Head of Digital & Automation

Head of Digital & Automation

Manchester / Hybrid - 3 days a week in office

£90k + bonus + benefits

Our client is investing heavily in modern digital capability, and we’re looking for a Head of Digital & Automation to lead and scale our multi‐disciplinary engineering and data organisation. This is a strategic leadership role with responsibility for software development, data engineering, analytics, testing, DevOps, and automation.

You’ll define the long‐term digital strategy, build high‐performing teams, and ensure our platforms, data, and applications enable the business to innovate, operate efficiently, and deliver exceptional experiences to clients and candidates.

This is a rare opportunity for a senior digital leader who can combine strategic vision with strong engineering leadership, someone who can influence at board level while empowering teams to deliver high‐quality, scalable solutions.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Digital Strategy & Leadership

• Define and own the organisation’s digital and automation strategy.
• Partner with senior leadership to align digital initiatives with business goals.
• Drive a modern engineering culture focused on quality, automation, and continuous improvement.
• Lead the evolution of digital platforms to support future‐state capabilities including AI, automation, and advanced analytics.

Team Leadership & Organisational Development

• Lead and develop a multi‐disciplinary digital organisation across engineering, data, analytics, and DevOps.
• Manage and mentor technical managers and team leads.
• Build high‐performing teams through recruitment, coaching, and capability development.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, delivery‐focused culture.

Technology Oversight & Architecture

• Provide strategic oversight of architecture, engineering standards, and technology choices.
• Ensure platforms and applications are scalable, secure, and aligned with best practice.
• Oversee adoption of Azure cloud services, CI/CD pipelines, IaC, and modern engineering patterns.
• Champion data‐driven decision making and strong analytics capability.

Delivery, Roadmap & Stakeholder Engagement

• Own the digital delivery roadmap and resource planning.
• Work closely with product, operations, and business stakeholders to translate needs into digital solutions.
• Ensure delivery excellence through strong planning, risk management, and continuous improvement.

Platform, Data & AI Enablement

• Oversee development of data platforms, pipelines, and analytics capabilities.
• Support integration of AI/ML and automation into business processes.
• Provide governance and strategic direction for low‐code solutions (e.g., Power Platform).

What We’re Looking For

Essential

• Proven leadership of multi‐disciplinary digital or engineering teams at scale.
• Strong background in software engineering, data engineering, or digital platform delivery.
• Experience setting digital strategy and influencing at senior leadership level.
• Deep understanding of cloud‐based engineering (preferably Azure), DevOps, CI/CD, and modern architecture.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build and inspire high‐performing teams.

Desirable

• Exposure to AI/ML and automation in enterprise environments.
• Experience with Microsoft Fabric, ADF, Logic Apps, or similar cloud‐native services.
• Familiarity with enterprise Power Platform governance.
• Background in recruitment or professional services.

What’s in It for You

• Senior leadership role with strategic influence.
• Competitive salary and performance‐based bonus.
• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Opportunity to shape the digital future of a fast‐growing organisation.
• Leadership of a talented, ambitious digital function.

If you’re a senior digital leader ready to shape the future of engineering, data, and automation at scale, we’d love to speak with you.