Head Of Engineering

Lorien; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 72,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Enhanced pension

25 days leave

Benefits platform

Hybrid working in Manchester

Job summary

Lorien is seeking a Head of Engineering in Manchester (Hybrid) to lead the software engineering, architecture and QA functions for a high-growth, regulated digital business. You will build leadership capability, scale teams and drive platform health while enforcing strong security and compliance standards.

The role focuses on PKI, payments, and user account management within a PCI-DSS and ISO 27001 framework, delivering high-quality, safe releases in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience scaling engineering teams in a fast-growing environment.
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Scale the Team: size and resource Software Engineering, Architecture and QA; measure and improve processes.
• Lead Engineering Managers: develop leadership layer and career framework with HR.
• Drive Engineering Standards: promote CI/CD, automation, and QA; increase throughput with quality.
• Own Platform Health: monitor production and resolve issues before they affect customers.
• Secure the Platform: oversee identity, PKI, payments; ensure PCI-DSS and ISO 27001 compliance.

Skills

Team scaling

C# .NET

CI/CD

Agile leadership

Quality ownership

Tools

CI/CD tools

Job description

Head of Engineering - Manchester (Hybrid) - up to £120,000

About the Company

My client is a scaled digital business operating in a fast-paced, regulated sector. They are growing rapidly in the UK and expanding into new territories, and they are looking for a Head of Engineering to lead one of their core technology workstreams.

Their teams work in a product-led, agile way, with a strong DevOps culture and a focus on frequent, safe releases. Engineering is central to their growth, and they need a leader who can scale teams, raise standards, and keep complex platforms healthy as the business expands.

This role covers the full engineering picture for the workstream, including user account management, PKI, payments, and compliance. If you enjoy building high-performing engineering organisations in a regulated, high-volume environment, this could be your next move.

What you'll do

• Scale the Team: Lead, size, and resource the Software Engineering, Architecture, and Quality Assurance functions, and ensure processes are measured and continuously improved.
• Lead Engineering Managers: Line manage the Engineering Managers in your workstream, building a strong leadership layer and a clear career and skills framework alongside HR.
• Drive Engineering Standards: Champion best practice in CI/CD, automation, and QA, and guide product teams to increase throughput while reducing defects and production leakage.
• Own Platform Health: Work with support and wider technology teams to keep production systems healthy, spotting and resolving problems before they impact customers.
• Secure the Platform: Oversee identity and user account life cycle management, PKI, and payment-related engineering, ensuring they are robust, auditable, and aligned to PCI-DSS and ISO 27001.

What you'll bring

• Proven experience scaling engineering teams in a high-growth or scaled digital business, ideally C# .NET based platforms.
• A current understanding of modern software engineering and CI/CD practices.
• Strong focus on quality assurance and a metrics-driven approach to delivering value.
• Experience leading managers, not just individual contributors, with the ability to inspire and develop people.
• A genuine agile mindset, with a focus on optimising flow of change in a product-led environment.
• Experience working on complex systems in a fast-paced setting, and in an environment with strict change, incident, and problem management controls.
• Experience with user account management, PKI, or payment platforms.
• Familiarity with PCI-DSS and ISO 27001 standards.

Benefits

• Salary up to £120,000.
• Enhanced company pension contribution.
• 25 days annual leave, increasing with tenure.
• Access to company benefits platform.
• Opportunity to drive change in a fast-paced business.
• Flexible working (2 days a week in Manchester) and flexi-time hours.