Head of Software Engineering

Ubisense Limited; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A technology company in Cambridge is seeking a Head of Software Engineering to lead a high-performing engineering organization. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing the software engineering lifecycle, from strategy to delivery. This role requires expertise in software architecture, DevOps, and a track record of leading engineering teams. Candidates must possess a Bachelor’s degree in a related field and strong leadership skills. This position offers a chance to work on innovative IoT solutions and contribute to a growing company.

Qualifications

• Track record of leading engineering at Head of Engineering level.
• Experience with DevOps/CI/CD, IaC, containers/orchestration.
• Strong command of software architecture, APIs, and data design.

Responsibilities

• Define engineering operating model and technical roadmaps.
• Own the what/when/how of engineering delivery.
• Set standards for architecture, APIs, and cloud infrastructure.

Skills

Technical leadership

Delivery excellence

Communication

Systems thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field

Tools

Git

Terraform/Bicep

Docker/Kubernetes

Azure/AWS

Job description

Overview

Ubisense is a company at the forefront of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet-of-Things. We build products that transform physical space into “smart space”, enabling software to see, understand and participate in the real world of people and business activities. In so doing, we augment people and objects with new forms of insight and intelligence that make the environments we live and work in more productive, safe and profitable. This unique ability to connect the physical to the digital has been our driving force for more than 18 years and has enabled Fortune 500 manufacturers like Daimler-Benz, Lockheed Martin and John Deere to revolutionise the way they build our cars, the most advanced aircraft and the machinery that grows our food.

We are a privately held company with around 60 employees, supporting customers across North America, Europe, UK, Japan and the Middle East. We have ambitious and well-funded growth plans, requiring talented people to help execute on our vision. We are looking for people who are interested in the future, who believe that technology will play a fundamental role in improving the world of tomorrow, and who want to be a part of making that happen.

About the role

Ubisense delivers solutions based on our SmartSpace® and Dimension4® products, providing real-time visibility and control to customers in advanced manufacturing, transit, pharmaceutical, and defence sectors. SmartSpace® is a highly configurable software platform targeted at complex problems in IoT and Industry 4.0. Many SmartSpace applications also use our world leading Dimension4® Real Time Location System.

The Head of Software Engineering is accountable for building and operating a high-performing engineering organisation that delivers secure, reliable, and maintainable software at pace. This role owns the end-to-end engineering lifecycle—from strategy and architecture to delivery, tooling, and quality—while cultivating engineering excellence and modern DevOps/CI/CD practices. The successful candidate is a hands-on technical leader who can write code, set engineering standards, and lead teams through change.

Key Outcomes (12-18 months)

• Reliable, predictable delivery: Transparent quarterly release train and sprint cadences; measurable improvements on DORA metrics (lead time, deployment frequency, change failure rate, MTTR).
• Modern delivery pipeline: A robust CI/CD platform with automated build, test, security scanning, and progressive delivery; trunk-based workflows and high-quality code reviews.
• Fit-for-purpose architecture: Clear architectural runway, reference designs, and decision records (ADRs); reduced complexity and improved scalability.
• Quality by design: Shift-left testing, high unit/integration test coverage, meaningful end-to-end test automation, and clear quality gates.
• Engineering culture: Engaged teams with strong craftsmanship, documentation standards, and continuous improvement mindset (SPACE metrics for developer experience).

What you will do

Strategy and Planning

• Define the engineering operating model, aligning architecture, delivery, and platform engineering to product goals.
• Translate business objectives into technical roadmaps, capacity plans and quarterly OKRs.

Delivery Ownership

• Own the what/when/how of engineering delivery: intake, prioritisation, estimation, sprint planning, release readiness.
• Establish portfolio and release governance with clear stage gates (architecture, security, test, documentation).

Architecture and Technical Direction

• Chair architecture forums; set standards for patterns, APIs, data, and cloud infrastructure; steward ADRs.
• Ensure systems are observable (logs, metrics, traces) with SLOs and error budgets; lead major incident reviews and blameless post-mortems. Methods, Tooling and Platform
• Define and evolve SDLC and development methodologies (Agile/Scrum/Kanban, trunk-based development, code review practices).
• Own the DevOps toolchain (source control, CI/CD, artefact management, IaC, secrets management, environments, test automation, security scanning).
• Partner with IT on platform reliability, scalability, cost, and resilience.

Quality and Security

• Set quality standards and test strategies (unit, integration, E2E, performance, security); implement coverage targets and defect escape thresholds.
• Embed secure coding and secure release practices.

People Leadership and Organisation

• Lead architects, developers, testers, and tech authors; nurture craft disciplines and communities of practice.
• Hire, onboard, mentor, and develop engineering talent; define career ladders, and competencies.

Stakeholder Management

• Work closely with Product, Support, Professional Services, and IT to ensure the roadmap is feasible, valuable, and supportable.
• Communicate plans, risks, and outcomes concisely to executives and non-technical stakeholders.

Financial and Vendor Ecosystem

• In conjunction with the CIO, manage engineering budgets, cloud/runtime costs, and ROI on tooling.
• Evaluate and govern vendors (cloud, tooling, testing services).

Documentation and Knowledge

• Ensure clear, current documentation (architecture, APIs, runbooks, user guides) and a robust knowledge base.
• Establish standards and workflows for Technical Authors integrated with release trains

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Track record of leading engineering at Head of Engineering level (or equivalent).
• Experience with DevOps/CI/CD (Git, pipelines, artifact repositories), IaC (e.g., Terraform/Bicep), containers/orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes), and cloud platforms (Azure/AWS).
• Strong command of software architecture (domain-driven design, modular monoliths/microservices, eventing), APIs, and data design.
• Proven quality leadership: test automation strategies, reliability engineering (SLOs, error budgets), performance engineering. Demonstrated security leadership within engineering: secure coding practices, vulnerability management, SBOMs, suppy-chain security, threat modelling.
• Expertise in modern Agile delivery (Scrum/Kanban), product collaboration, and scaling patterns (e.g., lightweight portfolio cadence).

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with manufacturing/location-based solutions or industrial interfaces (OPC, MQTT), data streaming, and edge deployment.
• Familiarity with documentation workflows and tech’ authoring standards.
• Exposure to ITIL-aligned change/release processes and ISO/IEC quality/security frameworks.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field with a high computing content.

Core Competencies

• Technical leadership: Sets high bars, makes pragmatic decisions, and can deep dive when needed.
• Delivery excellence: Turns strategy into outcomes, manages trade-offs, and drives predictability.
• Communication: Explains complex topics to varied audiences; crisp executive updates.
• People and culture: Builds inclusive, high-trust teams; coaches and multiplies talent.
• Systems thinking: Optimises end-to-end flow and reliability, not just local focus.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• DORA: Lead time for changes; Deployment frequency; Change failure rate; MTTR.
• Quality: Defect escape rate; Test coverage health; Mean time between incidents; Performance SLAs/SLO adherence.
• Flow and predictability: Throughput, cycle time, on-time delivery vs. plan, WIP limits adherence.
• Security and compliance: Vulnerability remediation time; dependency hygiene; SBOM coverage; audit readiness.

Working Practices and Governance

• SDLC policies and quality gates are enforced via automation (build, test, scan, deploy) with clear “go/no-go” criteria at each stage.
• Documentation is a first-class deliverable; releases are accompanied by updated architecture notes, API references, and user guides.
• Continuous improvement: Regular retrospectives across teams; quarterly engineering reviews; blameless culture.

Personal Attributes

• You manage your time effectively.
• You are willing to travel occasionally both nationally and internationally.