Director of Client Engineering

Director of Client Engineering

Full-Time 113400 - 138600 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
Tide

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead the Client Engineering team to enhance Tide's mobile and web applications.
  • Company: Join Tide, a transformative fintech company supporting over 2 million SMEs globally.
  • Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, generous leave, health insurance, and professional development opportunities.
  • Other info: Flexible work model with a focus on team spirit and community.
  • Why this job: Shape the future of SME banking with innovative technology and a collaborative team.
  • Qualifications: Proven leadership in engineering and deep understanding of frontend architecture.

The predicted salary is between 113400 - 138600 £ per year.

At Tide, we help SMEs save time and money in the running of their businesses by offering business accounts and related banking services, as well as a comprehensive set of highly usable and connected administrative solutions, from invoicing to accounting. Tide is transforming the small business banking market and now supports over 2 million members globally across the UK, India, Germany, and France. Using advanced technology, all solutions are designed with SMEs in mind.

Your mission is to ensure our frontend ecosystem is a competitive advantage, providing the standards and tools that allow our product teams to build with confidence and speed. You will lead a team of Engineering Managers and partner with a tenured community of Staff Engineers to solve our most complex technical challenges.

As Director of Client Engineering, you own the technical direction and standards for Tide’s frontend. We are looking for a leader who is deeply engaged in the architectural health of our applications. You will be the primary advocate for a frontend stack that is performant, maintainable, and aligned with our commercial goals.

  • Architectural Advocacy: Partner with our Staff Engineers to drive a pragmatic frontend strategy. You will take a hands-on approach to identifying and resolving bottlenecks in our large-scale monorepo workflows, ensuring the codebase remains sustainable.
  • Technical Stewardship & Efficiency: Advocate for the technical solutions that make the most sense for Tide’s business goals. You will evaluate our current stack and workforce model to ensure we are maximising engineering leverage without sacrificing the right tool for the job.
  • Product Virtualisation & Observability: Advocate for systems that provide stakeholders globally with full visibility into the product experience across all configurations.
  • Delivery Excellence: Be responsible for the delivery of a modern Release Engineering model. You will ensure your teams implement a comprehensive automation strategy that prioritises high-frequency, predictable deployment cycles.
  • Emerging Technology & AI: Provide thought leadership on leveraging AI and agentic solutions within the client-side experience. You will explore how AI can optimise frontend performance, automate routine interactions, and drive personalised member experiences.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

  • Seasoned Leadership: You have led significant engineering organisations and are comfortable navigating the complexities of high-scale frontend architecture.
  • Skilled Collaborator: You can thoughtfully debate technical trade-offs to reach the best outcome for the business.
  • Frontend Pragmatist: You have a deep understanding of frontend best practices. You aren’t tied to a specific framework or a single way of working and instead focus on the best outcome for the business.
  • Systems Thinking: You naturally see the connection between technical foundations and team velocity. You focus on the system-level improvements that help every product team move faster.
  • Commercial Maturity: You understand that technical strategy must serve business goals. You are comfortable making and communicating trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

OUR TECH STACK:

We use the latest iterations of Flutter and Dart with a modular architecture to build scalable applications. Our stack includes state management, dependency injection, and navigation tools to streamline development. We emphasize code generation, backend communication efficiency, and BDD testing. Monitoring, analytics, and CI/CD are powered by Firebase, DataDog, LaunchDarkly, and GitHub Actions for seamless deployment and reliability.

  • Frontend: Flutter (Mobile), Angular (Web)
  • Backend: Java (17+), Spring Boot
  • Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL
  • Messaging: Kafka, AWS SQS/SNS
  • Infrastructure: Kubernetes (EKS), AWS

WHAT YOU’LL GET IN RETURN:

  • Competitive Compensation: Competitive salary and share options.
  • Time Off: Generous annual leave on top of bank holidays.
  • Parental Leave: Paid maternity, paternity, and adoption leave to support your family journey.
  • Sabbatical: Extended unpaid and paid leave options after completing milestone years with Tide.
  • Access to salary sacrifice benefits: like Nursery (could save up to 47% on fees!) and Cycle to Work discounts.
  • Health Insurance: Comprehensive Private family insurance plan.
  • Life & Accident Cover: Comprehensive accidental and life insurance protection.
  • Mental Wellbeing: Access to therapy sessions, courses, meditations, and workshops.
  • Retirement Planning: Build your retirement fund faster with Tide’s pension scheme on eligible earnings.
  • Volunteering & Development Days: Paid days annually for volunteering or personal growth.
  • Learning & Development: Annual budget for books, courses, coaching, and more.
  • WOO (Work Outside the Office): Work from abroad for up to 90 days annually.
  • Home Office Setup: Contribution towards setting up your home office.
  • Laptop Ownership: Keep your old laptop and get a new one when it’s time for a replacement.
  • Snacks & Meals: Daily breakfast spread with all-day coffee, tea, and juices.

Tide champions a flexible workplace model that supports both in-person and remote work to cater to the specific needs of our different teams. While remote work is supported, we believe in the power of face-to-face interactions to foster team spirit and collaboration. Our offices are designed as hubs for innovation and team-building, where we encourage regular in-person gatherings to foster a strong sense of community.

At Tide, we believe that we can only succeed if we let our differences enrich our culture. Our Tideans come from a variety of backgrounds and experience levels. We celebrate diversity in our workforce as a cornerstone of our success. Our commitment to a broad spectrum of ideas and backgrounds is what enables us to build products that resonate with our members’ diverse needs and lives. We are One Team and foster a transparent and inclusive environment, where everyone’s voice is heard.

Director of Client Engineering employer: Tide

Tide is an exceptional employer that champions innovation and growth, particularly in the dynamic role of CRM Lead for Paid Plans. With a strong focus on employee development, competitive salaries, and flexible work arrangements, Tide fosters a collaborative work culture that empowers its team members to thrive in the fast-paced UK and EU markets. Join us to make a meaningful impact while enjoying the unique advantages of working in a high-growth environment.

Tide

Contact Details:

Tide Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Director of Client Engineering

Join Local Tech Meetups

Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Tide or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!

Contribute to Open Source Projects

Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Tide.

Tap into Online Developer Communities

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Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles

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We think you need these skills to ace Director of Client Engineering

Leadership
Frontend Architecture
Technical Strategy
Collaboration
Problem-Solving
Systems Thinking
Commercial Awareness

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.

Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Tide.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Tide and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!

Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!

How to prepare for a job interview at Tide

Brush Up on Your Coding Skills

For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.

Know Your Tools and Frameworks

Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Tide uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.

Showcase Your Projects

Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.

Prepare for Behavioural Questions

While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.