Head of Software Development

The role that makes your position so vital at Equator is that you are an experienced people manager capable of directing and motivating the development team to create better work than they thought possible.

Main Responsibilities:

Leadership

• Develop close, trusting relationships with Business Unit Leaders, senior team members, and other department heads, ensuring the principles of development excellence are integrated into our processes and outputs.
• Create a model for success and quality within the team, ensuring all members understand their roles and contributions to successful outcomes for our clients and the business.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and trends to evolve our service offerings, utilizing research activities to encourage innovative thinking within the team.
• Establish a training plan to develop transformation consultancy skills among key team members.
• Promote our services and capabilities through thought leadership outputs.
• Ensure the quality of team outputs meets the brief, exceeds client expectations, and aligns with best practices.
• Present findings, insights, and suggestions to company directors, senior managers, and clients when appropriate.
• Discover and implement innovative ways to improve workflows.
• Motivate and drive the development team to succeed.

Performance

• Define, share, and monitor personal performance targets for all team members, including quality, billability, and adherence to estimates.
• Create and maintain a robust team structure that provides appropriate oversight and support.
• Ensure tooling and processes are in place for secure and robust solutions.
• Collaborate with Compliance, Legal, and IT teams to escalate issues swiftly, such as security breaches or vulnerabilities.
• Plan, manage, and support Disaster Recovery testing activities and reporting.
• Maintain departmental and business certifications (e.g., OWASP, ISO27001, ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO45001, PCI-DSS).
• Develop a department plan to achieve partnership status as per the strategic roadmap, ensuring all training requirements are met.
• Encourage ownership of outputs with an emphasis on timely, efficient, and quality delivery.
• Continuously evaluate capabilities against industry trends, ensuring training and certifications (e.g., OWASP, Privacy by Design) are current.
• Work with operations and client-facing teams to understand forecasts and develop resource plans.
• Ensure recruitment, contractor, and partner programs meet capacity demands.
• Coordinate with Head of Compliance and Head of IT to maintain the Information Security Management System.
• Monitor team annual leave to maintain capacity and capability throughout the year.
• Support Business Development through pre-sales activities and pitches.
• Maximize profitability by maintaining high performance and quality standards.

Management

• Manage a team of 35 Software Engineers, Testers, and Architects.
• Mentor, motivate, and support your team to reach their full potential.
• Handle recruitment with approval from the relevant Business Unit Leader.
• Create Personal Development Plans and support team members in achieving them.
• Conduct regular appraisals and one-on-ones.
• Set clear, measurable goals and objectives, reviewing them regularly.
• Assist your team and department heads with team management and performance issues.
• Develop your team's skills and expertise aligned with business objectives.
• Ensure all team members complete daily timesheets.
• Analyze team billability and productivity, ensuring targets are met or exceeded.
• Support the new business team during pitches by providing estimates, proposals, and presentations.

The Ideal Candidate

• Experience in growing teams, including expansion to new capabilities.
• Proven success in delivering transformative business systems.
• Experience reviewing and onboarding new technologies aligned with strategic goals.
• Experience evolving department systems and processes with clear KPIs.
• Focus on quality, including managing and evolving an integrated QA team.
• Experience engaging with senior stakeholders and clients.
• Skills to pitch to prospective clients.
• Performance management experience, including setting SMART objectives.