Software Engineering Director in Manchester

Location: Manchester/Hybrid

Company Overview: Slalom is a global, human‑centric business and technology consulting firm. We specialise in partnering with organisations that aspire to excellence, helping them tackle complex challenges and achieve transformative results through strategy, technology, and business transformation services. By prioritising people, Slalom creates a unique consulting experience, with a team of strategists and engineers delivering practical, end‑to‑end solutions that drive impactful outcomes for our clients.

Position Overview: We’re excited to welcome a hands‑on Director of Software Engineering to join our Manchester team and help drive forward our mission of building world‑class software. Our Software Engineering team builds the core applications and services that power our products and deliver value to users around the world. We focus on creating scalable, secure, and high‑performance systems that enable rapid innovation and seamless user experiences.

Life As a Software Engineering Director At Slalom: A Software Engineering Director plays a fundamental role in shaping and delivering high‑quality software solutions to complex client challenges across discovery and delivery.

• Lead technical delivery across complex multi‑team software initiatives spanning front‑end, back‑end and full‑stack solutions with accountability for overall quality and outcomes.
• Remain hands‑on in architecture, design and code, particularly across user interfaces, APIs, services and data layers where design and execution matter most.
• Set and uphold strong engineering standards across the full stack, including development practice and operational excellence.
• Bring a practical understanding of AI‑enabled systems with experience applying AI capabilities and tools within front‑end, back‑end or platform engineering contexts where they add genuine value.
• Guide teams in the thoughtful and responsible use of modern engineering and AI tooling, improving delivery efficiency and developer experience.
• Coach and mentor Senior Principals, Architects and Senior Engineers, strengthening technical leadership and hands‑on capability across front‑end, back‑end and full‑stack teams.
• Act as a trusted technical voice with clients, clearly explaining architectural decisions, trade‑offs and delivery approaches.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative engineering culture built on craftsmanship, learning and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• A strong hands‑on software engineering background, with significant experience delivering production‑grade systems.
• Experience working across full‑stack development, with a solid understanding of how these layers interact in modern applications.
• Practical experience with AI or AI‑assisted tooling, and an understanding of how it can be applied effectively within software engineering teams.
• Strong grounding in core software engineering principles such as system design, APIs, distributed systems and data‑driven architectures.
• A proven ability to set technical direction while remaining engaged in hands‑on delivery when needed.
• Experience with modern delivery practices including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, cloud platforms and operational resilience.
• Demonstrated experience in leading, managing and growing software engineering teams, developing engineers and leaders through coaching, mentorship, performance management and creating clear progression paths.
• A passion for developing engineers and raising technical standards through mentorship and leadership.
• A collaborative leadership style, able to engage effectively with both engineers and senior client stakeholders.

Benefits: Competitive compensation and benefits packages are offered to ensure fairness, competitiveness, and reward for our team members.