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Head of Development (.Net)

Job description

Head of Development

Southampton

Circa £65k - £70k DOE

Head of Development required to join a company centered on technical excellence, delivering quality, robust software and platforms to customers across the UK and Europe.

The Head of Development role is charged with maximising the quality and reliability of the products and services, by ensuring that strong development practices are in place and are always rigorously followed. Maintaining and improving the company's development capability - including the leadership of a team of internal and external developers - is a key part of the job, as is ensuring open lines of communication with all stakeholder groups, including colleagues, clients and suppliers.

To be considered for this role, you'll need:

  • 5+ years of relevant experience of SDLC management across a range of development methodologies and standard approaches, within a product or software development organisation.
  • Experience of cloud architectures and SaaS delivery
  • To be proactive, methodical, well organised and able to work to demanding deadlines across a number of simultaneous activities.
  • Good communication skills, both written and oral.
  • Leadership, delegation and coordination skills and experience of leading a team, preferably with some exposure to matrix management.
  • To thrive in a fast-moving environment and be personally resilient in dealing with the changing demands of a dynamic role.

Additional Skills Preferred

  • Ideally degree-level educated.
  • Ideally have experience of working with distributed, multi-component systems running over networks, e.g. in retail, security, machine control, etc. environments.

Responsibilities

  • Responsible for building a well-structured, dedicated Software Development whilst focusing on cultural improvements and increasing overall output and quality.
  • Ensure that development activities are managed closely to time and budgets, and that exceptions are communicated effectively to the relevant stakeholders.
  • Manage and lead client facing engagements at all levels and be trusted to deliver to customer expectation with honesty, transparency and support for all future engagements
  • Leading, coaching and cascading company vision to develop and change people culture and environment
  • Collaborate with Developers, Testers, Architects, Product Owners and the leadership team, to assist with design and product delivery and manage implementation of agreed architecture and coding standards.
  • Ensuring that effective development standards are implemented, documented and followed by the development team, including engagement within the ISO9001 and ISO27001 audit processes to demonstrate their use and effectiveness.
  • Be accountable as an escalation route when required, whilst being empowered and trusted to manage any situations as they occur.
  • Responsible for the continuous improvement of the development function within the busines and ensuring that the capabilities available, internally and externally, remain aligned to the company vision and objectives.

The successful candidate will:

  • Build strong relationships with colleagues, clients and suppliers to get the job done, including:
    • Supportive and collaborative teamwork with colleagues to ensure that development efforts are aligned with company priorities and development team members are scheduled accordingly.
    • Reviewing and providing input into product requirements and technical design processes.
  • Ensuring that the development function is a core and active contributing discipline within the overall product development process.
  • Make decisions and table/escalate recommendations to senior management to ensure that development capability mirrors the needs of the business and adequately supports product development and project activities.
  • Be accountable for managing development projects and resources, including:
    • Agreement of development approach and detail designs options.
    • Creation of work estimates for the agreed designs or options.
    • Ensuring that all stakeholders are informed of progress effectively managed.
    • Ensure development processes and standards are followed consistently.
  • Strive for continuous improvement by embracing and looking to extend:
    • Agile development methodologies, consistent use of development tooling and automation within the development space.
  • Lead and manage (recruit, train, allocate and monitor) the team, including:
    • Setting objectives and monitoring performance.
    • Mentoring and career development.
    • Controlling risk by eliminating reliance on the knowledge of specific individuals.
    • Motivating the team and ensuring individuals are always outcome oriented.

If this sounds like you then send your CV to lesleymorgan@spectrumit.co.uk or call 02380 765804 for more information.