Director of Software Engineering

Director of Software Engineering | Global Technology Company

Location: Essex, UK

Travel: ~25% (UK and International)

Type: Full-time, Permanent

The Opportunity

Our client is a global leader in advanced technology, with systems used across electronics, aerospace, automotive, energy, and medical manufacturing. They are looking for a Director of Software Engineering to unify and lead a globally distributed software organisation spanning the UK, Europe and Asia.

The teams come from different histories, skill sets and product responsibilities. You will bring them together into one engineering culture, balancing customer-specific solutions with strategic roadmap delivery and architectural modernisation. You will also drive the adoption of AI, both in how the business builds software and in what it ships to customers.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and team development

* Lead and develop a global engineering function across multiple sites and remote team members.

* Build a unified culture that draws on the strengths and heritage of each team.

* Invest in coaching, mentoring, succession planning and talent development.

Delivery and execution

* Deliver predictable, high-quality results across customer projects and product roadmap initiatives.

* Balance short-term commitments with long-term platform and technology investment.

* Introduce clear planning, prioritisation, delivery metrics and operational rhythms.

* Partner with Product, Program Management and commercial leaders to align priorities.

Architecture and technical strategy

* Drive common architectures, engineering standards and shared platforms, reducing technical fragmentation.

* Champion DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, cloud technologies and data-driven development.

* Guide technical investment decisions with scalability, security and reliability in mind.

AI and innovation

* Lead the adoption of AI across the software development lifecycle to improve productivity, quality and speed.

* Work with product leaders to embed AI-driven capabilities (machine learning, predictive analytics, computer vision, intelligent automation) into the product portfolio.

* Establish governance and best practice for responsible AI use.

Operational and financial management

* Own engineering budgets, staffing plans, vendor relationships and external development resources.

* Build business cases and investment proposals for technology and capability growth.

Stakeholder engagement

* Report clearly and proactively to senior leadership on status, risks and resourcing.

* Serve as a key member of the divisional engineering leadership team.

* Build strong relationships across Engineering, Product, Operations, Sales, Service and the executive team.

About You

Essential

* Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering or a related discipline.

* 10+ years in software engineering with progressive leadership responsibility.

* Proven track record leading geographically distributed teams across multiple countries.

* Success delivering both customer-specific solutions and long-term product platforms.

* Experience leading engineering organisations through growth, integration and transformation.

* Strong grounding in modern software architecture, development methodologies and product lifecycle management.

* Experience establishing common processes, tools and standards across teams.

* Strong financial, operational and strategic planning skills.

* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Desirable

* Background in industrial automation, machine vision, manufacturing technology, inspection systems or scientific instruments.

* Knowledge of AI, machine learning, computer vision and data analytics.

Our client is committed to an inclusive and diverse workplace and to a fair and equitable recruitment process.

Interested?

For a confidential conversation, apply or please get in touch with Christian Gapuz at TEC Partners Recruitment