Software Development Director

Our clients are going through change and transformation to play with the big crowd, and challenge them in products and services. They are a brave and intelligent bunch who only require the very best. Multi award winning company.

From design, development, testing, deploying and maintaining up-to-date applications and services, you enable The Company to deliver mission-critical communications solutions for customers.

Location: Berkshire, UK, or Porto Portugal.

This is an office-based vacancy and as such we expect all applicants to be willing to relocate or commute to our offices a minimum of 3 days per week as per our hybrid working policy.

• Manage multiple teams, by either carrying out the management activities directly or having a Software Development Manager report to them.
• Provide reporting to the SLT on their team or the wider department on a daily and weekly basis as required.
• Support Software Development Managers to handle complex performance issues of individuals or teams.
• Manage department wide projects and improvement initiatives.
• Complete performance reviews and personal development plans for direct reports.
• Manage performance issues in conjunction with your own line manager, including performance improvement plans and absence improvement plans.
• Lead recruitment activities, including recruitment days, phone and face to face interviews.
• On an ongoing basis consider the performance of team members and raising concerns with your own line manager and/or people team.
• Facilitate agile/Scrum ceremonies, refinement, planning, review and retrospectives.
• Collaborate with other teams and departments to ensure that deliverables from the team will meet the customer's expectation, for example working with operations on deployment of the software.
• Collaborate with the Product Owner to manage the Product(s) backlog and give guidance on timeframes for deliverables.
• Design the architecture of new application components and achieve internal sign off for development specifications where required.
• Lead development activities for applications and features to meet customer/project requirements.
• Lead teams using the chosen methodology/process, typically Scrum.
• Guide teams and when required test of new features or developments to make sure they perform the desired task correctly in all cases. Test sites/applications in different environments as necessary.
• Work with Quality Assurance teams/processes to validate builds ready for launch.
• Work throughout the software development lifecycle, to ensure success, following all necessary processes.
• Ensure appropriate documentation/updates are provided to relevant colleagues/customers.
• Maintenance and Improvement: Guide teams and when required problem solve and fix bugs as discovered/reported.
• Use technical knowledge to prioritise the most valuable maintenance and upgrade of the applications as required.
• Pair program and lead peer reviews following the team's agile process.
• Lead improvement initiatives for applications, process or the wider platform.
• Review projects/deployments and learn lessons to improve future performance.
• Stay up to date with trends and technological advancements in software development. Learn and test new technologies, frameworks and languages as relevant.

• Bachelor's Degree in a STEM, Computer Science or related subject, preferably from a Russell Group University.
• Strong experience managing multiple teams, by either carrying out the management activities directly or having a Software Development Manager report to them.
• Highly technical background working within Software Development teams.
• Proven ability to support team progression, i.e. by use of performance reviews and personal development plans for direct reports.
• Will collaborate closely with one or more customer(s) on complex projects. This will typically involve attending workshops, technical specification and assisting the customer with acceptance testing.
• Can write software specifications and provide other technical documentation as required.
• Good experience in SQL and using relational databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and PostGRES.
• Logical approach to problem solving.
• Ability to manage complex tasks and meet deadlines.
• Proven ability to manage and motivate others.