Senior Engineering Manager in London

As a high-performing SME with a global customer base, we are looking for a senior, hands-on engineering leader to take full ownership of our core technology platforms and lead a small, high-performing team to deliver simple, scalable software that delights our customers.

You will spend about 70% of your time building and maintaining our core Rails platform and mobile app infrastructure, with the remainder focused on delivery, coaching, and cross-functional collaboration. You will be the most senior engineer on the team; setting technical direction, leading by example, and helping shape how we grow.

This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to build product-centric systems with purpose, and who leads with heart, loves innovation, and is excited to grow others while growing themselves. You will report into our Managing Director Lily Smith, a technical product leader.

The salary for this role is £90,000 - £110,000, determined by factors that include relevant experience and location.

What you will do:

• Lead and support a small engineering team, balancing delivery, technical quality, and team health.
• Spend significant time hands-on with Ruby on Rails, and occasionally contribute to our React Native mobile app.
• Mentor engineers through active coaching, clear feedback, and meaningful growth plans.
• Help engineers make sound technical decisions, acting as a sounding board and guide.
• Ensure the team delivers iteratively and reliably, with a customer-first mindset.
• Collaborate deeply with Product and Design to shape realistic roadmaps and well-scoped solutions.
• Proactively spot blockers and own delivery outcomes, technical health, and production stability.
• Contribute to hiring and onboarding as we grow the team.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and learning-focused team culture.
• Encourage a mindset of continuous improvement; in systems, tools, and ourselves.

We are looking for a strong engineer first, with leadership experience and a deep sense of responsibility for the customer, the code, and the team.

You will likely bring:

• 7+ years building and operating production systems (Rails a big plus), and 2+ years leading or line managing engineers.
• Strong backend experience, ideally with Ruby on Rails and Hotwire, and enough breadth to support others across the stack.
• Confidence working with PostgreSQL, caching layers like Redis or Memcached, and background jobs (e.g. Sidekiq).
• Strong grasp of software best practices, including CI/CD, testing, and system observability.
• Experience supporting live production environments and contributing to incident response.
• Proven ability to manage team delivery, navigate trade-offs, and deliver against customer needs.
• Great communication skills; you work well with designers, product managers, and execs alike.
• Passion for growing people, and helping others own their craft and impact.

Above all, you care about how we build, not just what we ship, and you are excited to shape the technical foundations of a customer-centric company.

How We Work – Our Values in Action:

• Love Innovation – You experiment, simplify, and use good judgment to drive progress. You are not afraid to challenge outdated assumptions or modernise legacy thinking.
• Lead With Heart – You coach engineers to problem-solve, lead with empathy, and show care for your team, your peers, and our customers.
• Yearn to Learn – You are curious, proactive, and always levelling up; both yourself and those around you.
• Own It – You take responsibility for outcomes. You are known for following through on your commitments to others.
• Be The Greatest – You pursue excellence and set a high bar without ego. You lift the team by raising your own game.