Head Of Engineering

Head of Engineering

Ocho People | Technology Recruitment

• Head of Engineering opportunity at a fast-growing technology company in a mission-critical, regulated domain
• AI-first engineering culture - the most senior engineer in the building, reporting directly to the CEO
• Hybrid working from Derry/Londonderry - minimum three days per week in office
• Salary up to £85,000 plus performance bonus

Why This Organisation

This is not a Head of Engineering role where you will be managing a roadmap handed down from above and fighting for budget in quarterly planning. This is the real thing.

Our client is a fast growing technology company that has successfully delivered across multiple high profile, mission critical campaigns in a regulated domain. Their client base is forecast to expand significantly over the next twelve to eighteen months and they are now hiring the engineering leader who will take them through that growth. You would report directly to the CEO, own the engineering function end to end and be the most senior technical voice in the organisation.

The culture is AI first in the truest sense. Not a company that has added Copilot to its onboarding deck and called it a strategy. A company where AI agents are used to build software, where fluency with AI tooling is a core engineering expectation, and where the Head of Engineering is expected to set the bar personally and hold the team to it.

The stack is TypeScript across the board, AWS native serverless architecture, infrastructure as code via AWS CDK and CI and CD pipelines on AWS. The organisation is ISO 27001 certified, which means security and compliance are baked into everything. The benefits include free food and drinks from an onsite café, subsidised gym membership, bike to work scheme, flexible working arrangements and condensed working patterns.

If you have reached the point in your career where you want the title, the authority and the accountability to match, and you want to earn it in an environment that will genuinely challenge you, this is worth your attention.

The Role and What It Can Do For Your Career

The job title is Head of Engineering and that is exactly what it means. You will own the engineering function, the team, the processes, the tooling, the AWS spend and the cultural tone. You will hire, develop and performance manage engineers. You will translate between engineering reality and business intent at CEO level. You will push back when needed and negotiate scope without damaging relationships. You will be the person the team looks to when the answer is not obvious.

For the right engineer, this is a defining career move. There are very few opportunities where you can step into a Head of Engineering role at a growing, ambitious company, with genuine ownership from day one and direct access to the leadership team. Most engineering leaders spend years navigating layers of management to get here. This role puts you there now.

The AI first mandate is also significant for your career trajectory. You will be driving AI adoption across the engineering function, using AI agents to build software, shaping how the team works at a moment when that expertise is becoming one of the most valuable things an engineering leader can bring. That experience compounds quickly.

What you will need:

• Demonstrable AI fluency in your own engineering work, with evidence of driving AI adoption across at least one team
• A track record of managing engineers directly with examples of hiring, performance management and team development
• Experience reporting to or working closely with non-technical executive leadership
• Hands on engineering background with recent and credible experience in a modern web and cloud stack
• Comfortable operating as the sole senior engineering leader in a small, fast moving environment
• Composure and integrity under pressure - direct feedback, willingness to admit mistakes and calm under stress

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