Software Development Manager

Harris Computer; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

5 Personal Days

Lifestyle Reward

Private medical and dental care

Employee Share Ownership Plan

Job summary

Onefile Ltd, a Harris Computer company, is seeking a Software Development Manager to lead and grow a high-performing software development team in Manchester. The role is full-time with a requirement to be in the Manchester office a minimum of 2 days per week, fostering ownership, collaboration and continuous improvement.

You will oversee delivery against priorities, drive performance, and champion efficient engineering practices while coordinating with Product Management, Engineering and QA to

Qualifications

• Experience leading software development teams.
• Strong people management and performance reviews.
• Ability to balance priorities and manage stakeholder expectations.
• Knowledge of Agile methodologies and modern engineering environments.
• Excellent communication and decision-making skills.
• Experience with resource planning and capacity management.
• Ability to guide teams through organisational change.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and support software developers; conduct regular performance discussions.
• Ensure teams align with priorities; monitor progress and manage risks.
• Plan team capacity and balance workloads across priorities.
• Promote automation and emerging technologies to improve productivity.
• Build strong relationships with Product Management, Engineering and QA; report progress.

Skills

Leadership experience

Coaching & mentoring

Agile practices

Communication skills

Stakeholder management

Resource planning

Team performance mgmt

Tools

Microsoft .NET

Azure

Job description

Onefile Ltd, a Harris Computer company, is seeking a Software Development Manager to help lead, develop and support a high-performing software development team. This is a full-time, permanent role with the requirement of being in the Manchester office a minimum of 2 days per week. This role is central to ensuring our development teams operate effectively, deliver against agreed priorities and continuously improve their performance. The successful candidate will combine strong leadership and organisational skills with a sound understanding of software development environments, fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• People Leadership and Development: Lead, mentor and support software developers, fostering a positive, collaborative and high-performing team environment. Conduct regular one-to-one meetings, performance reviews and career development discussions. Establish clear individual objectives and expectations aligned with departmental priorities. Identify development opportunities, support career progression and address performance challenges constructively. Promote employee engagement, wellbeing and a culture of continuous learning.
• Team Performance and Coordination: Ensure development teams remain aligned with agreed priorities, commitments and business objectives. Monitor progress against planned activities, proactively identifying risks, dependencies and potential obstacles. Facilitate effective communication and collaboration between developers, technical leads, product teams and other stakeholders. Support the resolution of delivery challenges and ensure appropriate actions are taken to maintain progress. Provide clear visibility of team performance, progress and areas requiring attention.
• Resource and Capacity Management: Plan and coordinate team capacity to support business priorities and operational requirements. Work with stakeholders to balance workloads, manage competing priorities and ensure effective utilisation of resources. Identify resource constraints, capability gaps and opportunities to improve team effectiveness.
• Continuous Improvement and Innovation: Promote efficient, scalable and sustainable software development practices. Encourage the adoption of automation, AI-assisted development tools and emerging technologies to improve productivity and effectiveness. Work collaboratively with technical specialists to identify opportunities for process optimisation and operational improvements. Support teams in adapting to evolving technologies, working practices and organisational requirements.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build strong working relationships with Product Management, Engineering, Quality Assurance and other business functions. Communicate progress, challenges and priorities clearly to relevant stakeholders. Ensure expectations, responsibilities and commitments are understood across teams. Contribute to departmental planning and support the achievement of wider business objectives.

Skills and Experience – Essential

• Proven experience leading or managing software development teams.
• Strong people management skills, including coaching, mentoring, performance management and employee development.
• Experience coordinating engineering activities and managing competing priorities.
• Ability to establish clear expectations, promote accountability and support consistent team performance.
• Good understanding of software development methodologies, Agile practices and modern engineering environments.
• Strong organisational, problem‑solving and decision‑making capabilities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with resource planning, capacity management and continuous improvement.
• Ability to support teams through organisational and technological change.

Desirable

• Experience working in SaaS or cloud-based software environments.
• Familiarity with Microsoft .NET and Azure technologies.
• Understanding of AI-assisted software development and engineering automation.
• Experience introducing process improvements that increase team productivity and effectiveness.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams in a product-focused organisation.

Personal Attributes

• A supportive and approachable leader who builds trust and develops people.
• Results-oriented, with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Proactive in identifying challenges and driving improvements.
• Adaptable, open-minded and comfortable working in evolving technology environments.

Why Join Onefile?

Onefile is the leading learner management platform and pioneer of the first Eportfolio software. Onefile’s platform streamlines workflows, unlocks funding, and enables education and training providers to achieve higher learner success rates at pace and at scale. With award-winning software and outstanding service, Onefile is trusted by 650+ public and private organisations to support a wide range of qualification programmes, including apprenticeships, and has helped over 2.3M educators and learners achieve their goals. We are a growing £12m ARR scale-up, with ambitious plans to reach £25m ARR in the next 3–5 years. Follow us on LinkedIn to learn more about our culture, values, and career opportunities.

Benefits

• Harris offers an extremely competitive UK employee benefits programme.
• Salary: £50,000 - £60,000
• 25 days holiday
• 5 Personal Days leave entitlement
• An annual Lifestyle Reward amounting £325 per annum/pro rata.
• Private medical and dental care
• Employee Share Ownership Plan

Equal Opportunity & Discrimination

Harris is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

Accommodation Requests

Applicants who require a reasonable accommodation due to a disability may contact us by email at [e-mail]. Accommodation requests may be made at any time. This email address is dedicated solely to accommodation requests and cannot be used to inquire about application status.

Know Your Rights | AI Usage

Poster EO 13496: Notification of Employee Rights under Federal Labor Laws. Our commitment to fair and equitable hiring. As part of the recruitment process, we use artificial intelligence (AI) tools during the initial screening phase to help identify candidates whose qualifications most closely align with the requirements of the role. This technology supports efficiency and consistency in the early stages, but it never replaces human judgement. All subsequent evaluations and final hiring decisions are made by our recruitment professionals. AI does not make final hiring decisions.