Engineering Manager

Engineering Manager Engineering Management, Java, Kafka, AWS, SOX & Data Migration The Rate - £90 per hour IR35 Status - Inside IR35 The Location - Manchester The Working Pattern - Hybrid, one day per week in the Manchester office Duration - Six-month rolling About the Client Digital Skills are working with a large travel and software business undertaking a major transformation of its enterprise technology platforms. The organisation is modernising a critical Legacy ERP environment and developing new cloud-based integrations to support its future finance and operational capabilities. About the Role This is an opportunity for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead a Manchester based engineering team through a complex replatforming and data migration programme. The role combines people leadership, technical direction, platform ownership and delivery accountability. Although this is not a day to day coding position, the successful candidate must remain technically credible and be comfortable challenging architecture and implementation decisions. The role requires a practical engineering leader rather than someone whose recent experience has focused solely on people management. Responsibilities Lead, manage and develop a team of software engineersCreate an inclusive, high-performing engineering culture based on ownership, quality and continuous learningTake responsibility for engineering delivery, platform health and technical qualityProvide technical direction across Java, Kafka and AWS-based servicesGuide architecture and implementation decisions across the engineering teamLead the modernisation of Legacy systems and support a major enterprise platform migrationOversee complex data migration and systems integration activitiesPartner with Product Managers, architects, security specialists and risk stakeholdersShape product roadmaps, engineering priorities and delivery plansEmbed agile working practices and maintain appropriate engineering standardsEnsure systems meet relevant SOX, data protection and non-functional requirementsSupport incident escalations and promote effective production ownershipDrive technical debt reduction and improve system documentationCoach and mentor engineers, including working with the team at a detailed technical levelEncourage innovation while maintaining the reliability of critical production systems Desired Skills and Experience At least two years of formal engineering management experienceTen or more years of relevant Back End software engineering experienceStrong engineering leadership and people management capabilitiesSubstantial technical experience with JavaExperience designing or operating event-driven systems using KafkaKnowledge of AWS and cloud computing fundamentalsProven experience modernising Legacy systemsExperience leading major replatforming, transformation or migration programmesPractical data migration and systems integration experienceExperience working with critical or highly regulated production systemsKnowledge of SOX controls and associated engineering obligationsA strong understanding of technical quality, architecture and non-functional requirementsExperience managing technical debt, documentation and operational ownershipThe ability to coach engineers and challenge technical implementation approachesExcellent verbal, written and stakeholder communication skillsFinance or enterprise ERP experience would be advantageousExperience managing complex people matters within an engineering team Summary of the Best Candidate The best candidate will be an established Engineering Manager with at least two years of formal management experience and a strong earlier career in Back End software engineering. The candidate should have ten or more years of relevant technical experience, with particular strength in Java, Kafka, AWS and the modernisation of complex Legacy systems. This role requires a hands on technical leader who can guide architecture, question implementation decisions and coach engineers without needing to write code every day. The successful candidate will have led significant data migration or replatforming programmes and will understand the demands of operating critical systems within a SOX-controlled or similarly regulated environment.