Systems Development Manager

Evolve IT Recruitment Ltd; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days annual leave + holidays

Life assurance

Job summary

Evolve IT Recruitment Ltd in Edinburgh is seeking a Systems Development Manager to lead and grow a software engineering team in a hybrid setup. You will drive delivery across multiple products, balance capacity with business demand, and foster a high-performance culture.

You will partner with Product Owners and Technical Leads to ensure successful delivery, support performance management and career development, and help shape workforce planning and recruitment.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software developers or delivery teams.
• Strong people management and coaching skills.
• Proven ability to balance resources across projects or products.
• Knowledge of modern software development practices.
• Ability to influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Pragmatic, organized leadership style.

Responsibilities

• Leading, coaching and developing software development professionals
• Managing recruitment, onboarding and team growth activities
• Supporting performance management, career planning and professional development
• Coordinating development capacity across multiple products and workstreams
• Partnering with technical and product leaders to support effective delivery
• Identifying and mitigating risks relating to capacity, workload and team wellbeing
• Promoting knowledge sharing, mentoring and continuous improvement
• Contributing to succession planning and long-term capability development

Skills

People leadership

Team coaching

Stakeholder engagement

Resource allocation

Software delivery

Job description

Edinburgh | Hybrid Working (Minimum 2 Days in Office)

Are you an experienced people leader with a background in software delivery and development teams?

We're working with an innovative Edinburgh-based technology business operating at the forefront of Britain's transition to a smarter, more flexible and sustainable systems in their sector. Following a significant new phase of growth, they're looking to appoint a Systems Development Manager to lead and develop their software engineering team.

This is a leadership role focused on building high-performing development teams, enabling successful delivery, and creating an environment where engineers can thrive. You'll play a key role in workforce planning, team development, recruitment, performance coaching, and ensuring development capacity aligns with business priorities.

Working closely with Product Owners, Technical Leads and senior stakeholders, you'll help balance business demand with team capability, removing barriers to delivery while supporting the growth and wellbeing of your teams.

While technical leadership remains with dedicated technical specialists, you'll ideally have either an interest or a good understanding of modern software development practices and know how to create the conditions for engineers to excel.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Leading, coaching and developing software development professionals
• Managing recruitment, onboarding and team growth activities
• Supporting performance management, career planning and professional development
• Coordinating development capacity across multiple products and workstreams
• Partnering with technical and product leaders to support effective delivery
• Identifying and mitigating risks relating to capacity, workload and team wellbeing
• Promoting knowledge sharing, mentoring and continuous improvement
• Contributing to succession planning and long-term capability development

What We're Looking For:

• Previous experience leading software developers or technical delivery teams
• Strong people management, coaching and stakeholder engagement skills
• Experience balancing resource allocation across multiple projects or products
• Good understanding of modern software development and delivery methodologies
• Ability to influence and collaborate across technical and non-technical stakeholders
• A pragmatic, organised and people-focused leadership style

Why Join?

This is an opportunity to join a well-established technology business that is playing a critical role in the market they are involved in. You'll work alongside highly skilled professionals in a collaborative environment where innovation, sustainability and continuous improvement are genuinely valued.

The company offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including:

• 30 days annual leave plus recognised public holidays
• Life assurance

Location: Edinburgh (Hybrid, minimum two days per week in the office)