Software Engineering Manager (Derry)

MCS Group; Derry and Strabane District; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance-related bonus

Hybrid working

Office in Derry/Londonderry

Job summary

MCS Group partners with a growing NI software company to appoint a Software Engineering Manager. You will lead an established team of seven engineers, remain close to architecture, delivery and technical decisions, and help build an AI-first engineering culture.

This is a hands-on leadership role with genuine ownership and direct access to senior leadership. You will drive delivery, quality and team performance while managing AWS costs.

Qualifications

• Experience managing software engineers, including 1:1s, coaching and performance management.
• Hands-on software engineering in modern web and cloud environments.
• Proven use of AI development tools and AI-first adoption.
• Strong AWS and software architecture experience.
• Experience improving CI/CD, testing, code quality and observability.
• Ability to work with senior non-technical stakeholders.
• Independent, pragmatic technical decision-maker.
• Calm, direct, solutions-focused leadership style.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary engineering team.
• Improve delivery predictability, engineering quality and team performance.
• Drive AI-assisted development across coding, design, testing and review.
• Shape technical direction, architecture and standards.
• Oversee CI/CD, testing, observability and cloud operations.
• Align engineering priorities with senior leadership.
• Manage AWS costs and engineering-related expenses.
• Remain technically involved via code reviews and architecture discussions.
• Support future hiring and build high-performing culture.

Skills

People management

Hands-on engineering

AI tools adoption

AWS

Software architecture

CI/CD

Observability

Stakeholder management

Independent leadership

Tools

TypeScript

AWS Lambda

AWS CDK

Relational databases

Job description

MCS Group is delighted to be partnering with a growing Northern Ireland-based software company in their search for a Software Engineering Manager.

This is a key leadership hire for the business as it enters an exciting period of growth. You will become the most senior engineering leader within the organisation, leading an established team of seven engineers while remaining close to architecture, delivery and technical decision-making.

This is an excellent opportunity for a hands-on Engineering Manager who wants genuine ownership, direct access to senior leadership and the chance to build an AI-first engineering culture.

The Role

You will:

• Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary engineering team.
• Improve delivery predictability, engineering quality and team performance.
• Drive the adoption of AI-assisted development across coding, design, testing and code review.
• Shape technical direction, architecture and engineering standards.
• Oversee CI/CD, testing, observability, incident response and cloud operations.
• Work closely with senior leadership to align engineering priorities with wider business goals.
• Manage AWS and engineering-related costs.
• Remain technically involved through code reviews, architectural discussions and occasional hands-on development.
• Support future hiring and help build a high-performing engineering culture.

What You'll Need

• Previous experience directly managing software engineers, including 1:1s, coaching, hiring and performance management.
• Strong hands-on software engineering experience within a modern web and cloud environment.
• Clear evidence of using AI development tools and helping a wider engineering team adopt AI-first practices.
• Strong AWS and software architecture experience.
• Experience improving engineering processes across CI/CD, testing, code quality and observability.
• Confidence working directly with senior non-technical stakeholders.
• The ability to operate independently and make pragmatic technical decisions.
• A calm, direct and solutions-focused leadership style.

The company uses TypeScript across its platform, alongside AWS serverless technologies, Lambda, CDK and a mixture of relational and document-based databases. TypeScript experience would be advantageous, although strong candidates from C#, Java, Go or Kotlin backgrounds will also be considered.

What's on Offer?

• Competitive market salary.
• Performance-related bonus.
• The opportunity to become the senior engineering leader within a growing software business.
• Genuine influence over engineering strategy, architecture and culture.
• The chance to lead an AI-first approach to software delivery.
• Flexible and condensed working options.
• Hybrid working, with a minimum of three days per week in the Derry/Londonderry office.

MCS Group is committed to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion for all, being the first recruitment agency in NI to achieve Bronze Diversity Mark accreditation, if you have a disability which means you require a reasonable adjustment to be considered at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us and we will endeavour to facilitate the request.