Head of Engineering - AI-Powered Platform, Scale-Up

Eden Scott; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company pension scheme

32 days annual leave

Hybrid working Edinburgh HQ

Job summary

SnapDragon, a fast-growing Edinburgh-based technology company, is seeking a Head of Engineering. This hybrid role will report to the CEO and guide architecture, standards and platform delivery while growing a talented engineering team.

You will balance long-term platform development with the pace of a scaling SaaS business. You will recruit, mentor and align engineering with business priorities, ensuring security, data protection and operational excellence across delivery.

Qualifications

• Significant software engineering experience delivering production systems and leading engineering teams.
• Strong expertise in modern web application development across cloud-based platforms, data modelling, database performance and scalable system design.
• Proficiency in software quality, testing strategies and operational excellence, plus reliability, observability, deployment and incident management.
• Ability to balance technical excellence with commercial priorities and strong communication with senior stakeholders.
• Experience in growing technology companies or scale-up environments is preferred; hands-on leadership style.
• Experience in AI-enabled products would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and grow the engineering team through coaching and performance management.
• Drive high-quality software delivery, ensuring production reliability, security and data protection.
• Own technical direction and architecture, translating business priorities into engineering plans.
• Lead engineering recruitment, hiring and onboarding as the team grows.
• Represent engineering at executive and board level and align tech investment with business priorities.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and engineering excellence.

Skills

Software engineering

Team leadership

Web development

Cloud platforms

Data modelling

Database performance

System design

Testing & quality

Reliability & observability

AI products experience

Job description

SnapDragon, a fast-growing Edinburgh-based technology company, is seeking a Head of Engineering. This hybrid role will report to the CEO and guide architecture, standards and platform delivery while growing a talented engineering team.

You will balance long-term platform development with the pace of a scaling SaaS business. You will recruit, mentor and align engineering with business priorities, ensuring security, data protection and operational excellence across delivery.