At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to build a new Developer Experience platform and enhance engineering efficiency.
- Company: Join the Guardian, a diverse organisation committed to fearless journalism.
- Benefits: Generous salary, 30 days leave, private healthcare, and flexible working.
- Other info: Hybrid work model with opportunities for career development and inclusivity.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a dynamic environment while supporting your team's growth.
- Qualifications: Experienced people manager with a background in DevOps and cloud-native architecture.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Join our team at the Guardian and be a part of a diverse and inclusive global organisation that delivers fearless, investigative journalism and holds power to account. Our team of award‑winning journalists, cutting‑edge commercial professionals, and industry‑leading digital experts are committed to making a difference and representing a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. We offer a challenging and exciting environment for career development, with a focus on training, growth and fostering an inclusive culture.
We are now looking for a Senior Engineering Manager to join the Reliability and Operations team. The team’s main objective is to build a new Developer Experience platform that improves the efficiency of the Guardian’s engineering team by strengthening our observability and deployment capabilities and making it easier to develop software. In this role you will guide a group of developers to decommission our existing platform and support the team in identifying a migration strategy that ensures it is completed within an agreed timeframe. Our infrastructure lives in AWS and most of our backend code is written in Scala, but other languages such as TypeScript and Go are used where appropriate. The Reliability and Operations team sits in the Developer Experience Stream alongside the Security and AI and Automation teams, collaborating frequently with both teams as appropriate. In the Guardian’s Product and Engineering department, we are exploring AI technologies and their potential role in enhancing the productivity of our software engineering team. You will provide support and guidance to your team in leveraging AI technologies for software development, carefully considering the risks and opportunities.
About the role
- Support a group of developers in their technical and personal development, acting as their primary point of contact, providing the developers with regular feedback and guidance.
- Coaching developers on areas for development, celebrating their achievements and recognising their strengths.
- Demonstrating your experience and knowledge as a developer with a variety of experience across domains and technologies, including your experience and interest in DevOps and migrations.
- Communicating your team’s goal and vision, and how that relates to the wider organisation.
- Ensuring the team collaborates with the Product and Engineering department to migrate services to the new platform and that the department is informed about the work that the team is doing.
- Prioritising work to ensure the team stays effective.
- Ensuring the team has the right balance between product delivery and technical maintenance.
- Actively participate in the engineering management team and shape practices to improve the wider department, including recruitment, mentoring and evolving our development practices.
About you
- Experienced people manager, committed to supporting your line reports and their career development and building effective, inclusive teams.
- Experience of working within the DevOps, platform engineering or Site Reliability Engineering space.
- You have an understanding of cloud‑native architecture and modern DevOps tooling.
- Demonstrated examples of driving improvements to the reliability, observability and/or maintenance of services through the use of tooling and modern best practices.
- You are interested in contributing to the Developer Experience stream’s long‑term strategy.
- Familiarity with the team’s tech stack, including AWS and at least one of the team’s coding languages (e.g. Typescript, Scala, Go).
We actively encourage applications from groups traditionally underrepresented in the UK media. We operate in a hybrid environment working 3 days a week from our offices in Kings Cross and 2 days a week remotely. The salary for new Senior Engineering Managers at the Guardian is £112,000 per year.
Benefits at the Guardian
- 30 days of annual leave per year (plus bank holidays) with the option to purchase an additional 5 days.
- Our pension scheme is generous; if you contribute 5% then we will contribute 8–12% (depending on your age).
- Employees are given 2 volunteering days annually and the option of payroll giving.
- Season ticket loans are also available.
- You are entitled to private healthcare, life cover, income protection, and eye tests.
- You can also opt in to dental insurance.
- We have enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave policies in place.
- We also support our employees by offering an IVF, menopause, baby loss, and trans equality policy.
Senior Engineering Manager employer: GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA
At the Guardian, we pride ourselves on being an excellent employer that champions diversity and inclusivity within a dynamic and supportive work environment. As a Senior Engineering Manager, you will not only lead a talented team in enhancing our Developer Experience platform but also benefit from extensive career development opportunities, generous leave policies, and a comprehensive benefits package that prioritises your well-being and personal growth. Our hybrid working model allows for flexibility, ensuring you can thrive both in our Kings Cross office and remotely.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Engineering Manager
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Engineering Manager
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
