Head of Engineering (Permanent) in Manchester

We’re Evergreen Life and we’re on a mission to increase everybody’s healthy and happy years. We’re looking for blue sky thinkers, passionate personalities, and diligent doers to help us make good change happen. We develop software applications and solutions to support this and make great use of cutting‑edge technology. Health and wellness are woven into our cultural fabric. It’s what we do and who we are. But we don’t just talk the talk, we believe in prioritising the wellbeing of everyone that works for us. As a fast‑paced, dynamic company, we’re constantly evolving to stay ahead. This means that responsibilities within this role may adapt over time to meet the changing needs of the business and drive our success.

The Head of Engineering leads Evergreen’s software engineering and development functions across all digital products, accountable for ensuring the delivery of high‑quality, compliant, and scalable software solutions that directly support Evergreen’s strategy and business plan. They are responsible for engineering standards, technical delivery, people development and continuous improvement in approaches and processes to software delivery. Ensuring development initiatives and projects across the software development lifecycle are delivered on time, within scope and to quality. The Head of Engineering will drive governance, implement best practices, and oversee the development roadmap maximising efficiency, transparency, and predictability of high‑quality software releases. Collaborating closely with engineering, product, research and business stakeholders to drive delivery, fostering a culture of excellence, and support the professional growth of their team. This role balances people management, technical oversight, and resource management to ensure the team is empowered to perform at its best.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & Governance: Provide leadership and direction across all Evergreen development teams, fostering a high‑performance culture focused on delivery, innovation, and quality. Collaborate with product, engineering, research, and business stakeholders to align all software engineering work with business strategy and product roadmaps. Improve and maintain development management frameworks, tools, and standards tailored to development initiatives. Define and enforce governance processes, including stage gates, reporting cadence, and risk management. Establish and embed consistent delivery standards across all development squads and teams (Agile, Hybrid, Waterfall as applicable). Ensure alignment with ISO 27001, UKCA/MHRA SaMD, GDPR, and clinical safety (DCB0129/0160).
• Resource Planning & Delivery Assurance: Support sprint and release planning, ensuring clear ownership, realistic timelines, and risk mitigation. Oversee resource allocation and capacity planning across squads and product verticals. Ensure predictable, timely, and cost‑effective delivery through clear metrics (velocity, utilisation, capitalisation, and release cadence). Work closely with product managers to prioritise work, set goals, and align roadmaps. Monitor progress, manage risks, and remove obstacles to keep teams focused and productive.
• Continuous Improvement & Best Practices: Continuously assess and optimise development and delivery methodologies. Champion continuous improvement and knowledge sharing across teams and the delivery lifecycle. Implement tools and systems to support collaboration, transparency, and reporting. Contribute to the evolution of engineering culture and operating models.
• Stakeholder Management and Communication: Act as a trusted partner to cross‑functional stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and alignment. Build strong relationships across departments to enable alignment and effective execution. Be a trusted partner to the executive and SLT providing consistent, regular reporting and clear communication on delivery performance.
• Technical and Team Leadership: Lead and manage a team of software engineers, ensuring engagement, motivation, and career growth. Provide coaching, mentoring, performance feedback, and professional development opportunities. Drive recruitment, onboarding, and retention strategies to build a high‑performing team. Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation and continuous learning. Mentor teams on development approaches and software delivery best practices and tools. Work closely with architecture and security teams to ensure technical integrity, performance, and scalability. Establish and ensure coding, architecture, testing, and DevOps standards are applied across all products.
• People management and development: Line manage and mentor engineering leads, fostering an inclusive and high‑performance environment. Define and deliver professional development plans, succession planning, and recruitment to maintain capability growth.

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Essential: 8+ years’ experience in software engineering and team leadership within a digital, software or health‑tech environment. Proven success in managing complex software portfolios and distributed teams. Adaptable, proactive, and comfortable driving change in fast‑paced environments. Strong understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC), Agile methodologies (Scrum/Kanban) and DevOps principles. Strong communication and stakeholder management skills up to executive level. Advanced use of portfolio and delivery tools (Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet, or equivalent). Excellent organisational and analytical skills, able to manage multiple concurrent priorities. Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills. Collaborative leader who can influence without direct authority. Strategic thinker with strong problem‑solving skills who can balance business needs with technical integrity.

Desirable: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or related field. Experience in NHS digital transformation or medical device software delivery. Familiarity with ISO 27001, ISO 13485, and MHRA SaMD requirements.

Benefits: Competitive salary and performance‑based bonus. Share options in a high‑growth, purpose‑driven UK health‑tech company. Hybrid working (Manchester office 2–3 days per week). 25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays. Pension, private health cover, and wellbeing benefits. The opportunity to shape the delivery culture of a business improving lives at national scale.