Software Engineering Manager

Citizens Advice; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Citizens Advice seeks an experienced Software Engineering Manager to blend technical leadership with a strong focus on security, governance and engineering excellence. You will drive architecture, cloud adoption (AWS/Azure) and CI/CD governance across multiple teams, embedding secure-by-design practices throughout the lifecycle.

They value building an inclusive culture, mentoring engineers, and ensuring governance accelerates delivery with clear accountability and risk-aware decision making.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience developing and delivering high-quality software in complex organisations.
• Deep expertise in software engineering practices, architecture, cloud platforms (AWS/Azure) and CI/CD.
• Proven experience line-managing engineers, setting goals, providing technical leadership and fostering a high-performing team culture.

Skills

Ruby on Rails

Python

JavaScript/TypeScript

Cloud platforms

Tools

AWS

Azure

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Location: Blended between office and home (England and Wales). Time in office negotiable

We're looking for an experienced Software Engineering Manager who combines strong technical expertise with a clear commitment to security, governance, compliance and engineering excellence.

The successful candidate will have a strong background in software development, architecture and cloud technologies, with proven experience of establishing and maintaining engineering standards across multiple teams and services. We're particularly interested in someone who understands how to embed security, compliance and effective governance throughout the software development lifecycle, rather than treating them as separate activities or checks at the point of release.

We want someone who can demonstrate how they've implemented proportionate technical controls, secure-by-design principles, automated testing, CI/CD governance and effective risk management practices. They should understand the importance of maintaining consistent standards, clear technical accountability and appropriate oversight, while ensuring that governance enables rather than unnecessarily slows delivery.

Equally important is their ability to build a strong engineering culture where security, quality and compliance are shared responsibilities. We're looking for a leader who encourages constructive challenge, creates an environment where technical and security concerns can be raised openly, and supports engineers in making informed, risk-based decisions.

Please provide details in your cover letter to evidence the following essential criteria. Please make sure your cover letter provides evidence for the essential criteria succinctly.

• Extensive experience of developing and delivering high quality software in complex organisations, with proven experience of working with at least one programming language, for example, Ruby on Rails, Python JavaScript/TypeScript
• Deep expertise in software engineering best practices with a strong understanding of software architecture, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proven experience in line managing and developing a team of engineers, agreeing clear goals and development plans, providing technical leadership and mentoring, and fostering a collaborative, inclusive and high performing team culture.

Citizens Advice offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Through our national network of charities, we give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a difference, every single day, to people from all walks of life? The people that turn to Citizens Advice need help overcoming an obstacle in their lives – from debt to evictions to trouble at work – and you can be key to them getting the support they need in the quickest, easiest, and most effective way.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of strategic importance within the organisation and recognised as integral to all we do as a service.

Central to pursuing our EDI mission is building diverse and inclusive teams in which everyone has a sense of belonging. We believe inclusion is a social justice issue - a principle that underpins our all EDI work. To that end, we particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our organisation and sector - people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people. We follow the social model of disability. We will offer an interview to disabled candidates who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident Interview Commitment where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

We’re a flexible employer, so this role may suit anyone who’d prefer a flexible arrangement to help their work/life balance, many of our colleagues spend most of their time working remotely. Whilst we prefer a blended approach between a local office, if one is near you, and home we’re open to being flexible on location, occasionally a role may require you to be based in a certain location if that's the case it will be detailed in the advert or job description. This can be discussed in more detail during your interview.

The National Citizens Advice operates from offices in England and Wales, with 4 regional offices based in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds, therefore all successful applicants must be based within England or Wales.

Please be aware that Citizens Advice is not a sponsoring organisation. Therefore the successful applicant must already possess the right to work in the UK or be able to secure the right to work in the UK independently.

We have been awarded the top charity in Third sectors' employer index, where it's recognised that Citizens Advice is an organization that not only prioritizes the people we serve but also values the wellbeing of its employees.

Citizens Advice seeks to redeploy internal staff who are at risk or under notice of redundancy and will prioritise them in the recruitment process where necessary. If you have been confirmed as at risk or under notice of redundancy please ensure you indicate this in the at-risk box in your application.

Please note, in the event of a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the application early.

This vacancy closes at 23.59 on the closing date.