VP Engineering

The VP Engineering is a senior leadership role created to drive a step‑change in how LRQA engineers its software. It sets the software engineering and architecture direction for Digital Transformation, establishes the standards, tooling and modern practices the function builds to, and leads the adoption of AI‑assisted engineering and automation to raise productivity and shorten time to release. It is the senior engineering voice alongside the Chief Digital Officer and across the executive, accountable for engineering strategy, technical standards and architecture direction, and for building the capability and ways of working that lift the whole function. Key Responsibilities Driving the software engineering step‑change – leads end‑to‑end direction, establishes standards, tooling and modern practices, and drives scalability through AI‑assisted development. AI‑assisted engineering – sets the direction for AI‑assisted development, embeds it into design, build and test, and establishes foundations like golden paths, repository structure, documentation‑as‑code, and reusable scaffolding. Automation and modern practice – drives automation throughout the software lifecycle, from build and test to release, setting continuous delivery, CI/CD, automated testing, and release readiness as the standard. Productivity and time to release – defines the engineering performance and productivity framework (DORA, cycle time, time to release) and drives sustained improvement. Engineering and architecture direction – sets the software engineering strategy, multi‑year roadmap, re‑platforming sequence, technology‑stack direction, and architectural coherence across Digital Transformation. Standards and technical direction – makes build‑versus‑buy and platform decisions at portfolio level, sets standards for security, reliability, performance, cost and operability. Architecture direction – sets design standards for systems, acts as escalation point for key technical design choices, and directs integration delivery and event‑driven patterns. Leadership – leads the Head of Development, Cyber Development Lead and Enterprise Architect, sets priorities and trade‑offs, clears senior blockers, and owns organisation design and operating model. Senior technical voice – provides technical advice, assurance on major investment, build‑versus‑buy and platform decisions, and articulates engineering value and constraints. Key Outcomes A genuine step‑change in engineering productivity and time to release, measured through DORA and cycle‑time metrics. AI‑assisted engineering adopted across teams on sound foundations of standards, golden paths, and scaffolding. Automation embedded across the software lifecycle, reducing manual effort and variability. A clear engineering strategy, technical roadmap and architecture direction in use across the function. Consistent application of engineering standards, tooling and stack across the estate. Major technical decisions agreed cleanly and consistently across the estate. A scalable engineering operating model and team structure that scales with the business. Leadership Profile Operates at a strategic level, setting direction and raising the capability of the whole function. Focused on outcomes with clear ownership of engineering direction and value. Builds and develops strong technical‑leadership teams, simplifies complex problems and aligns stakeholders, and holds credibility at executive level while making decisive technical decisions even with incomplete information. #J-18808-Ljbffr