Head of Software Engineering in Surrey, Woking

Job Title

Head of Software Engineering

Ref #

59420

Date posted

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Country

United Kingdom

Location

Woking

Business area

IT

Department

IT

Position level

3 - Head of (L -20)

Working time

Full Time

Contract type

Permanent

Working pattern

9am - 6pm Monday to Friday

What to Expect
The Head of Software Engineering leads the engineering function within Customer Experience Solutions, owning the build, release and operational quality of McLaren's client-facing digital platforms. The role holds technical accountability for all software delivered into the digital backbone, whether written by McLaren engineers, contractors or delivery partners, and is the final point of technical acceptance for supplier work. It exists so that an estate delivered by six partners alongside an internal team is engineered to one consistent standard, is secure by design, and can be operated and evolved by McLaren over the long term rather than rebuilt each time a contract ends.
What You'll Do

• Own end-to-end engineering delivery across the customer-facing platform estate, including the website, configurator, owner app, client portal, stock platforms and booking tools.
• Act as the technical authority for partner and supplier work. Define the acceptance criteria, review the output and sign off delivery before release, so that no partner code enters production without McLaren technical acceptance.
• Set, publish and enforce engineering standards across every contributor, so that platforms built by different teams and partners are consistent in architecture, code quality, testing and documentation.
• Own secure engineering practice within the software development lifecycle, covering threat modelling, secure coding standards, dependency and vulnerability management, and security testing gates aligned to McLaren policy. Accountable for the engineering element of the digital delivery budget.
• Establish and run a squad-based delivery model in which each squad is led by a McLaren tech lead who is accountable for technical decisions within that scope.
• Build the internal tech lead layer, using the McLaren Engineering Competency Framework to assess capability, assign Senior and Staff Tech Lead scope, and develop engineers toward it.
• Reduce dependency on external engineering capacity by identifying the capabilities McLaren must own and converting supplier-held knowledge into internal capability against an agreed timeline.
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture on integration and data design, with Product Management on roadmap feasibility and sequencing, and with Programme and Delivery on release planning and supplier governance.
• Partner with Core Technology on QA, DevOps, environments and release tooling so that engineering standards are enforced consistently at the point of release.
• Own the engineering input to supplier selection, statements of work and commercial reviews, ensuring agreements are structured around outcomes and quality standards McLaren can hold partners to. What You'll Bring Business knowledge
• Understanding of customer-facing digital platforms and the commercial outcomes they support, ideally within automotive, luxury retail or a comparable consumer sector.
• Familiarity with a multi-partner delivery estate and the commercial mechanics of engineering supplier agreements. Essential functional and technical skills
• Substantial experience leading software engineering functions that deliver customer-facing web, mobile and integration platforms at scale.
• A proven record of holding delivery partners to a technical standard, including defining acceptance criteria and exercising sign-off authority.
• Depth in modern engineering practice, including continuous integration and delivery, automated testing, code review discipline, release management and production operations.
• Practical command of secure development practice, including secure coding standards, vulnerability management and security testing within the development lifecycle.
• Experience establishing squad-based agile delivery and a tech lead layer, including capability assessment and structured development.
• Experience converting outsourced or supplier-held capability into a permanent internal engineering team.
• Confidence engaging senior stakeholders on technical trade-offs, risk and investment. Personal attributes and competencies
• Sets a clear technical standard and holds the line on it, with partners as readily as with internal teams.
• Builds trust through consistency, so that business and retailer stakeholders can rely on what engineering commits to.
• Develops engineers deliberately, creating leadership scope rather than additional hierarchy.
• Comfortable operating in a changing organisation and making decisions without complete information.
• Pragmatic about where external capacity adds value and where McLaren must own the capability. What We'll Do for You We offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes: Structured career development framework25 days' holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five daysEnhanced company pension schemeDiscretionary annual bonus awardPrivate medical insurance and health cash planLife assurance benefitAbility to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years' serviceBenefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shoppingGenerous parental leave policiesA range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice Who Are We? No restraints. No limitations. We don't simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars. It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks. McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.