Head of Software Engineering (60% leadership / 40% technical)

The Opportunity

Our client is a well-established HealthTech organisation based in Manchester and they're looking to hire a Head of Software Development to lead the development teams responsible for their software products.

They've recently secured a major clinical trial programme going live soon, and with the CTO shifting focus towards strategic work and pre/post sales, this hire is business-critical and needs to be made ASAP. You'll provide leadership across delivery, people management, and technical direction—ensuring the team ships securely, compliantly, and on time.

Split: ~60% managerial / 40% technical (hands-on through leadership, mentoring, PR/code reviews—not wall-to-wall coding).

The Why? (Top 3)

• Immediate impact: take ownership of delivery leadership at a pivotal moment as a major clinical trial project goes live.
• Genuine balance: a rare 60/40 leadership-to-technical split—people leadership plus real technical influence.
• Flexibility built in: 10am–4pm core hours, 37.5-hour week, with flexibility and compressed hours available.

Team & Culture

• Approximately 70 people across the organisation.
• A collaborative, upbeat and diverse environment where cultural fit matters as much as technical capability.
• A balanced mix of senior and junior developers, including colleagues who joined via TUPE from public-sector/NHS contexts.
• This is a "player-coach" leadership role: grounded, supportive and delivery-minded.

What you'll be doing

Managerial

• Direct line management of 4–8 people: workload planning, 1:1s, coaching, progression and performance management.
• Foster a culture of continual improvement and personal development, ensuring knowledge-sharing across the team and wider business.
• Support team growth: working with the People function and CTO on job specs, shortlisting, interviewing, onboarding and induction.
• Protect the team from burnout—promoting a positive, fair, and recognition-led culture.

Technical

• Provide high-level technical direction with a business-wide view—balancing delivery, client needs, risk and compliance.
• Mentor and guide engineers; contribute via pull requests and code reviews.
• Lead on managing technical debt and surfacing technical risks early.
• Provide estimates for larger pieces of work and ensure effective tooling/processes are in place.
• Ensure key technical documentation is maintained (diagrams, notes, decisions).

Operational

• Partner with other heads of function to ensure smooth day-to-day operations.
• Work closely with Delivery/PM to successfully deliver projects.
• Support Quality through technical audits and adherence to process.
• Collaborate with IT/Data to strengthen DevOps practices and cyber security posture.
• Track team metrics and progress against objectives; ensure clear communication to/from the dev teams.

Strategic

• Input into technical and product strategy alongside Product, CTO and senior stakeholders.
• Contribute to realistic roadmaps and proactively manage technical risks.

What we're looking for

Essential

• Degree in a relevant subject, 5+ years in software development, and 3+ years leading technical teams with line management.
• Strong modern web development knowledge—ideally .NET / C# / Angular, plus cloud familiarity (preferably Azure).
• Proven delivery record: delivering technical work within time/budget constraints; strong SDLC knowledge including release processes and risk.
• Strong people leadership: mentoring, motivation, objective-setting, training, performance management.
• Confident hiring manager: writing job descriptions, shortlisting, interviewing, onboarding.

Desirable

• Jira / Confluence (bonus if you've configured Jira).
• DevOps mindset and exposure to DevOps practices.
• Experience in regulated environments (e.g., clinical trials / GCP / GxP).
• Hands-on testing and/or requirements analysis exposure.

Interview Process

• Initial screening call with the CTO
• Technical interview (led by another team member)
• Final-stage conversation focused on leadership approach and cultural fit

And finally... Who are we?

FORT – Future of Recruiting Technologists is a technical & IT search consultancy specialising in placing experienced professionals & teams with leading technology companies in the North of England.

We strive to provide candidates with the most transformative opportunities available. For our clients, we know technical expertise alone doesn't make the best hire—so we focus on cultural and technical fit through deep understanding of each business and delivery need.

Our values underpin every interaction: Continual Development, Compassion and Consistency.