Engineering Manager - NESO in Wokingham

About the Role

National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognises the potential of bright and talented individuals, and we encourage you to join us as Great Britain’s energy system undergoes an ambitious, exciting, and vital transformation. Together with industry, we are creating a cleaner, more sustainable energy future. The Engineering Managers for OBP will be responsible for owning and advancing the engineering practice within one of the core product areas in the Balancing Transformation programme. This role is suited to an engineering leader with deep hands‑on experience, strong architectural awareness, and proven capability operating in multi‑vendor delivery environments. You will guide engineering excellence, ensure high‑quality product delivery, and manage cross‑functional engineering teams—including vendor engineers—within a complex, high‑performing ecosystem. Your leadership will directly influence product reliability, delivery velocity, engineering culture, and long‑term technical strategy. This role can be based from Wokingham, and we continue to offer hybrid working from office and home. We are open to full time and part time applicants, as well as flexible working arrangements.

Key Accountabilities

• Own and evolve the engineering practice for a defined OBP product area within the Balancing Transformation Programme.
• Provide strong technical leadership across distributed, multi‑vendor engineering teams.
• Define and uphold engineering standards, development guardrails, reusable patterns, and microservice best practices.
• Translate architectural direction into actionable engineering plans and ensure high‑quality, production‑ready delivery.
• Drive improvements in test automation, CI/CD, observability, and DevOps maturity.
• Ensure clear documentation and remediation planning for technical debt.
• Proactively manage engineering risks, integration dependencies, and quality across internal and vendor teams.
• Partner with Product Managers, Solution Architects, Delivery Managers, and UX to shape product delivery and technical roadmap.
• Grow and empower engineering leads by providing frameworks, coaching, and technical direction that enables them to challenge and uplift their squads.

About You

• Strong software engineering background with hands‑on experience in microservices or distributed system architectures.
• End‑to‑end engineering proficiency including CI/CD pipelines, DevOps tooling, automated testing, observability, and operational readiness.
• Deep expertise in one of the following technical areas: Data Science or Optimisation / Planning Models, Real‑time or event‑driven systems, Transactional systems, Responsive front‑end engineering and modern UI frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to drive delivery, navigate ambiguity, and make pragmatic engineering decisions.
• Strong leadership and people management skills with experience mentoring engineering leads and multi‑vendor teams.
• Ability to rapidly understand business context, product domain, and complex problem statements, and translate them into engineering direction.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to set expectations, challenge constructively, and strengthen team culture.

Desirable Skills

• Experience working in highly regulated, mission‑critical, or real‑time operational environments.
• Knowledge of power systems, Balancing Mechanism, or energy industry domains.
• Familiarity with cloud‑native architectures, event streaming, or large‑scale data platforms.
• Background in designing or supporting optimisation engines, forecasting models, or decision‑support tools.
• Prior experience improving engineering maturity across multiple delivery partners.

About What You’ll Get

A competitive salary of circa £64,000 – £74,000 – dependent on experience and capability. As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 15% of your salary for stretch performance, 28 days annual leave as standard, and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. You will also have access to a comprehensive benefits package tailored to support your well‑being and professional success. From a competitive salary to flexible work arrangements, we promote your work‑life balance. Enjoy fit for purpose wellbeing and lifestyle offerings, ongoing skill development aligned to our Purpose and Values, and be part of a supportive community that values your individuality and where you can belong.

About Us

The creation of National Energy System Operator (NESO) is driven by an urgent need to unify and optimise our approach to energy. A more integrated and coordinated strategy is needed to meet the unprecedented challenges of climate change, ensuring secure energy supply, and keeping costs manageable for consumers.

About The National Energy System Operator (NESO)

In Autumn of 2024, the ESO transitioned to National Energy System Operator, or NESO for short. Previously denoted as the Future System Operator (or FSO), the new National Energy System Operator is the independent body responsible for planning Great Britain’s electricity and gas networks and operating the electricity system. The ESO, including all of its existing roles, are now at the heart of the new National Energy System Operator. As NESO, we will build on our existing roles, capabilities, and ways of working significantly to create an organisation the energy system and its users’ need. Our new capabilities will enable us to look across vectors, including electricity, natural gas and hydrogen, and crucially consider the trade‑offs between them. The organisation is set up as a public corporation with its own Board of independent directors, with complete operational independence from government, the regulator and any and all commercial interest. As was the ESO, NESO will be licenced and regulated by Ofgem through price control agreements and obligated to identify optimal solutions to system operations and planning in the most sustainable, affordable and secure way for all. The time to deliver is now. As part of our team, you won’t just be touching the lives of almost everyone in Great Britain – you’ll be shaping the way we use and consume energy for generations to come.

More Information

This role closes on 05/03/2026 at 23:59, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary. We work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office. We’re committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

Don’t Miss Out!

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At NESO, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one.