Head of Engineering – Manufacturing (AI Native)

IFS; Staines-upon-Thames; Hybrid; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

IFS is seeking a visionary Head of Engineering for Manufacturing to lead an AI-native, multi-layered engineering organization. You will shape strategy, scale leaders, and drive product excellence across Manufacturing, Sustainability and Supply Chain domains, with a strong emphasis on AI-enabled engineering and responsible adoption.

You will partner with Product, Architecture, and domain leaders to deliver high-impact solutions, maintain engineering discipline, and foster a culture of ownership

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in software engineering and enterprise application development.
• Experience leading Directors/Managers and senior technical experts.
• Proven track record delivering large-scale software systems across multiple teams.
• Deep understanding of modern architectures (cloud-native, APIs, distributed systems).
• Ability to operate at both strategic and technical levels.
• Strong communication, decision-making, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead a multi-layered engineering organization including Directors, Architects, and Principal Engineers.
• Define and execute the engineering strategy for Manufacturing, aligned with product and company direction.
• Drive organizational design, capability building, and succession planning.
• Build a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Scale leadership capability by coaching and developing leaders of leaders.
• Own delivery outcomes across multiple teams with predictability, quality, and timely execution.

Skills

Software engineering

Technical leadership

Cloud-native architecture

AI adoption

Job description

Head of Engineering – Manufacturing (AI Native)

• Full-time

IFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. Our leading AI technology is the backbone of our award-winning enterprise software solutions, enabling our customers to be their best when it really matters–at the Moment of Service™. Our commitment to internal AI adoption has allowed us to stay at the forefront of technological advancements, ensuring our colleagues can unlock their creativity and productivity, and our solutions are always cutting-edge.

At IFS, we’re flexible, we’re innovative, and we’re focused not only on how we can engage with our customers but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society’s greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust.

We celebrate diversity and understand our responsibility to reflect the diverse world we work in. We are committed to promoting an inclusive workforce that fully represents the many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints of our customers, our partners, and our communities. As a truly international company serving people from around the globe, we realize that our success is tantamount to the respect we have for those different points of view.

By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of aglobal, diverse environment;you will be joining awinning teamwith acommitment to sustainability;and a company where we get things done so that you canmake a positive impacton the world.

We’re looking for innovative and original thinkers to work in an environment where you can#MakeYourMomentso that we can help others make theirs. With the power of our AI-driven solutions, we empower our team to change the status quo and make a real difference.

If you want to change the status quo, we’ll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS.

We are looking for aHead of Engineering Leaderto lead in the Manufacturing, Sustainability and Supply Chain Product organization at IFS. This roleoperatesat astrategic and organizational level, overseeing a multi-layered engineering organizationcomprisingEngineering Directors, Architects, and Principal Engineers.

You willbe responsible fordefining and executingengineeringstrategyacross multiple teams and domains, ensuring alignment with product vision, architecture direction, and business priorities.

While this is a senior leadership role,technical depth and sound engineering judgment remain critical. You are expected to guide architectural direction, influence key technical decisions, and ensure strong engineering discipline across the organization.

AI is a core enabler and strategic priority in this role.You will drive enterprise-wide adoption of AI-assisted engineering and AI-powered product capabilities, ensuring measurable impact on both engineering productivity and customer value.

WhatYou’llDo

Organizational Leadership

Lead amulti-layered engineering organization, including Engineering Directors, Architects, and Principal Engineers

Define and execute theengineering strategy for Manufacturing, aligned with product and company-wide technology direction

Driveorganizational design, capability building, and succession planning

Build a culture ofownership, accountability, and continuous improvement

Scale leadership capability bycoaching and developing leaders of leaders

Delivery and Execution

Own delivery outcomes across multiple teams, ensuringpredictability, quality, andtimelyexecution at scale

Establish and evolve consistentengineering operating models and execution practices

Balancebusiness priorities, technical investments, and operational excellence

Ensure teamsoperatewith a“you build it, you run it” mindset

Technical & Architectural Leadership

Providestrategic technical directionacross teams, in close collaboration with Architecture

Influence and governingarchitecture decisions, platform evolution, and system design standards

Ensurehigh standardsacross:

Cloud-native architecture

CI/CD and DevOps practices

Automated testing, observability, and security

Maintain strong technical credibility and intervenehands-on where it adds the most value

Driveorganization-wide adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices

Enable teams to improvedelivery speed, quality, and confidence using AI

Guide development ofAI-enabled Manufacturing capabilities

Ensure AI usage ispractical, responsible, and outcome-driven

Cross-functional Collaboration

Partner closely withProduct Management, Architecture, and Manufacturing domain leaders

Aligningengineering execution withbusiness priorities and customer outcomes

Represent Engineering insenior leadership and strategic forums

Manufacturing Domain Leadership

Provide strong leadership across key Manufacturing domains, including:

End-to-end Manufacturing lifecycle (Plan, Build, Quality, Maintain

Regulatory and industry-specific requirements

Large-scale, configurable, multi-tenant ManufacturingSolutions

AligningManufacturing strategy withplatform, data, and integration capabilities

Required Background

Strong foundationinsoftware engineering and enterprise application development

Extensive experience leadingleaders (Directors/Managers) and senior technical experts

Proven track record deliveringlarge-scale, complex software systems across multiple teams

Deep understanding ofmodern architectures (cloud-native, APIs, distributed systems, agentic workflows)

Ability to operate effectively at bothstrategic and technical levels

Strongcommunication, decision-making, and stakeholder management skills

Customer obsession, ability to work hands on with customers on site, including travel to key manufacturing customer locations.

Preferred Experience

Manufacturing, ERP, or industrial enterprise software

Platform or multi-product engineering leadership

Experience scalingengineering organizations and driving transformation

WhatWe’reLooking For

You balancestrategic leadership with strong technical depth

You leadleaders and build high-performing organizations

You create clarity and alignment whileempowering teams to succeed

You care deeply aboutquality, sustainability, and customer value

You see AI as apractical enabler of transformation

You scale impactbyenabling others, not controlling them

Interviews and selections are being made continuously.

All final candidates will undergo a background check, to get us an understanding of our future employees.

IFS Fact
IFS develops and delivers enterprise software for customers around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, build and maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. The industry expertise of our people and solutions, together with a commitment to delivering value to every one of our customers, has made IFS a recognized leader and the most recommended supplier in our sector. Our team of 7,000+ employees and growing ecosystem of partners support more than 10,000 customers around the world challenge the status quo and realize their competitive advantage. Learn more about how our enterprise software solutions can help your business today at ifs.com.

We believe that coming together as a community, in person, is important for innovation, connection and fostering a sense of belonging. Our roles have the right balance of remote and in-office working to enable flexibility for managing your life along with ensuring a real connection with your colleagues and the broader IFS community.