Senior Software Engineering Manager in Stoke-on-Trent

If you're looking for a role where you can genuinely shape engineering direction, influence strategy and still stay close enough to technology to challenge it, this is worth your time. This isn't a sit above it all leadership role. It's for someone who enjoys rolling up their sleeves, working across teams, and making things better, technically and culturally.

What's in it for you?

• Real impact, not just oversight: You'll lead multiple engineering teams and directly influence how systems are designed, built and improved across a complex global platform.
• A genuinely flexible way of working: Fully remote, no expectation to be in an office. You can also work internationally for extended periods if that suits your lifestyle.
• Variety and ownership: You'll work across greenfield builds, legacy modernisation and vendor-delivered systems. No two weeks will look the same.
• A role that blends leadership and technical credibility: You'll mentor engineers, shape delivery and still stay close enough to architecture and engineering decisions to challenge them confidently.
• A culture that values autonomy over process: If you enjoy environments where you can take ownership, influence direction and aren't constrained by rigid structures, you'll thrive here.
• Work-life balance that's actually meaningful: 25 days holiday plus 9 additional resilience days, and the flexibility to work in a way that fits around your life.

The role: You'll be leading across multiple agile engineering teams (typically 5-6), working closely with product, architecture and external vendors to deliver high-quality, scalable systems. This is a hybrid role in the truest sense. You'll be:

• Leading and developing engineers through mentoring, performance management and coaching.
• Driving technical and architectural direction alongside senior stakeholders.
• Challenging decisions made by internal teams and third-party vendors.
• Improving operational excellence, from monitoring and incident management to system reliability.
• Supporting both legacy transformation and new product development.

You'll play a key role in reducing reliance on third-party vendors and building stronger internal engineering capability.

What you'll bring:

• A background in software engineering (.NET) with the ability to engage in technical discussions with confidence.
• Experience leading multiple engineering teams, not just a single squad.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms (Azure preferred, AWS/GCP also considered).
• Experience working with modern architecture (microservices, event-driven systems).
• The ability to influence stakeholders across engineering, product and senior leadership.
• A pragmatic, adaptable mindset suited to a fast-evolving, less structured environment.

What to be aware of:

• This role won't suit everyone. It's not a purely strategic leadership position; you'll be expected to stay close to the detail.
• It's not a highly structured, process-heavy environment - things evolve and you'll need to be comfortable with that.
• It requires a balance of technical depth and leadership, not one or the other.

Why consider it? If you're motivated by ownership, variety and the chance to genuinely shape engineering outcomes, this is a rare opportunity to do all three in a flexible, global environment. If you're looking for a rigid role, clear boundaries or purely people leadership, this probably isn't the right fit. But if you want to build, influence and improve at scale, it could be exactly what you've been looking for :)

Please apply and we'll be in touch shortly.