Senior Software Engineering Manager at Cancer Research UK

Senior Software Engineering Manager

• Salary: £80,000 – £85,000 (+ Benefits)
• Reports to: Head of Engineering
• Department: Chief Operating Office
• Contract: Permanent
• Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week
• Location: Stratford, London. Flexible working arrangements (1-2 days per week in the office).
• Visa Sponsorship: Cancer Research UK is open to offering visa sponsorship for this role. If applicable, ensure this is clearly noted in your application.

Application Deadline: 02 December 2024, 23:55

This role may close earlier if a high number of applications are received or a suitable candidate is found. To avoid disappointment, we recommend applying early. If you require additional time due to reasonable adjustments, please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk as soon as possible.

Recruitment Process:

• Two competency-based interviews.
• Interview Date: From the week commencing 02 December 2024.

How to Apply:
As part of our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, we use an anonymised shortlisting process. CVs are required for applications but will only be reviewed if you’re invited for an interview. Please fully complete the work history section of the online application form for fair, quick, and objective assessment.

About Us

At Cancer Research UK, our mission is to beat cancer.

We’re professionals driven by purpose, making progress daily. To move further and faster, we need skilled individuals who are eager to grow their expertise—someone like you.

Our Engineering Strategy is ambitious, leveraging a modern tech stack with hybrid infrastructure (on-premise & multi-cloud) to support an extensive technical estate. Through our Sustain Strategy, we are driving transformation and operational excellence, ensuring efficient use of resources, delivering a high-quality employee experience, and fostering inclusivity.

We manage critical software solutions, including content management platforms, event and activity management applications, online fundraising systems, payments platforms, e-commerce solutions, and mobile apps. These systems are essential for millions of users—cancer patients seeking information, supporters and volunteers helping fundraise, researchers working towards cures, and over 600 retail stores and 4,000 office staff.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineering Manager to lead a diverse, multidisciplinary Software Engineering team (25-30 staff, including Front-End, Back-End, and Integration Engineers). Your role will involve delivering our software engineering strategy while fostering innovation, empowering small multi-skilled product teams, and enabling team members to make impactful decisions and prioritize effectively.

If you’re a proven Engineering Leader with experience managing and developing teams in large organizations, we’d love for you to join us in our mission.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Cancer Research UK’s Software Engineering team (25-30 staff) by:
  • Driving the evolution and execution of the Software Engineering Strategy.
  • Developing platforms and products that are secure, flexible, performant, and reliable.
  • Recruiting and supporting career development for software engineers.
  • Offering expert technical guidance and inspiring leadership.
• Line manage and cultivate an inclusive, high-performing team by:
  • Building a positive culture that celebrates success, drives performance, and rewards results, ensuring talent retention.
  • Collaborating with Lead Engineers to improve standards, create reusable assets, and encourage knowledge sharing across Front-End, Back-End, and Integration disciplines.
  • Partnering with internal and external stakeholders to architect solutions, provide estimates and commitments, and optimize team efficiency.
• Foster collaboration within the Engineering leadership team and across the Technology directorate to ensure governance, reliability, efficiency, and high-quality delivery.
• Embody Cancer Research UK’s leadership behaviours by:
  • Striving for impact with clarity, ambition, and decisive action.
  • Engaging with the mission as a collective effort.
  • Creating an environment for impactful work, fostering ownership, and promoting inclusivity.
  • Encouraging curiosity and embracing challenges and fresh ideas.

Skills and Experience Needed

• Proven experience as an engineering leader, successfully recruiting, developing, and engaging teams in large, complex organizations.
• Strong knowledge of the evolving technology landscape, including:
  • Best practices (e.g., BDD, CI/CD).
  • Architectural approaches (e.g., modern front-end development, single-page applications, serverless services, infrastructure-as-code).
  • Full-stack JavaScript (React/Node.js) with AWS serverless services (e.g., Amplify, Lambda, Aurora).
• A deep understanding of the software delivery lifecycle and methodologies such as DevOps and Agile.
• Demonstrated ability to mature software engineering practices, balancing ambition and agility with robust processes for business-critical applications.
• Exceptional communication skills, able to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
• A combination of technical expertise, inspirational leadership, and strong stakeholder management abilities.

Our Values

Our values guide everything we do:

• Bold: Ambitious, courageous, and determined.
• Credible: Professional and rigorous in approach.
• Human: Positively impacting people.
• Together: Inclusive and collaborative.

We seek candidates who embody these values to help drive our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re excited about the role but unsure if your skills fully align, we still encourage you to apply.

What We Offer

Cancer Research UK provides a supportive working environment, a generous benefits package, career and personal development opportunities, and top-quality tools. Our policies are designed to help you achieve a healthy work-life balance, advance in your career, and meet your wellbeing goals.

Explore our careers page to learn more about our benefits.

Additional Information

For further details about working with us, visit our website or contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube for updates on our work and careers.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging, benefits from, and contributes to our mission. Applications from all backgrounds and cultures are encouraged, especially from ethnic minority groups currently underrepresented.

Please inform us of any adjustments you need during the application, interview process, or at work to perform at your best. Contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400.

Note: We cannot employ anyone under 18 due to health, safety, and safeguarding considerations.