Head of Software Engineering

Itecopeople; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 111,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Itecopeople is seeking a Head of Software Engineering on a 3-month contract in London, hybrid: 2 days per week in the office. Start ASAP. The role combines leadership with strong technical credibility to set engineering standards and shape engineering direction.

You will lead across software, integration, data and platform engineering, collaborating with senior technology leaders to ensure scalable, secure and maintainable services while guiding architecture and technical decisions.

Qualifications

• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams in large organisations.
• Proven track record of setting and embedding engineering standards.
• Deep knowledge of modern engineering practices, cloud-native architecture and DevOps in Azure.

Responsibilities

• Define engineering standards, governance and ways of working across the function.
• Establish best practice across software development, testing, code quality, DevOps, CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code.
• Guide architecture and platform decisions, ensuring services are scalable, resilient, secure and maintainable.
• Lead engineering managers and senior engineers across multiple teams, building collaboration and accountability.
• Assess engineering maturity, identify priority improvements and drive practical changes during the assignment.
• Support cloud-native transformation across Microsoft Azure, event-driven architecture, platform engineering and automation.

Skills

Leadership

Engineering governance

Azure cloud

DevOps

AI in engineering

Job description

Head of Software Engineering - Contract

3 months | £600-£650 per day | Inside IR35
Hybrid: 2 days per week in London | Start ASAP

We're partnering with a large, complex and purpose-driven organisation undergoing a major technology and engineering transformation to get an experienced Head of Software Engineering contractor.

You’ll lead a multidisciplinary function spanning software, integration, data and platform engineering. A key priority will be setting clear engineering standards and embedding consistent practices that improve quality, delivery and operational resilience.

This assignment combines leadership with strong technical credibility. You'll work closely with senior technology leaders, engineering managers and senior engineers to shape engineering direction while remaining involved in architecture and technical decisions.

The role

• Define engineering standards, governance and ways of working across the function.
• Establish best practice across software development, testing, code quality, DevOps, CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code.
• Guide architecture and platform decisions, ensuring services are scalable, resilient, secure and maintainable.
• Lead engineering managers and senior engineers across multiple teams, building collaboration and accountability.
• Assess engineering maturity, identify priority improvements and drive practical changes during the assignment.
• Support cloud-native transformation across Microsoft Azure, event-driven architecture, platform engineering and automation.
• Work with senior stakeholders to balance delivery priorities, engineering quality, technical health and cost.

What we're looking for

• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering functions within large, complex organisations.
• A strong track record of setting engineering standards and embedding them successfully across teams.
• Deep understanding of modern engineering practices, cloud-native architecture and DevOps, ideally within Microsoft Azure environments.
• The technical credibility to challenge decisions constructively and guide managers, architects and senior engineers.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical and non-technical audiences.
• A collaborative, pragmatic leadership style and the ability to make an impact quickly.
• Experience in AI is a significant advantage, particularly applying AI to engineering workflows, automation or the delivery of AI-enabled services.
• Experience within regulated or operationally critical environments-such as public sector, education, healthcare or financial services-would also be key.