Software Engineering Manager

Phoenix Software; Pocklington; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Phoenix Software is recruiting a Software Engineering Manager to lead our software engineering team and ensure high-quality, reliable software across the business. The role blends people leadership, engineering operations and technical oversight, with close collaboration to deliver solutions.

You will develop teams, foster a collaborative environment, and drive continuous improvement while partnering with the Head of Software Engineering and other delivery teams.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading and developing software engineering teams.
• Strong coaching, mentoring and people management skills.
• Experience building collaborative, high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong background in software engineering and system development.
• Experience managing workloads, priorities and resource planning.
• Understanding of modern software development practices, source control and release management.
• Experience with SQL querying, data analysis and troubleshooting.
• Experience working within Agile environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to balance operational delivery with continuous improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and support the Software Engineering team and conduct regular one-to-one meetings, performance reviews and career development discussions.
• Oversee day-to-day engineering operations, remove blockers and sustain delivery momentum.
• Guide engineering practices, architecture and ways of working; provide release oversight and incident management.
• Drive engineering quality, governance and documentation across teams.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to developers, testers and business analysts; support architectural discussions.
• Build strong relationships with technical and business stakeholders; communicate progress and risks clearly.

Skills

People leadership

Software engineering

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

SQL querying

CI/CD pipelines

Data analysis

Communication

Mentoring

Job description

Phoenix enables digital transformation across the UK public sector, empowering organisations to innovate with cloud and hybrid infrastructures, data, AI, security and collaboration technologies.

We are now hiring a Software Engineering Manager to lead our Software Engineering team and help deliver high-quality, reliable and maintainable software solutions across the business.

This role combines people leadership, engineering operations and technical oversight. You will be responsible for supporting and developing engineering teams, ensuring effective delivery, and fostering a collaborative environment where people feel empowered to contribute ideas, challenge constructively and continuously improve. Working closely with the Head of Software Engineering and wider delivery teams, you will play a key role in driving engineering excellence while supporting the successful delivery of software solutions.

What will you be doing?

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, mentor and support the Software Engineering team.
• Create a collaborative and inclusive environment that encourages innovation, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Conduct regular one-to-one meetings, performance reviews and career development discussions.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, succession planning and workforce development.
• Encourage knowledge sharing, mentoring and professional growth across the team.

Engineering Operations

• Manage the day-to-day operation of the software engineering function.
• Support teams in removing blockers and maintaining delivery momentum.
• Facilitate discussions around engineering practices, architecture and ways of working.
• Provide release oversight and operational decision-making.
• Act as an escalation point for engineering issues affecting delivery or live services.
• Lead responses to production incidents and support continuous improvement activities.

Engineering Quality & Governance

• Oversee code review and pull request processes.
• Promote best practices across testing, maintainability, security and software quality.
• Ensure engineering standards and development processes are followed consistently.
• Support the identification and reduction of technical debt.
• Ensure appropriate technical documentation and knowledge sharing is maintained.

Technical Leadership

• Support technical investigations, troubleshooting and problem resolution.
• Perform SQL querying, data investigation and controlled data updates where required.
• Provide technical guidance to developers, testers and business analysts.
• Collaborate with senior engineers on technical improvements and delivery challenges.
• Support architectural discussions and ensure alignment with engineering standards.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Build strong working relationships with technical and business stakeholders.
• Communicate progress, risks and technical considerations clearly.
• Support planning, governance and wider delivery activities.
• Act as a bridge between technical and non-technical teams.

What are we looking for?

• Proven experience leading and developing software engineering teams.
• Strong coaching, mentoring and people management skills.
• Experience building collaborative, high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong background in software engineering and system development.
• Experience managing workloads, priorities and resource planning.
• Understanding of modern software development practices, source control and release management.
• Experience with SQL querying, data analysis and troubleshooting.
• Experience working within Agile or iterative delivery environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to balance operational delivery with continuous improvement initiatives.
• Passion for engineering quality, collaboration and customer outcomes.

Experience & Qualifications

• Experience in a Software Engineering Manager, Technical Lead, Team Lead or similar leadership role.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality software solutions.
• Background in software development prior to moving into leadership roles.
• Experience supporting engineering governance, release management and operational processes.
• Experience working within regulated or compliance-driven environments desirable.
• Experience with DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines beneficial.

Desirable:

• Exposure to cloud platforms and modern engineering tooling.
• Experience supporting platform modernisation or digital transformation programmes.
• Experience using AI-assisted software development tools and practices.

Practical stuff

Where is the role based?
Primary location is our HQ in Pocklington (YO42).

What about hybrid/remote working?
Hybrid working is supported, with flexibility depending on business requirements.

How many interviews?

Following a screen with the Recruitment Team, you can expect a two-stage interview process — one online and one in-person.

Important BPSS Check

As part of our recruitment process and due to the nature of the work we do, all employees are required to undertake a BPSS check. While some employees may require further security clearance, the BPSS check is mandatory and all offers of employment are conditional upon successful completion.

Have you made it this far?

If you're still reading, we think there's a strong chance you might be our kind of person.

Here's the thing, research suggests many women and underrepresented groups don't apply unless they meet every requirement. Even if you don't tick every box above, we encourage you to introduce yourself.

We believe a diversity of perspectives and experiences makes a team stronger and the stronger our team, the more successful we will be.