Head of Engineering - AdTech

Sky; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Sky Q

Exclusive Sky Glass deals

Discounted mobile and broadband

Sky VIP rewards and experiences

Job summary

A leading media company in the UK seeks a Head of Engineering for AdTech to lead a team of 30 in a cloud-first and Agile transformation. You will work on innovative advertising solutions, collaborate with various departments, and define engineering delivery strategies. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in AdTech, proven leadership credentials, and a proactive approach to innovation. This role offers competitive perks and a hybrid work environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in engineering and AdTech software development.
• Expertise in platform architecture with a track record in guiding significant technology transformations.
• Proven leadership experience influencing senior stakeholders.
• Proactive approach to emerging technologies and trends.
• Success in building and leading engineering teams.
• Hands-on experience in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong understanding of Agile principles.
• Experience with Big Data and AI/ML solutions.
• Collaborative mindset and approach to leadership.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Ad Sales to merge advertisement performance with cloud technology.
• Collaborate to drive business innovation and define engineering strategies.
• Manage teams in the UK and India, supporting advertisement business growth.
• Take accountability for the engineering technology roadmap.
• Present engineering vision to senior management.
• Work closely with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Identify engineering opportunities with business cases.
• Encourage DevOps culture within teams.
• Promote modern delivery processes focusing on Agile methodologies.

Skills

AdTech & Media Domain Expertise

System and Platform Architecture

Leadership and Communication Skills

Innovation Mindset

Team Development

Cloud-Native Platform Delivery

Agile Mindset

Data, Big Data & AI/ML Acumen

Collaboration & Culture

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

The Group Advertising Technology (AdTech) department within Content Technology & Innovation (CT&I) develops and runs the platforms delivering linear and targeted advertisement (AdSmart) and OTT (Now and Sky Go), across Sky in the UK, Italy and Germany.

Our Content Technology and Innovation team delivers high-quality content to homes, customer devices, businesses and commercial partners across our European markets. With over 2500 colleagues from around the world, we combine our strategic insights, engineering know-how and operational excellence to use the most innovative technologies to create and distribute our award-winning content!

You will be the inspirational Head of Engineering for AdTech in this department, leading a team of approximately 30 individuals engaged in a robust Cloud-first and Agile engineering transformation.

What You’ll Do:

• Customer Champion. Work closely and collaboratively with the Sky’s Ad Sales Business (Sky Media) and other partner departments to merge advertisement performance engineering with modern cloud-first technology, creating market-leading products and services underpinned by market-leading engineering.
• Engineering Strategy. Collaborate with customers and leadership to drive business innovation and define engineering delivery strategies for our platforms. Focus areas include real-time scalable platforms, Big Data workloads, and AI/ML to add significant business value.
• Leadership. Manage and build successful teams in the UK and India (Chennai), developing and delivering complex cloud and data-driven products; advise on best approaches with teams in Italy and DACH; and support Sky’s growing advertisement business and technology stack evolution.
• Ownership. Take joint accountability with the AdTech leadership team for the engineering technology roadmap and full software development lifecycle. Work with AdTech Product and Global Product teams to enhance existing engineering in products and define new processes and practices where necessary, establishing clear success criteria and benchmarking externally, including development, testing, integration, and deployment.
• Communication. Present the engineering vision and business case at peer-to-peer and senior management levels. Build and maintain credibility with key customers and peers across Sky.
• Collaboration. Work closely with other CT&I departments, the central Sky Data department, external partners, and suppliers. Communicate the engineering business vision and provide ongoing direction across multi-disciplinary teams.
• Innovation. Identify engineering development opportunities with innovative ideas supported by compelling business cases. Persuade other teams up to head and director level that your proposals make business sense.
• Design. Encourage the Engineering teams to build and run reliable platforms, strengthening the DevOps culture.
• Delivery. Promote the modernisation and standardisation of delivery processes with a strong focus on Agile methodologies.

What You'll Bring:

• AdTech & Media Domain Expertise: Demonstrated experience in engineering and AdTech software development, with knowledge of advertising and content technologies in the media space with Media Owners or Broadcasters.
• Architecture and Future Advertising Systems: Deep expertise in system and platform architecture, with a proven track record of shaping and advising on the architecture of next-generation advertising systems. Acts as a key technical leader in guiding teams through significant technology and business transformation, driving scalable, cloud-native, and data-driven outcomes aligned to long‑term strategy.
• Leadership and Communication Skills: Proven experience leading decision‑making processes and influencing senior stakeholders (director/executive level) to achieve consensus on complex topics with strong experience communicating complex technical concepts clearly.
• Innovation Mindset: Evident interest in emerging technologies and industry trends, with a proactive approach to innovation.
• Team Development: Experience in building, leading, and developing successful engineering teams.
• Cloud‑Native Platform Delivery: Hands‑on experience delivering and operating products or platforms in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Agile Mindset: Strong understanding and application of Agile principles and methodologies.
• Data, Big Data & AI/ML Acumen: Solid understanding and experience using Big Data and AI/ML challenges and solutions.
• Collaboration & Culture: Highly collaborative, progressive, and humble approach to teamwork and leadership.

The rewards

There's one thing people can't stop talking about when it comes to #LifeAtSky: the perks. Here’s a taster:

• Sky Q, for the TV you love all in one place
• The magic of Sky Glass at an exclusive rate
• Discounted mobile and broadband
• A wide range of Sky VIP rewards and experiences

Inclusion & how you'll work

We are a Disability Confident Employer, and welcome and encourage applications from all candidates. We will look to ensure a fair and consistent experience for all, and will make reasonable adjustments to support you where appropriate. Please flag any adjustments you need to your recruiter as early as you can.

We’ve embraced hybrid working and split our time between unique office spaces and the convenience of working from home. You’ll find out more about what hybrid working looks like for your role later on in the recruitment process.

Your office space

Our Osterley Campus is a 10‑minute walk from Syon Lane train station. Or you can hop on one of our free shuttle buses that run to and from Osterley, Gunnersbury, Ealing Broadway and South Ealing tube stations. There are also plenty of bike shelters and showers.

On campus, you’ll find 13 subsidised restaurants, cafes, and a Waitrose. You can keep in shape at our subsidised gym, catch the latest shows and movies at our cinema, get your car washed, and even get pampered at our beauty salon.

We'd love to hear from you

Inventive, forward‑thinking minds come together to work in Tech, Product and Data at Sky. It’s a place where you can explore what if, how far, and what next.

But better doesn’t stop at what we do, it’s how we do it, too. We embrace each other’s differences. We support our community and contribute to a sustainable future for our business and the planet.

If you believe in better, we’ll back you all the way.

Just so you know: if your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a criminal record check. And depending on the role you have applied for and the nature of any convictions you may have, we might have to withdraw the offer.