Vice President of Engineering

Darktrace; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Matched charitable giving scheme

23 days holiday + UK bank holidays (25

Birthday day off

Salary Sacrifice pension 4% employer

Private medical insurance (BUPA)

Life assurance 4x salary

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work

Job summary

Darktrace seeks an experienced VP of Software Engineering to lead the execution and delivery of software initiatives across the engineering organization in an in-office capacity in Cambridge, United Kingdom. You will partner with senior leadership to build high-performing teams, drive engineering excellence, and deliver products that create measurable customer and business value.

You will guide architectural and technical decision-making, align roadmaps with company goals, and establish delivery

Qualifications

• Experience leading multiple engineering teams and growing leaders.
• Strong track record in delivering complex software at scale.
• Excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead and align multiple engineering teams with company objectives.
• Translate priorities into roadmaps and execution plans with Product and Design.
• Drive engineering excellence, delivery quality, and predictable outcomes.
• Balance innovation with scalability, maintain security and commercial priorities.

Job description

• As the VP of Software Engineering, you will lead the execution and delivery of software development initiatives across the engineering organisation
• Working closely with senior leadership, you will be responsible for building high-performing teams, driving engineering excellence, and ensuring the successful delivery of products and services that create measurable customer and business value
• You will provide leadership across multiple engineering teams, translating company objectives into clear priorities, roadmaps, and execution plans. Partnering closely with Product, Design, Security, Customer Success, and other business functions, you will ensure teams remain aligned and focused on delivering high-quality outcomes
• Please note as a VP of Engineering you would be expected to be in office most of the time
• Leading and developing multiple engineering teams, creating alignment around priorities, objectives, and delivery outcomes
• Driving the successful execution of engineering initiatives, ensuring products and features are delivered with quality, predictability, and efficiency
• Contributing to engineering strategy, organisational planning, and technology direction to support long-term business goals
• Building and scaling high-performing teams through hiring, coaching, succession planning, and leadership development
• Establishing operational excellence through effective processes, metrics, and delivery frameworks that improve efficiency and reliability
• Fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, continuous improvement, and technical excellence
• In addition to organisational leadership, you will play an important role in supporting architectural and technical decision‑making, balancing innovation with scalability, maintainability, security, and commercial priorities
• You will communicate engineering priorities, risks, progress, and outcomes across the organisation, while maintaining a strong focus on customer needs and ensuring teams deliver solutions that create lasting value

Benefits

• Active social and charity initiatives including our matched charitable giving scheme and employee recognition scheme
• 23 days paid holiday plus UK bank holidays, increasing to 25 days after two years’ service
• Additional birthday day off
• Salary Sacrifice pension scheme with 4% employer contribution and minimum 5% employee contribution
• Optional BUPA private medical insurance for you and your immediate family
• Life assurance with a benefit of 4x your annual basic salary
• Employee Assistance Programme offering both on-line and telephone support and resources to you and your family
• Cycle to work scheme

We are seeking an experienced engineering leader with a proven track record of leading multiple engineering teams and delivering complex software products at scale. You will have successfully built and developed high-performing organisations, with experience leading engineering managers and growing future leadersExperience managing budgets, resource planning, and organisational growthExperience driving organisational change and continuous improvement initiativesStrong analytical, data-driven decision-making capabilitiesSignificant experience leading large-scale software engineering organisationsExceptional stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skillsA strong blend of strategic thinking and hands‑on executionYou will also possess a deep understanding of software engineering principles and best practices, along with experience defining engineering metrics and using data to improve delivery performanceStrong communication and presentation skills are essential, as is the ability to influence and drive alignment across both technical and non-technical stakeholdersA customer‑centric mindset, coupled with a passion for coaching, mentoring, and developing engineering talent, will be key to success in this role