Software Systems Development Manager

This is an exciting opportunity to join a busy rail operator, that has been highly commended for their innovation in a senior business leadership role. In this position you will be responsible for the development, delivery and maintenance of Information Technology tools to Engineering users. You will manage a small team of internal software developers. You will be responsible for innovation - developing and implementing cutting-edge software tools to support the success of the engineering departments within the business. You will join a successful team that has been recognised and won multiple industry awards for Innovation and Performance including a Railway Industry Innovation Award, National Rail Awards and Rail Business Awards alongside internal recognitions for the team's strong contributions to wider business objectives.

Responsibilities:

• You will manage a team of software developers and ensure the provision, implementation, control and management of the software development tools used by the Engineering Systems Development team.
• You will manage the software development lifecycle of all systems.
• You will lead the strategy for the department and oversee all activity of the software development team in relation to engineering systems support.
• The role requires a high degree of understanding and confidence in applying a variety of programming languages, database structures, software interfaces, and systems, linking these with advanced understanding of business process analysis in order to reach optimal solutions.
• As a manager you will ensure the right business processes and capabilities exist/are developed within the Engineering Systems Development team, establishing mechanisms and continuously monitoring these to identify improvements, measure business benefits and undertake gap analysis to ensure the needs of the engineering function are adequately met.
• You will act as the interface between the software development team and the Engineering Systems Support team, converting technical specifications into software development workstreams, coordinating the development team members, allocating resources, and streamlining processes.
• You will identify technology needs for the business and work with Engineering Systems Manager and the wider stakeholders within the Engineering Systems Team to develop viable solutions that deliver benefit for the user and the business.
• Assist the Engineering Systems Manager in maintenance and development of Engineering specific IT systems as required.

Essential Skills, Experience & Qualifications:

• Ideally degree qualified in business, computer science, engineering, information systems or information technology.
• Proven hands-on experience in software development, ideally in PHP, Laravel, MySql, REST and SOAP-based web services.
• Strong background and understanding of high-level programming languages, software, and systems.
• Web development skills.
• Solid understanding of PHP, HTML, CSS.
• Solid understanding of OOP, MVC concepts and back-end PHP frameworks.
• Good understanding of JavaScript.
• Practical understanding of front-end development frameworks.
• Solid understanding of structured data sources, specifically SQL databases.
• Solid understanding of Linux operating systems and container-based software deployment.
• Detailed knowledge of Data management, Data Analytics and Automation.
• Practical experience in leading a team in software development.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Working understanding of Project Management frameworks (Agile/Scrum/Waterfall).

Desirable Skills & Experience:

• Data Innovation, showing an awareness of opportunities for innovation with new tools and uses of data and keen interest in new technologies and innovation.
• Natural communicator – able to communicate proactively and with ease to a variety of different stakeholders using language and concepts their audience can easily understand and able to motivate stakeholders to support project and CI initiatives.
• Proven track record in the area of business analysis, root cause analysis (systems hardware and software problems) and development of workable and achievable technical specifications for solutions.
• Previous experience in leading software development teams, and/or full-stack LAMP software development roles is desirable.
• Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills – able to effectively and efficiently log, analyse and manage problems, identify and implement the appropriate solution.

My client is an equal opportunities employer, that aims to foster a diverse and inclusive working environment. If you have any questions or need any special assistance throughout the application process, please do not hesitate to ask.