Software Development Manager (Central Government) in Bracknell

Reporting to: Head of Delivery

Role Overview

The Development Manager is accountable for the delivery and ongoing development of Revenues & Benefits (R&B) and Central Government (CG) products. The role works closely with Product, Analysis, Testing, Support, DevOps and Security teams in the UK, alongside delivery and development teams in India, to ensure predictable, high‑quality software delivery.

Business Area

The role sits within the NEC Software Solutions Government & Housing business unit, which manages a broad portfolio of public sector products. The Development Manager leads teams working across both legacy, Waterfall‑based systems and modern Agile products within the R&B and CG domains.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership and People Management
  • Lead, coach and line manage development team leaders to ensure delivery against agreed budgets, schedules and quality standards.
  • Set clear objectives, support professional development, and address performance issues where required.
  • Conduct regular performance reviews and maintain open communication around priorities and expectations.
• Delivery and Operational Management
  • Provide clear and timely updates on delivery progress, resourcing and risks to the Head of Delivery.
  • Integration of offshore development team and management of their workloads in conjunction with the offshore Development Manager.
  • Ensure development activity complies with agreed methodologies, quality standards, audit requirements and security policies.
  • Drive continuous improvement across delivery processes and ways of working including the evaluation and use of AI tools in line with company guidelines.
  • Ensure processes meet required BSI standards and active participation in internal audits and external BSI audits.
• Resource and Capacity Management
  • Manage team capacity, capability and utilisation in line with product roadmaps and future demand.
  • Maintain and grow team as required through a combination of recruitment, training and skills transfer, maintaining an up‑to‑date skills matrix across the function.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration
  • Work closely with Product Management, Analysis, Testing, Support, Presales and Security teams and ensure pragmatic decision making in managing issues.
  • Contribute to resource forecasting and effort estimation for the product pipeline and individual releases.

Qualifications

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Proven experience leading and managing software development teams, including handling performance management and conflict resolution.
• Strong understanding of the full software development lifecycle, covering both legacy system support and new product development, ideally within a public sector environment.
• Experience in capacity planning, release management and commercially aware decision‑making.
• Excellent problem‑solving and stakeholder communication skills.
• Good appreciation of security practices in application development.

Desirable

• Domain experience within Revenues & Benefits.
• Experience of data migration, system integration and interface development.
• Experience working directly with customers and external partners.

Additional Information

We pride ourselves in offering an excellent benefits package, including an above average pension scheme. When you join the team at NEC Software Solutions, you are provided with the following:

• Private Medical Cover funded by NEC for Employees (with the option to add family members at an additional cost).
• 25 days paid holiday with the option to buy/sell (FTE).
• 4 x basic salary life assurance cover funded by NEC (with the option to increase cover at an additional cost).
• A Group Pension Plan with fantastic employer contributions up to a maximum.
• A selection of flexible benefits to suit your individual needs.
• All colleagues get free access to LinkedIn Learning. Over 15000 courses covering a huge breadth of subjects. Learn about what you like, when you like, how you like.