Head of Software Engineering – Model and Platform Engineering

Aurora Energy Research Limited; Oxford; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Parental Support

Salary-Exchange Pension

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Local Oxford Discounts

Cycle‑to‑work Scheme

Flu Jabs

Job summary

Aurora Energy Research Limited in Oxford seeks a Head of Software Engineering to lead the Model and Platform Engineering teams, shaping strategy for Origin and Chronos platforms and driving AI-native, cloud-first delivery at scale.

You will lead a 35‑strong engineering organisation across Oxford and international hubs, coordinating with Product Management, Modelling, AI & Data Engineering to deliver high‑impact analytical platforms for governments, investors and utilities.

Qualifications

• Significant leadership of engineering organisations delivering complex software products.
• Experience leading AI-enabled development practices and productivity gains.
• Deep experience in agile delivery and continuous improvement.
• Proven ability to balance long‑term platform evolution with short‑term delivery.
• Led teams delivering sophisticated modelling, analytics or data-intensive platforms.
• Strong software engineering background with architectural leadership.
• Experience in cloud-native platforms, AWS preferred.
• Exceptional coaching and stakeholder influence at senior levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a 35‑person engineering organisation across Oxford and São Paulo.
• Establish a high‑performance delivery culture aligned to product and tech roadmaps.
• Develop people through coaching, career development and performance management.
• Shape engineering strategy and ro admap with cross‑functional partners.
• Drive modern AI‑native development practices and continuous delivery.
• Maintain architecture, security, quality and delivery standards with metrics.
• Oversee budget, capacity planning and investment prioritisation.
• Contribute to Aurora's broader technology strategy and platform evolution.

Skills

Engineering leadership

AI-native leadership

Agile delivery

Execution leadership

Complex platforms

Technical credibility

Cloud and DevOps

People leadership

Job description

Head of Software Engineering (Model and Platform Engineering)

Department: Technology

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Oxford, UK

Reporting To: Chief Technology Officer

Description

Aurora's models and infrastructure provide the platform that enables governments, investors and utilities to make billion-dollar decisions on the journey to net zero. We are looking for an exceptional Head of Software Engineering to lead the organisation responsible for designing, building and running the models that underpin Aurora’s global analysis and software.

Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, you will lead the engineering of our flagship modelling platforms — Origin, our power market scenario modelling platform, and Chronos, our battery storage valuation and dispatch optimisation platform — working closely with Product Engineering, AI & Data Engineering and our Modelling teams to deliver world‑class analytical platforms at global scale. A talented engineering team, distributed across Oxford and our growing international hubs, will look to you for technical leadership, organisational direction and a culture of engineering excellence.

Working closely with Product Management and senior technology leadership, you will define engineering strategy, shape delivery roadmaps and drive the evolution of our modelling platforms. You will play a key role in modernising software delivery, refining how we embed AI‑enabled development practices and ensuring Aurora continues to scale its modelling and software capabilities efficiently and effectively.

If you thrive on enabling teams to solve complex technical problems, have experience leading quantitative or data‑intensive engineering organisations, and have successfully transformed teams to adopt modern Agile and AI‑native development practices, we'd love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a growing 35‑person, five‑squad engineering organisation split between Oxford and São Paulo, setting direction, standards and a shared sense of purpose.
• Lead delivery excellence — Establish a high‑performance delivery culture that consistently achieves business goals, delivers strategic initiatives on time and enables Aurora to execute effectively against its product and technology roadmap.
• Develop people and teams through hands‑on coaching, career development, training initiatives and effective performance management.
• Shape engineering strategy and roadmap in partnership with Product Management, Modelling, AI & Data Engineering and Product Engineering, balancing short‑term delivery with long‑term platform evolution.
• Lead Aurora's model engineering transformation, embedding modern software engineering practices, AI‑enabled development workflows and continuous delivery approaches to improve quality, productivity and delivery speed of our models.
• Drive engineering excellence through strong architecture, testing, security, operational and delivery standards, supported by metrics and data‑driven decision making.
• Own organisational and financial performance, including budget management, capacity planning and investment prioritisation.
• Contribute to Aurora's wider technology strategy, helping shape the future direction of our modelling platforms, software products and engineering organisation.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Required attributes:

• Engineering leadership at scale - Significant experience leading high‑performing engineering organisations delivering complex software products, platforms or technical programmes through periods of growth and organisational change.
• AI‑native engineering leadership - Proven experience leading teams through the adoption of AI‑assisted and agent‑based software development practices, delivering measurable improvements in engineering productivity, quality and delivery outcomes.
• Agile delivery expertise - Deep experience building and running modern Agile engineering organisations using continuous delivery and data‑driven continuous improvement.
• Strong execution and organisational leadership - Demonstrated track record of developing teams, building engineering capability and delivering complex technical initiatives while balancing business priorities, quality and long‑term maintainability.
• Complex platform experience - Experience leading teams delivering sophisticated software platforms, ideally in modelling, optimisation, analytics, data‑intensive or other technically complex domains.
• Technical leadership and credibility - A strong software engineering background with the ability to effectively lead senior engineering managers and architects, and challenge constructively when required, whilst empowering technical specialists and architects to lead on detailed design and implementation.
• Cloud and software engineering expertise - Experience leading the development and operation of cloud‑native platforms, ideally on AWS, with a good understanding of modern software engineering, DevOps and operational excellence practices.
• People and stakeholder leadership - Exceptional coaching, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to align engineers, product leaders and executives around a shared vision and create a high‑performance culture.

What we offer

Some of the benefits we include are:

• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Parental Support
• Salary-Exchange Pension
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Local Oxford Discounts
• Cycle‑to‑work Scheme
• Flu Jabs

At AER, we are committed to offering flexibility in the way we work. Most of our roles are hybrid with a mix of in‑office/home working and potentially adjustable working hours. Let’s discuss what works for you and AER during the interview process.

The Company is committed to the principle that no employee or job applicant shall receive unfavourable treatment on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, and maternity.