya; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Hiiya is seeking an experienced Head of Engineering to lead a mature, cloud-based engineering function of 20 engineers and drive delivery excellence across product and platforms. You will shape engineering strategy, improve delivery predictability and quality, and partner with senior leadership to align engineering with business priorities.

This is a senior leadership role offering significant influence over platform consolidation, modernisation and AI-enabled development.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software engineering teams of 15–40+ engineers.
• Proven track record delivering SaaS platforms.
• Strong background in CI/CD, testing strategies and modern development practices.
• Experience with AI-assisted engineering and cloud-based environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop Engineering Managers, Tech Leads and Software Engineers.
• Drive improvements across delivery, quality, automation and engineering maturity.
• Introduce metrics and dashboards to improve visibility and decision-making.
• Enhance CI/CD, testing strategies, release processes and technical governance.
• Champion AI-assisted engineering and modern development practices.
• Support roadmap planning, prioritisation and capacity management.
• Identify capability gaps and mentor future leaders.

Skills

Team leadership

Engineering mgmt

Software architecture

Cloud platforms

AI awareness

Stakeholder management

Job description

Hybrid | West Yorkshire (2-3 days per month)

Hiiya are exclusively supporting a high-growth, PE-backed SaaS technology business as they look to appoint a Head of Engineering.

This is a genuinely exciting opportunity for an experienced engineering leader who enjoys improving how engineering teams operate, rather than simply overseeing delivery. The business has ambitious growth plans, significant investment behind it and a mature engineering function of around 20 engineers that now needs a senior leader to help take it to the next level.

They're looking for someone who can bring structure, accountability and modern engineering practices into an already talented team.

What will you be doing?

A big part of this role is centred around engineering effectiveness.

You'll be responsible for improving delivery predictability, quality, engineering standards and overall team performance, whilst helping create an environment where engineers can do their best work.

You'll work closely with Product and senior leadership to ensure engineering effort remains aligned to business priorities, balancing speed of delivery with quality, scalability and long-term maintainability.

There are also a number of strategic initiatives underway across platform consolidation, engineering modernisation and AI-assisted software development, meaning you'll have the opportunity to make a significant impact from day one.

Responsibilities will include:

• Leading and developing Engineering Managers, Technical Leads and Software Engineers
• Driving improvements across delivery, quality, automation and engineering maturity
• Introducing meaningful engineering metrics and dashboards to improve visibility and decision-making
• Improving CI/CD, testing strategies, release processes and technical governance
• Championing AI-assisted engineering and modern development practices
• Supporting roadmap planning, technical prioritisation and capacity management
• Identifying capability gaps, coaching future leaders and helping shape the future engineering organisation

We're keen to speak with leaders who have experience:

• Leading software engineering teams of 15-40+ people
• Managing senior engineers, Tech Leads and/or Engineering Managers
• Improving engineering delivery, quality and predictability
• Using engineering metrics to drive performance and accountability
• Modernising engineering practices through tooling, automation and AI
• Partnering closely with Product and senior stakeholders
• Operating within SaaS, platform, fintech, regtech or other complex technology environments

Whilst this isn't a hands-on coding role, you'll need enough technical credibility to challenge decisions, support technical leaders and influence engineering direction. The environment is heavily cloud-based, with technologies including Azure, APIs, CI/CD, automated testing and modern software engineering practices.

Why consider it?

• Newly created leadership role with significant influence
• Opportunity to shape the future engineering organisation
• Large investment in engineering, tooling and AI
• High-growth environment with ambitious plans
• Strong executive exposure and genuine ability to influence strategy
• Hybrid working with only 2-3 office visits per month

If you're the sort of leader who enjoys building high-performing engineering teams, improving systems and leaving organisations in a better place than you found them, we'd love to speak.