Software Engineering Manager

Paritas Recruitment; Oxford; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Paritas Recruitment Limited is seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to lead and grow an AI-focused engineering team in the UK. You will mentor engineers, set technical direction, and balance leadership duties with hands-on development.

You will champion testing best practices, drive architecture decisions, and explore AI-powered tooling to accelerate delivery. Excellent communication and collaboration are essential as you align multiple teams toward a shared vision.

Qualifications

• Experience leading and mentoring engineering teams.
• Strong background in building scalable software systems.
• Excellent communication and collaboration across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of people management: 1:1s, performance reviews and career development.
• Provide technical direction and shape high-level software architecture.
• Balance leadership with hands-on development and code reviews.
• Champion TDD and testing best practices; drive test automation initiatives.
• Introduce AI-powered development tools and modern testing approaches.

Skills

Python

TypeScript

People mgmt

TDD

Software architecture

Communication

Tools

Testing frameworks

AI tooling

Job description

Are you an experienced Software Engineer ready to take the next step into a leadership role, combining technical expertise with people management and the opportunity to help shape an evolving AI-focused engineering team?

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead and develop a growing team of engineers

What will you be doing?

• Taking ownership of people management, including 1:1s, performance reviews, career development and mentoring.
• Driving collaboration and communication across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Providing technical direction and contributing to high-level software architecture.
• Remaining hands-on with development, balancing leadership responsibilities with practical engineering.
• Championing engineering best practice, particularly Test-Driven Development (TDD).
• Exploring and introducing new testing approaches, tools and AI-enabled development practices.

What we're looking for:

• Strong software engineering experience, ideally at Senior or Principal level.
• Proven experience leading, mentoring and managing engineering teams.
• Strong technical skills in Python and TypeScript, with Python being particularly important.
• A solid understanding and practical experience of TDD and software testing best practice.
• Experience introducing or improving testing frameworks, tooling or AI-powered engineering tools.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to bring teams together.
• Experience with software architecture is highly advantageous.
• An interest in AI and a genuine desire to develop further in this space.

Why consider this opportunity?

You'll have the chance to shape a growing engineering team, influence technical direction and introduce modern engineering practices, while helping drive the organisation's journey into AI.

If you're a technically strong engineering leader who enjoys developing people as much as developing software, we'd love to hear from you!