Software Engineering Manager

Recruiter: Molly Lees

Hiring Manager: Bernard Mensah

Locations: Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, London - Hybrid 3 Days in Office

Career Grade: D

Internal Closing Date: January 5th 2026

You will join one of BT's Platform Engineering teams and take ownership of a small engineering squad responsible for building and operating core platform capabilities. Your Team will design and deliver cloud-native tooling, templates, and Infrastructure as Code that abstract away infrastructure complexity and allow product teams to focus on shipping value — not managing platforms. This is a hands-on Engineering Manager role. You are expected to remain technically active, lead by example through code and design, and provide clear technical direction. You will be a confident solution designer, able to communicate complex technical ideas clearly to engineers, stakeholders, and senior leadership. You will work closely with other Engineering Managers, SRE, Developer Experience, and application teams across BT to ensure our platform capabilities are secure, scalable, and genuinely useful.

• Lead, grow, and hire engineers specialising in TypeScript (preferred), Java or another OOP language, AWS, Kubernetes, and GitLab CI/CD.

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction, ensuring high engineering standards.

• Remain hands-on where it adds value — contributing to code, design reviews, and technical decision-making.

• Build and evolve cloud-native platforms using Kubernetes and AWS-managed services.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to shape a platform roadmap aligned to developer and business needs.

• Champion automation and DevOps practices, removing manual processes wherever possible.

• Mentor engineers and senior ICs, supporting both technical growth and career progression.

• Foster an agile, metrics-driven culture focused on reliability, flow, and continuous improvement.

Looking in:
Leading inclusively and Safely
I inspire and build trust through self-awareness, honesty and integrity.
Owning outcomes
I take the right decisions that benefit the broader organisation.

Looking out:
Delivering for the customer
I execute brilliantly on clear priorities that add value to our customers and the wider business.
Commercially savvy
I demonstrate strong commercial focus, bringing an external perspective to decision-making.

Looking to the future:
Growth mindset
I experiment and identify opportunities for growth for both myself and the organisation.
Building for the future
I build diverse future-ready teams where all individuals can be at their best.

• Strong experience in TypeScript (preferred) or another object-oriented programming language, with 4+ years of professional software development.

• Solid hands-on experience with AWS, including cloud-native architecture principles.

• Experience designing and operating GitLab CI/CD pipelines.

• At least 2 years' experience leading engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management.

• A strong automation mindset and passion for building robust internal tooling.

• Practical experience with Kubernetes in production environments.

• Experience with Pulumi or other modern IaC tools.

• Familiarity with Dynatrace or similar observability platforms.

• Experience building or operating internal developer platforms or shared platform services.

• Strong understanding of DevOps and SRE principles.

• Experience working in large-scale or enterprise environments.

• Competitive salary
• 25 days annual leave (plus