Head of Software Engineering

Are you an experienced Software Engineering Leader/Manager with a proven ability to lead teams in delivering re-engineering programmes that deliver cost, quality and pace improvement? Have you built, lead and managed successful and motivated teams who successfully deliver against objectives? Do you have the capability to design and deliver clear reporting packs built on key metrics to track performance and delivery of change?

If so, then we want to hear from you…..

De La Rue are a company at the forefront of product authentication solutions and secure currency design. We work with governments, central banks, and commercial organisations around the globe.

The Software Development function at De La Rue, provides mature agile development services for multiple customers and internal stakeholders, across a range of key software products across the business.

As Head of Software Engineering, you will form part of a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary agile product team and be a key member of the product leadership team. We develop simple but highly effective web applications, and are passionate about writing good quality, highly testable, user-driven software. Our software uses modern technologies, consisting of mainly angular front-ends using a combination of TypeScript and JavaScript, with backend C# Web API RESTful services. We adopt BDD and TDD and you'll frequently see us pair and mob programming. If that sounds exciting to you then you'll be in good company.

We work together and value people who are collaborative, helping each other and sharing knowledge across the department, using wikis and team chat rooms to build our knowledge. We drive change and innovate, we love keeping up with the latest technologies and approaches and furthering ourselves and our teams.

The purpose of this role is to lead and deliver in the most effective manner re-engineering and extension of Authentication’s suite of customer facing solutions, improving the software, making it more efficient and effective. These multiple systems include dependency on legacy third-party software and significant technical debt. The outcome will positively affect software development and maintenance cost, quality, customer service, and delivery speed. This role will work alongside product management, responsible for development of product roadmap and operations teams responsible for delivery of service to customers.

This is a permanent full-time position, based at either our site in Gateshead or Basingstoke, with the opportunity for hybrid and flexible working.

What will you be doing?

Line management responsibility for 8 direct reports and circa 20 indirect reports plus offshore squads providing 4th line support and feature development.

• 
  Working alongside product management and operations leadership, develop and deliver core software products to the business and our customers in line with agreed priorities
• Define, secure support for and deliver re-engineering programme which delivers cost, quality, and pace, clearly evidenced through metrics
• Incorporate modern tools and techniques into re-engineering programme to ensure efficient future maintenance, deployment, and extension
• Incorporate delivery of new features as defined into the product roadmap into the re-engineering programme
• Accountable and responsible for effective financial recording of time spent developing software products ensuring correct allocation of cost to project or capital budgets
• Provide monthly information to enable the production of reports and forecasts for development spend against budget
• Build and develop software engineering team to deliver programme of work and continuous management of solutions including 4th line support
• Engage third parties as required to deliver programme of works
• Provision and operation of development environments, platforms and toolsets for the team
• Drive consistent standards and approaches throughout the development teams
• Effective line management of De La Rue resources ensuring staff have clear objectives, development plans in place, regular 1-2-1s are carried out and frequent reviews of performance against objectives are conducted
• Ensure effective internal communication both within the software development and engineering team and across the organisation

What qualifications, experience and skills are we looking for?

Education, Skills & Knowledge:

• Knowledge and experience of re-engineering methodologies, practical application and benefits measurements and delivery
• Familiar with more than one software development methodology
• An understanding of the security principles regarding writing secure code
• An understanding of databases
• An understanding of web services and standards, including open source
• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Project Management qualifications

Abilities:

• Ability to envision and deliver software solutions that meet user needs and/or solve business problems
• Deliver re-engineering of mission critical platforms and related transformation where required
• Demonstrated ability to build consensus and broad support to sponsor and deliver defined approach, including ability to set and manage priorities judiciously
• Ability to articulate and gain engagement in challenging environments for ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to build, motivate in a team-oriented, collaborative environment
• Design and deliver clear reporting packs, based on key metrics to track performance and delivery of change

Experience:

• Extensive experience and successful track record of successfully re-engineering business critical customer facing solutions
• Track record of delivering anticipated benefits in line with plan inline
• Demonstrable and substantial experience in leading and managing teams for software developers, including outsource providers
• Experience of successfully designing and developing sophisticated software products deployed in a variety of environments
• Hands-on experience of coding using more than one recognised industry standard language (e.g. C++; .Net, C#, Java)
• Familiar with implementing a range of development methodologies including Agile and leading teams working across these
• Performance and line management of highly skilled teams – Essential

In return for your experience and expertise, De La Rue offer:

• A competitive salary and benefits package
• 26 days holiday
• Excellent career development opportunities
• Contributory pension scheme
• Life assurance
• Private health insurance
• Various other perks and Employee Assistance packages