Technology Lead

This is a Technology Lead role responsible for the end-to-end development and quality assurance output within a P&L. You will provide technical direction and operational oversight across the Development and QA functions, championing the use of AI tooling to drive productivity, quality, and pace. While working closely with the broader team to ensure engineering delivery is aligned to product strategy and commercial priorities.

The Technology Lead – Adjacent Markets is a senior leadership role responsible for the end-to-end engineering and quality assurance (QA) output within the Adjacent Markets P&L. Reporting directly to the Director – Adjacent Markets, this role provides technical leadership and operational oversight across the Development and QA functions, ensuring that SSP’s Adjacent Markets software is built to a high standard, delivered at pace, and continuously improved in line with the segment’s product strategy.

A defining feature of this role is the embedding of artificial intelligence across engineering and quality practices. The Technology Lead will champion the responsible and effective use of AI tooling — from AI-assisted development and automated testing to intelligent code review and predictive quality metrics — ensuring teams are equipped and empowered to leverage AI as a genuine productivity and quality multiplier.

As a key member of the Adjacent Markets leadership team, you will work in close partnership with the Senior Operations Manager and the Director – Adjacent Markets to align engineering capacity and quality standards with the segment’s product roadmap, commercial objectives, and customer commitments. You will also contribute to the segment’s overall strategy and champion best practice.

• Development Leadership
  • Provide technical leadership and day-to-day management of the Development team, ensuring engineering output is aligned with the Adjacent Markets product roadmap and commercial priorities.
  • Set and maintain engineering standards, coding practices, and architectural principles across the Development function.
  • Own the development lifecycle from design through to release, ensuring quality, pace, and alignment with agreed timelines and budgets.
  • Work in close partnership with the Senior Operations Manager to ensure engineering capacity is aligned to product roadmap commitments, and that risks and trade-offs are clearly communicated to stakeholders.
  • Drive continuous improvement in build quality, release cadence, and time-to-market, embedding a culture of technical excellence across the team.
• Technical Governance
  • Ensure appropriate architectural governance and technical review processes are in place for all development activity.
  • Oversee the management of technical debt, proactively identifying and prioritising remediation to protect long-term product quality and maintainability.
  • Ensure all development activity complies with SSP’s security, data, and compliance standards.
• AI-Assisted Development
  • Champion the use of AI tooling across the Development function to improve engineering productivity and code quality.
  • Adopt AI-assisted coding tools to accelerate development velocity.
  • Use AI-powered code review and static analysis tools to improve quality and reduce defect rates.
  • Evaluate and pilot emerging AI-driven development capabilities.
  • Identify opportunities to use AI to transform and modernise the Adjacent Markets product.
• Quality Assurance Leadership
  • Lead the QA function, defining and owning the quality assurance strategy for all Adjacent Markets software, ensuring it is robust, risk-based, and fit for purpose.
  • Establish and maintain QA standards, testing frameworks, and defect management processes across the segment.
  • Ensure test coverage is appropriate across all product releases, including regression, integration, performance, and user acceptance testing.
  • Drive a shift-left quality culture, embedding testing and quality thinking earlier in the development lifecycle to reduce the cost and impact of defects.
• Test Automation
  • Own the test automation strategy, ensuring the QA function progressively reduces reliance on manual testing through development and maintenance of a robust automated test suite.
  • Set targets for automation coverage and track progress against plan, reporting to the Director – Adjacent Markets on a regular basis.
• AI in Quality Assurance
  • Leverage AI to enhance the quality assurance function.
  • Use AI-powered test generation tools to expand automated test coverage efficiently.
  • Apply predictive analytics to identify high-risk areas of the codebase and prioritise testing effort.
  • Explore AI-assisted defect triage and root cause analysis to reduce resolution time and improve quality metrics.
• Financial Performance
  • Support the Director – Adjacent Markets in managing the Adjacent Markets technology cost base, with direct accountability for the operational costs of the Development and QA functions.
  • Identify and implement cost savings through process efficiency, automation, AI-assisted development tooling, and cloud infrastructure optimisation.
  • Monitor and contribute to the management of infrastructure and hosting costs, working with technology and Finance teams to identify opportunities for cloud efficiency and right-sizing.
  • Provide regular financial reporting and analysis to the Director – Adjacent Markets, supporting decision-making and quarterly forecasting.
• Talent Development & Culture
  • Act as a coach and trusted leader to engineers and QA professionals within the teams, strengthening technical capability and fostering a culture of accountability, craftsmanship, and continuous improvement.
  • Partner with the Director – Adjacent Markets and Head of People & Culture to identify people priorities, build people plans, and implement team-wide initiatives.
  • Build a learning culture by embedding development — including technical upskilling and AI literacy — into everyday workflows and performance processes.
• Employee Experience
  • Champion inclusion, equity, and belonging across the Development and QA teams.
  • Drive engagement and retention through active listening, meaningful feedback loops, and clear technical career pathways.
  • Monitor team sentiment and translate insights into meaningful action.
• AI as a Leadership Imperative
  • Maintain a consistent and active focus on AI, both as a driver of engineering productivity and as a means of improving quality outcomes.
  • Stay current with AI developments relevant to software engineering and the insurance technology sector.
  • Actively sponsor AI pilots and proofs of concept within the Development and QA teams.
  • Build AI literacy and capability within direct reports and wider team members.
  • Report on AI adoption progress and measurable impact.
  • Hold direct reports accountable for embedding AI thinking into their own areas of responsibility.
• General Responsibilities
  • Represent SSP at key industry and technology events, with travel as required.
  • Undertake any other reasonable duties as directed by the Director – Adjacent Markets.

Worker Type: Regular

Number of Openings Available: 1