Director of Middleware & Integration
Location: Remote (UK) Permanent RS Group is seeking a dynamic Director of Middleware & Integration to take full ownership of our global middleware and integration ecosystem. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, you will lead the platforms that connect all our critical systems — including SAP, Adobe Commerce, Salesforce, Snowflake (our enterprise data lake), external supplier/client APIs, and warehouse backend systems. This is not a custodial role. It is a position of strategic importance , central to RS Group’s digital and operational capabilities. You will define the future of this backbone while ensuring its daily reliability, scalability, and performance. As the ultimate point of accountability, you will oversee the health, strategy, and delivery of a multi-million-pound platform that underpins billions in revenue. What you’ll be doing: Strategic & Technical Ownership:
- Be accountable for defining, owning and executing the global Middleware and Integration strategy. This platform is a strategic asset, and you will be responsible for its evolution and business value.
- Hold ultimate accountability for the availability, performance, reliability and scalability of the entire integration ecosystem of RS, which serves as the critical connective tissues for the business.
- Provide authoritative guidance in architectural discussions, evaluating and deciding on technical solutions and direction for the platform.
- Lead the evaluation of new middleware tools and technologies to drive innovation, with accountability for the technical and business outcomes of these choices.
- Be accountable for the end-to-end delivery of all integration services, from large-scale strategic projects to KTLO (Keep The Lights On), ensuring they meet business requirements on time, within budget, and to quality standards.
- Take ownership of critical issues and complex problems, providing hands-on technical leadership to guide the team to a solution and being the ultimate escalation point for major incidents.
- Be accountable for managing the platform's technical debt, ensuring a lean, secure, and maintainable environment that balances innovation with stability.
- Ensure integration platforms meet all business SLAs and performance guidelines, as their performance directly impacts core business operations.
- Be accountable for the resilience and performance of middleware solutions that are fundamental to our £2.7 billion e-commerce revenue system, ensuring maximum uptime and rapid recovery from any incidents.
- Be accountable for leading, mentoring, and scaling a high-performing, global distributed team of 40+ professionals, with plans for strategic growth.
- Be a visible and passionate advocate for the teams while holding them accountable for deliverables and excellence.
- Proactively manage and be accountable for relationships with a complex stakeholder landscape, including C/VP-level technology leaders and key business partners across the organisation.
- Own the budget for the Middleware & Integration domain, with accountability for financial planning, vendor management, and demonstrating ROI
- Proven experience in a senior leadership role (Director, Head of, or Senior Manager) with full accountability for technology platforms.
- A demonstrated ability to be both strategic and tactical, with a hands-on approach to leadership and problem-solving.
- Extensive experience in developing and executing technology strategies, coupled with the ability to lead detailed architectural and technical discussions.
- Demonstrable experience leading and mentoring a large, distributed team of engineers and managers.
- Background expertise with enterprise-grade integration technologies (Such as SAP CPI, MuleSoft, IBM Integration Bus, Informatica, MuleSoft or equivalent). You can credibly challenge and guide your architects.
- Strong background in building integrations between core enterprise systems such as SAP, Salesforce, Workday/SuccessFactors, Ariba, and e-commerce platforms.
- A proven track record of effectively managing and influencing stakeholders across technology and the wider business.
- Comprehensive knowledge of integration patterns, protocols, and adapters (SOAP, REST, SFTP, RFC, JMS, EDI, etc.).
- Help for people to take control of ongoing Health conditions such as diabetes or asthma with £500 a year available for monitoring & consultation
- Support for Neurodiverse colleagues and families with neurodiverse members with needs assessment, diagnosis and post diagnostic support for autism spectrum, ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome
- Support for Women at different life stages from streamlined fertility support through to diagnosis and monitoring of both endometriosis and menopause
- Helping our LGBTQ+ community through enhanced coverage for trans colleagues, including voice coaching, facial surgery, and gender confirmation surgery
- Additions to Fertility coverage including IVF for lesbian couples and information/support around surrogacy and adoption for all.