Technical Software Manager

AO; Bolton; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

We’re looking for a Technical Software Manager to lead engineering teams in developing exceptional software solutions at AO. You will mentor team leaders, enhance engineering practices, and ensure the development of reliable, secure, and scalable systems while embracing a robust Agile and DevOps culture. This role offers the opportunity to keep your technical skills sharp and empower others in a collaborative environment.

Benefits

25 holidays plus bank holidays, increasing to 27 after 2 years

5% pension contribution with company matching

Discounted gym and wellness programs

On-site perks: free parking and subsidized Starbucks

Paid charity days: 2 days per year

Qualifications

• Hands-on technical experience in software engineering.
• Strong technical and people leadership.
• Experience with Agile and DevOps practices.

Responsibilities

• Coach and mentor Team Leads for growth and development.
• Drive engineering excellence across teams.
• Champion CI/CD and Agile practices.

Skills

Problem Solving

Leadership

Agile Practices

DevOps

Cloud Expertise

Communication

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science or related field

Tools

.NET

AWS

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD tools

Job description

We’re looking for a Technical Software Manager to help our engineering teams build and deliver exceptional software that powers our retail business. This is a hands-on technical leadership role, working closely with Team Leads and engineers to drive engineering excellence, improve our technical domain, and ensure we’re building reliable, secure, and scalable systems.

You’ll mentor Team Leads, champion Agile and DevOps best practices, and support technical challenges when needed. This role is perfect if you love empowering teams while keeping your technical skills sharp.

Here's What You Can Expect To Be Doing

• Coach and mentor Team Leads, supporting their growth and leadership development.
• Drive engineering excellence, ensuring best practices and consistency across teams.
• Guide technical direction, reviewing designs and steering key technical decisions.
• Provide hands-on support for estate evaluations, incidents, and escalations.
• Champion Agile & DevOps, embedding CI/CD, value slicing, and continuous improvement.
• Address tech debt, helping prioritize and resolve longstanding issues.
• Enhance security, working with teams to reduce vulnerabilities.
• Track key engineering metrics to drive continuous improvements.

A Few Things About You

• Hands-on technical experience with a background in software engineering and strong problem-solving skills.
• Strong technical and people leadership, coaching teams toward better decision-making.
• Data-driven mindset, using metrics to improve engineering practices.
• Solid understanding of engineering principles like OOP, SOLID, and best practices.
• Experience with Agile, DevOps, and CI/CD practices.
• Cloud expertise, comfortable working with cloud platforms and scalable, secure infrastructure.
• Excellent communication skills, able to translate complex topics for different audiences.
• Ability to ensure key mechanisms for CI/CD and DevOps cycles are in place and effective.
• Community engagement experience, improving technical standards across teams.

Desirable Technical Skills & Experience

Experience in areas such as:

• .NET & Cloud Development: .NET Framework/Core (C#, ASP.NET, Web API), AWS (EC2, Lambda, DynamoDB, S3).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): CloudFormation, Terraform, or Serverless.
• DevOps & CI/CD tools: TeamCity, Octopus, BitBucket Pipelines, GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes.
• Software Architecture & Testing: Microservices, TDD, unit testing (xUnit, NUnit, Moq).
• Security Practices: OWASP, Wiz, Snyk for security improvements.

A Bit About Us

We offer a wide range of appliances and electricals, from washing machines to TVs and laptops. We’re committed to helping our customers brilliantly, and value our employees beyond just their CVs—together, we can achieve extraordinary things.

Our benefits are designed to support you through the moments that matter, including health and wellness, work-life balance, and opportunities to give back.

• Holidays: 25 days plus bank holidays, increasing to 27 days after 2 years.
• Pension: Contribute 5% of your salary, with company matching.
• Exclusive access to the AO Arena for events and pre-sales.
• Health & wellbeing: discounted gym, onsite spa, virtual GP, mental health support, and more.
• Discounts across our product range.
• Enhanced family leave policies for maternity, paternity, and adoption.
• Paid charity days: 2 days per year to volunteer.
• On-site perks: free parking, complimentary breakfast, and coffee at our subsidized Starbucks.

For all benefits and perks, visit our AO Benefits page.