Head of Engineering

JR United Kingdom; Slough; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm in the UK seeks a Head of Engineering to transition from outsourced development to an in-house team. You will lead, mentor, and hire engineers while establishing engineering processes to ensure quality and delivery. The ideal candidate has over 7 years in full-stack development, especially with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, and React, coupled with proven leadership experience.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in full-stack development, ideally with Ruby on Rails.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams.
• Hands-on mindset with a strong bias toward shipping.

Responsibilities

• Lead the transition to an in-house engineering team.
• Guide architecture and best practices as the senior technical authority.
• Hire and grow a small engineering team.

Skills

Full-stack development

Ruby on Rails

PostgreSQL

React

Technical leadership

Problem-solving

Mentoring

Commercial awareness

Job description

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Location: London (Hybrid – 1 day pw onsite)

Contract Type: Permanent, full-time

We’re looking for a strategic and hands-on Head of Engineering to lead the transition from an outsourced development setup to a high-performing in-house team. This is a high-impact role for an experienced engineering leader ready to shape processes, drive delivery, and own technical direction.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead a major transition from an external dev partner to a newly built in-house team
• Act as the senior technical authority, guiding architecture and best practices
• Be a player-coach – writing production code and leading by example
• Hire and grow a small, effective engineering team
• Establish strong engineering processes for delivery, quality, and scale
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Data, and business leaders
• Shape long-term technical strategy, with potential to step into a CTO role

What we need from you

• 7+ years in full-stack development, ideally with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, and React
• Proven experience leading technical teams and setting engineering standards
• Hands-on mindset with a strong bias toward shipping and problem-solving
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and managing engineers
• A pragmatic approach to engineering process – enough to ensure speed and stability
• Commercial awareness and a clear understanding of how tech supports business goals
• Confidence in owning technical decisions and handling live systems under pressure

Why This Role?

• Opportunity to build something from the ground up
• Be the most senior technical voice in the business
• Take real ownership of delivery, culture, and direction
• Define how a growing organisation scales its engineering function