Software Engineering Lead in Basingstoke

Location: Basingstoke or Wales, with hybrid working
Business Unit: OCTO
Reporting to: CTO
Package: Salary plus Centerprise benefits package
Security clearance: SC required

Take the lead in shaping how software engineering is delivered across Centerprise International.

You will set the standards for internally developed applications, integrations, automation and service platforms, while remaining close to the technology and influencing strategic engineering decisions alongside the CTO.

Role Summary

As Software Engineering Lead, you will act as the technical authority for internally developed software, providing leadership across engineering standards, architecture, design assurance and production readiness.

The role will initially combine leadership with hands-on contribution to strategic platforms. As our engineering capability develops, your focus will increasingly move towards technical governance, architecture assurance, engineering standards and the growth of a software engineering function supporting internally developed applications, integrations, automation and service platforms.

What you’ll do

Engineering leadership and governance

• Establish and maintain software engineering standards, practices and governance across Centerprise.
• Act as the technical authority for internally developed applications, integrations, automation solutions and service platforms.
• Provide technical leadership and engineering oversight throughout the software development lifecycle.

Work closely with the CTO to establish engineering standards, review strategic designs and ensure solutions are ready for operational use.

Architecture and assurance

• Review solution architectures and technical designs before production deployment.
• Ensure software is secure, scalable, resilient, maintainable and supportable.
• Assess designs against non-functional requirements, including availability, performance, security and operational supportability.
• Provide design assurance and production readiness assessments for internally developed solutions.

Delivery and platform development

• Contribute directly to the design and development of strategically important internal platforms, integrations and services, including future customer and operational platforms.
• Support the delivery of applications, integrations and automation that move successfully into operational use.
• Champion CI/CD, automated deployment and modern software engineering approaches.
• Help reduce technical debt, unnecessary rework and production defects.

Capability and continuous improvement

• Establish and develop the organisation’s software engineering capability, standards and ways of working.
• Mentor engineers and promote consistent, high-quality engineering practices.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, development approaches and tooling.
• Provide clear technical recommendations to the CTO on where new technologies could strengthen engineering capability or business outcomes.

What success looks like

• Software engineering standards and governance are clearly established and consistently adopted.
• Internally developed solutions enter production secure, maintainable, supportable and operationally ready.
• Architecture reviews and design assurance improve engineering quality and reduce avoidable rework and production defects.
• Engineering capability continues to mature through stronger ways of working, tooling and automation.
• Strategic internal platforms and services are delivered successfully and continue to improve after launch.
• New technologies are assessed effectively and adopted where they deliver clear engineering or business value.

What you’ll bring

Core experience

• Proven software engineering leadership experience.
• Strong software architecture experience.
• Experience designing and delivering software platforms, integrations or services through to operational use, beyond proof-of-concept.
• Experience designing for scalability, resilience, maintainability and operational support.
• Experience implementing CI/CD and automated deployment practices.
• Experience in establishing engineering standards and carrying out design reviews.
• Experience reviewing technical designs against availability, performance, security and supportability requirements.
• A degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent professional experience.

Technical capability

• Strong Python and C# development skills.
• GitHub Enterprise, Github Copilot, and GitHub Actions.
• Azure App Services and Azure Functions.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, engineering standards and production readiness.

Behaviours and approach

• Able to influence and collaborate effectively across teams and seniority levels.
• Clear and confident communicator who can explain technical decisions to different audiences.
• Comfortable making informed technical decisions using analysis, experience and sound judgement.
• Able to mentor engineers and support the development of technical capability.
• Strategic in your thinking, with the ability to prioritise effectively and anticipate future engineering needs.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the confidence to challenge existing approaches constructively.
• Customer-focused, dependable and committed to delivering high-quality outcomes.

Experience in one or more of the following would be beneficial:

• Semantic Kernel
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures
• Microsoft Fabric
• Docker
• Cloud-native services
• Managed services platforms

Centerprise is a well-established UK technology provider with over 40 years of experience delivering infrastructure, cloud, managed services and lifecycle solutions.

We combine the strength of a national organisation with the agility of a growing business, supporting public and private sector customers across the UK.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Shape the software engineering standards and governance used across the organisation.
• Work closely with the CTO and have direct influence on strategic technical decisions.
• Combine hands-on engineering with architecture, assurance and technical leadership.
• Help build and mature an engineering capability covering applications, integrations, automation and service platforms.
• Pension scheme, including the option to join the Salary Sacrifice/Exchange for Pension scheme.
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
• Death in Service cover at four times the basic salary.
• SAGE Employee Benefits Membership.
• Salary sacrifice charity donation scheme.
• Ci Christmas Savings Club.
• Ci Lottery.
• Free parking at our out-of-town offices.
• Private Medical Insurance available, partially subsidised by Centerprise.
• Two days each year for personal well-being.

Work-life balance

• 25 days of annual leave, rising to 28 days after five years of service.
• Holiday Purchase Scheme.
• Hybrid working, with optional home working on Mondays and Fridays.

Our culture

Centerprise values customer focus, commitment, collaboration, constructive challenge and initiative. We encourage people to contribute ideas, take ownership of their work and develop their skills while working with experienced professionals across the Group.

Centerprise International is an equal opportunities employer.