System Engineering Lead

Cloud Direct; Bath; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fitness Cash Contribution

Pension Contribution

Employee Assistance Programme

Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Leave

Life Assurance, Critical Illness, and

Job summary

Cloud Direct is seeking a Systems Engineering Lead to oversee the Systems Engineering team, driving design, delivery and evolution of our platforms with a focus on AI, automation and emerging tech. You will translate architectural direction into engineering outcomes while mentoring engineers and maintaining high standards of security and reliability.

The role combines hands-on software engineering with strategic leadership, reporting to the Head of Business Systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years commercial software engineering experience.
• 3+ years leading engineering teams, technical programmes or senior initiatives.
• Proven experience designing and delivering complex software solutions.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Azure platforms and cloud-native development.
• Experience delivering AI-enabled applications or automation solutions.
• Experience with Azure OpenAI, AI Foundry or equivalent AI platforms.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and direction for the Systems Engineering team.
• Lead solution design and key engineering decisions with the Principal Architect.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards and development practices through automation, testing, CI/CD, and observability.
• Lead delivery of systems, platforms, integrations and AI-enabled solutions.
• Remain hands-on in design, development and deployment of software where required.
• Ensure solutions are secure, scalable and maintainable.
• Line manage and develop software engineers across experience levels.
• Foster engineering excellence and continuous improvement.

Skills

Technical leadership

Stakeholder management

CI/CD

Software architecture

Mentoring

Tools

Azure DevOps

Git

Docker

Cosmos DB

Job description

The Systems Engineering Lead is responsible for the technical leadership, delivery, and evolution of the Systems Engineering team. The team exists to design, build and enhance the systems, platforms, products and intellectual property that move Cloud Direct forward, with a particular focus on Artificial Intelligence, automation and emerging technologies.

This role is the senior technical leader within the Systems Engineering team, reporting to the Head of Business Systems alongside a Principal Architect, Systems Reliability and Automation team and Systems Operations team. While the Principal Architect owns architectural direction, governance and technical standards across Business Systems, the Systems Engineering Lead is accountable for translating that direction into successful engineering delivery which transforms the business.

The role combines hands‑on software engineering, technical leadership, coaching and delivery accountability. The successful candidate will lead a small but mighty team of software engineers (including graduates), shaping technical solutions from concept through to production whilst maintaining high standards of engineering quality, security and reliability.

Success in this role will be demonstrated by:

• Delivery of strategic systems, platforms and AI initiatives to agreed scope, quality and timelines.
• A high-performing engineering team with clear standards, effective ways of working and measurable development of engineers.
• Consistent delivery of secure, maintainable and supportable software with reduced technical debt and improved engineering maturity.
• Successful adoption of AI, automation and new technology capabilities that generate measurable business value.
• Strong alignment between engineering delivery and architectural strategy through effective partnership with the Principal Architect.
• Establishment of scalable engineering practices, tooling and processes that enable future growth of the Systems Engineering capability.

What you’ll be doing?

Technical Leadership:

• Provide technical leadership and direction for the Systems Engineering team.
• Lead solution design and key engineering decisions in partnership with the Principal Architect.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards, quality expectations and development practices through automation, testing, CI/CD, observability and development tooling.
• Provide deep technical leadership into selected customer innovation engagements, workshops and proof‑of‑concept activities where specialist engineering expertise is required.
• Lead the delivery of systems, platforms, integrations and AI‑enabled solutions.
• Remain hands‑on in the design, development and deployment of software where required.
• Ensure solutions are secure, scalable, maintainable and operationally supportable.
• Shape and prioritise technical work with stakeholders and product owners.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI, automation and emerging technologies to create business value.
• Translate emerging technologies from research and discovery activities into production‑ready solutions, prototypes and reusable intellectual property.
• Support customer‑facing innovation activities where deep technical expertise is required.
• Line manage, mentor and develop software engineers at all experience levels.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and capability development across the team.
• Foster a culture of engineering excellence, ownership and continuous improvement.

What you’ll need:

• 5+ years commercial software engineering experience (excluding junior roles).
• 3+ years experience leading engineering teams, technical programmes or senior technical initiatives.
• Proven experience designing and delivering complex business‑critical software solutions.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Azure platforms and cloud‑native development.
• Strong experience delivering AI‑enabled applications, intelligent automation solutions, or agent‑based systems.
• Experience with Azure OpenAI, AI Foundry or equivalent AI platforms.
• Experience building AI agents, copilots or workflow automation platforms.
• Experience using Azure DevOps, Git and CI/CD practices.
• Strong understanding of software security, DevSecOps and secure‑by‑design principles.
• Experience mentoring engineers and developing junior technical talent.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Must be able to work from our Bath office at least two days per week.

Experience and Skills Desired:

• Competent in C# (.NET 6+) and modern software architecture.
• Competent building web applications using React and modern SPA frameworks.
• Competent designing and implementing REST APIs and distributed systems.
• Experience with Python for AI, automation or data‑processing workloads.
• Experience with Docker, containers and Azure Container Apps.
• Experience with SQL Server and Cosmos DB.
• Experience contributing to technical strategy, roadmaps or architecture forums.
• Experience working within a Microsoft partner, consultancy or managed services environment.
• Experience supporting innovation or research‑led initiatives.

What we’re offering:

• Fitness Cash Contribution
• Pension Contribution
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Leave
• Life Assurance, Critical Illness, and Income Protection.
• Birthday lunches, a Fun Fund, and more.

At Cloud Direct, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to our success. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and strive to build a team that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We encourage candidates of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, abilities, and socioeconomic statuses to apply.