Head of Software Engineering

At Urban Jungle, we’re making insurance fair - to people, planet and wallets. We are one of the fastest-growing businesses in the UK, working to fix one of the biggest industries in the world. We put customers at the heart of everything we do, using data and technology to make insurance simple, flexible, and affordable. We care about our impact on the planet, becoming a B Corp in 2022 and offsetting our carbon emissions every year. So far, we’ve helped 300,000 customers get better insurance and become one of the top-rated home insurance providers in the UK.

About the role

As a Head of Software Engineering at Urban Jungle, you’ll play a leading role in our 16 strong engineering team whilst collaborating across the business to ensure we continue to build products that delight our customers, working on everything from shipping new commercial partnerships to improving our claims experience, to building a world class technology platform. You’ll hit the ground running, embedding with one of our existing teams so you can build key relationships across the business, get up to speed with our tech stack quickly, and start shipping valuable features within your first few weeks.

Here’s what you’ll get up to:

• You’ll be a key member of our engineering leadership group, working with them to develop our engineering strategy and refine our team-level approach.
• You’ll collaborate with teams across the business to build real value and shape the future of the company - think product launches, partner integrations, and platform-wide improvements.
• You’ll play a key role in the delivery of our cross-functional projects; ensuring they run smoothly, and that we are consistently getting better at the way we deliver them.
• You will make the case for prioritising work in the areas that you own and for making amendments to our strategy where you think appropriate, working with stakeholders across the business to ensure you can have maximum impact.
• You will be responsible for managing multiple direct reports and will play an increasingly large role in mentoring newer managers as they make the transition into line management.
• You’ll also be expected to roll your sleeves up and get involved wherever the company needs you.

Here’s what we’re looking for from you:

• At least 4 years of professional experience working as a software engineer with at least 2 years of leadership and management experience.
• You’re fluent in and opinionated on one or more of: Front-End Javascript frameworks (we work with Angular), Python.
• You’ve got experience with (or are at least excited to learn more about!): Front-End/UX design and prototyping, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, RabbitMQ, AWS, SQL.
• You’ll be confident using your technical expertise to influence key decisions about how we design, build, and grow our products and systems.
• You’re comfortable working through ambiguous problems with a high degree of autonomy.
• You treat everyone with integrity, respect and kindness - whether it’s your colleagues, our customers, or our partners.

About our offer

We’re taking an office-centric approach to work (with lots of flexibility built-in) and the team is based in Oval, London. In addition to our positive, open working environment, you can expect the following benefits of working at Urban Jungle:

• A starting salary of between £75,000 - £100,000, and share options that can increase alongside performance and growth.
• 25 days paid annual leave, plus public holidays.
• Rapid Progression.
• Real Impact.
• A Clear Plan.
• The Best People.
• A dedicated development budget, access to a senior mentor, and training on whatever you need to do your job well.
• Well-being support.
• Enhanced parental leave, and support for parents returning to work.
• We regularly organise awesome socials and have some vibrant team communities such as book club and foodies.

About our commitment

Urban Jungle is an equal opportunity employer and fairness and respect are at the heart of who we are and how we work. We do not discriminate based on race, age, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. We know that in order to build a truly successful business, we need a team of diverse individuals who can offer a variety of skills, experiences and perspectives.