Head of Engineering (Greater London)

Department: Engineering

Basis: Full-time, permanent

Location: Canary Wharf, London - WeWork (Hybrid Remote)

Reporting to: Co-founder, CTO

About Onetrace

Great products start with great people. Our relentless focus on user experience has been the cornerstone of our growth, helping us become the market leading software for fire protection subcontractors across the UK. We’ve grown by staying obsessed with building software that actually works for the subcontractors on the ground; fast, intuitive, and simple to use. We’re now gearing up for our next chapter: expanding into new trades and taking Onetrace global. We’re bootstrapped, profitable, and driven by a clear mission - to lead the digital transformation for subcontractors, one trade at a time. Come be part of a team that’s smart, ambitious, and comfortable in the chaos of growth - where your ideas matter, and your work shapes what comes next.

About the role

Build the team. Shape the culture. Drive the strategy. We’ve built a product that engineers can be proud of - fast, stable, and genuinely loved by users. But our engineering team is still early in its journey. The team is small, the processes are scrappy, and there’s serious work to do. That’s where you come in. We’re looking for a Head of Engineering who’s excited by the opportunity to lay strong foundations - technical, cultural, and operational. You’ll take ownership of a capable team of four full-stack developers and work closely with our CTO and Product/Design leads to define how we build, ship, and scale. This is not about inheriting a polished machine. It’s about shaping one. If you’re driven by autonomy, eager to coach and grow others, and ready to bring structure without slowing us down - we’d love to talk.

What you’ll do

• Technical Leadership
  • Provide hands-on mentorship and deep technical guidance to engineers at all levels, helping them grow into confident, high-performing contributors.
  • Champion engineering excellence by setting and upholding rigorous standards for code quality, testing, documentation, and system resilience.
  • Lead architectural decision-making, ensuring our systems remain scalable, secure, and maintainable as complexity increases.
  • Take proactive ownership of technical debt and legacy patterns - addressing them strategically to unlock faster iteration and cleaner execution.
• Team Management & Growth
  • Directly manage, coach, and support a team of 4 Full-Stack Developers, with a commitment to scale the team significantly over the next 12–18 months.
  • Own the hiring roadmap: attract, assess, and onboard top engineering talent who raise the bar and align with our values.
  • Build a culture of high trust and high accountability by introducing clear career paths, growth plans, and transparent progression frameworks.
  • Create and maintain feedback loops and rituals that empower engineers to take ownership of their growth, work autonomously, and collaborate with confidence.
• Planning & Execution
  • Partner closely with the CTO, Product Manager, and Head of Design to translate roadmap priorities into well-scoped, actionable engineering work.
  • Help plan and distribute tasks across the team, ensuring engineers have clarity on goals, ownership, and timelines - and that workloads are balanced.
  • Support the PM in day-to-day delivery orchestration, helping fill the gap of a dedicated Product Owner by bringing engineering structure and visibility to sprint-level planning.
  • Monitor capacity and delivery health, proactively surfacing risks and blockers, and helping ensure we ship consistently without overloading the team.
• Process & Workflow Optimisation
  • Evolve our engineering workflows - from planning to deployment - to support high velocity, reliability, and developer happiness.
  • Define and roll out best practices for CI/CD, code review, and release management to improve consistency and reduce risk.
  • Instil a culture of continuous improvement, where experiments, retrospectives, and shared learning are part of the weekly rhythm.
  • Help the team navigate ambiguity with strong communication, structured problem-solving, and a bias for action.
• Strategic Collaboration
  • Partner closely with the CTO, Product Manager, and Head of Design to ensure engineering priorities stay tightly aligned with business goals and product vision.
  • Contribute to product discovery and roadmap planning, bringing engineering insights to shape what we build - not just how.
  • Act as a strategic voice in company-level conversations about scaling, infrastructure, security, and technical investment.
  • Lead with a coaching-first approach that unlocks initiative, confidence, and clarity across the team.

Who you are

Essential Criteria

• Proven success leading and scaling fast-paced engineering teams, ideally in early-stage or high-growth startup environments.
• Strong track record of coaching and developing engineers across different levels.
• Demonstrated experience building engineering culture and processes from the ground up - balancing pragmatism with long-term quality.
• Hands-on experience making critical architectural decisions, managing technical debt, and guiding teams through scaling challenges.
• Comfortable collaborating cross-functionally with Product, Design, and Leadership to shape roadmaps, scope work, and deliver outcomes.
• Familiar with the realities of working without a dedicated product owner and able to contribute meaningfully to delivery planning and execution.

Skills & Technical Strengths

• A strong full stack engineering background with a solid grasp of modern development practices (our stack includes TypeScript, Node.js, React, and AWS, but strong fundamentals matter more than specific tools).
• Thinks like an engineer: balances trade-offs, anticipates edge cases, and knows when to optimise versus ship.
• Brings systems thinking to people and processes, improving predictability, team clarity, and technical decision-making.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and complexity, and able to help others navigate both with confidence and calm.

Ways of Working & Leadership Style

• A builder’s mindset - excited to shape not just systems, but the team and culture that go with them.
• Communicates with clarity and empathy, whether coaching a junior developer or collaborating with the CTO.
• Deep belief in feedback, trust, and transparency as the foundation of a great team.
• Cares about developer experience as much as product experience - and wants engineers to do the best work of their careers here.
• Thrives in environments with autonomy, accountability, and a shared mission.

What we offer

Benefits

• NEST pension scheme
• Season ticket loan scheme
• Employee assistance programme
• Private medical insurance with Bupa
• 25 days PTO, plus bank holidays

Ways of Working

• WeWork membership
• Dog-friendly office
• Hybrid working options
• Remote work abroad opportunities

Equipment

• We’ll set you up with an Apple MacBook and all the necessary software.
• Standing desk (when based in the office).
• Tech accessories and Onetrace merch.

Socials

• Regular team socials and company events.

Your Growth

Joining our agile team means you’ll gain hands-on experience, working closely with talented colleagues, and develop your skills in a supportive environment focused on growth.

Diversity

Onetrace is committed to diversity in the workplace and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact us. All information will be kept confidential and will only be used for applying a reasonable adjustment.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact ann.clark@onetrace.app. Please note that our office is a dog-friendly environment. Candidates should be aware that dogs are present in the workplace, which may include shared spaces. If you have allergies or concerns, please let us know in advance.