Senior Development Manager

Purpose of the role:

The Software Development Manager will be responsible for leading and coordinating the day-to-day software development operations across multiple agile teams working on our proprietary counter-drone and perimeter detection software products. This role is critical in ensuring that our development teams operate effectively, follow best practices, and consistently deliver high-quality, maintainable software aligned with company and product strategy.

You will assume day-to-day leadership of development operations, driving process improvement, supporting professional development, and ensuring alignment across teams. This position allows the VP Development to focus on strategic initiatives by delegating operational responsibilities to a trusted and capable leader.

Key job requirements and responsibilities:

Operational leadership and team enablement:

• Lead multiple software development teams, each led by a dedicated lead developer, ensuring high performance, alignment, and cohesion.
• Act as the primary point of contact for team leads on day-to-day delivery, staffing, and escalation issues.
• Champion engineering culture, morale, and team effectiveness.

Process ownership and strategic delivery oversight:

• Own and continuously improve the software development lifecycle across teams.
• Define, document, and enforce consistent application of process and standards, including agile planning, coding standards, version control practices, code review, and testing workflows.
• Monitor and drive engineering metrics for quality, velocity, and reliability.

People development and coaching:

• Mentor, coach, and grow developer talent, including succession planning.
• Lead structured onboarding, training, and career development initiatives across the development team.
• Identify skill gaps and work with leads to implement targeted training, mentorship, and professional development plans.

Release and Quality Management:

• Direct and oversee the software release process across multiple teams and environments, including QA, integration, regression testing, and versioning.
• Collaborate with QA and DevOps teams to ensure smooth, repeatable, and reliable deployment practices.

Technical collaboration and engagement:

• Act as a strategic liaison between software teams and senior technical stakeholders (architects, testers, product managers, and other technical stakeholders).
• Represent engineering in cross-functional leadership discussions and technical planning forums.
• Support a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement across all software teams.

Strategic and technical input:

• Contribute meaningfully to software architecture and process strategy decisions, technology roadmaps, and strategic planning activities.
• Lead retrospectives and post-mortems that drive continuous improvement and knowledge sharing across teams.

Deputising and strategic projects:

• Deputise for the VP Development in internal and external forums when required.
• Lead special projects, technical initiatives, or operational change efforts as directed.

Qualifications / skills and experience

Essential:

• Proven experience leading software development teams in a structured, agile environment at scale.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, coach high-performing teams, and align engineering output with business needs.
• Strong command of modern software development practices, tools, and methodologies (including Agile development, Git, CI/CD, agile, code review workflows, and software development KPIs).
• Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills including experience engaging with executive leadership.
• Track record of improving developer experience, training programmes, or team productivity.
• Strong organisational and problem-solving skills.

Desirable:

• Experience in the C2, security, defence, or aviation domains.
• Hands-on experience with one or more of C#, .NET, Vue (Pinia, Leaflet), MariaDB, and Python.
• Familiarity with modern DevOps practices and tools, test automation, and enterprise-grade release practices.

Attributes

• Trusted and accountable: Reliable leader with sound judgment who can be depended on to act decisively and ethically.
• Proactive problem solver: Anticipates challenges and takes initiative to resolve them before they escalate. Handles ambiguity and pressure with composure.
• Influential and collaborative: Builds trust with peers, technical leads, and stakeholders. Skilled in influencing others and driving consensus across diverse groups.
• Technically literate, strategically minded: Understands modern software engineering practices and can translate them into operational success while keeping the broader company strategy in view.
• Continuous improver: Always seeking ways to enhance productivity, quality and culture through thoughtful iteration and innovation, and develop people's skills and performance.
• Clear communicator: Excels at translates complex issues into clear plans and messages for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Diversity & inclusions

We are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where everyone is respected, valued, and empowered to thrive. We believe that different perspectives and experiences enrich our organisation, and we welcome applications from all qualified individuals.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We do not discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

We are also committed to supporting neurodiverse individuals and others who may benefit from tailored approaches to recruitment and workplace adjustments.

We are dedicated to ensuring fair and accessible recruitment processes. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or in the workplace, please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

This job description is not exhaustive and will be subject to periodic review. It may be amended to meet the changing needs of the business.

‍