VP of Engineering Job description Location Hybrid hom e and W estm inster London ofce Tenure Perm anent Full tim e Salary £100000 - £110000 Closing date Rolling recruitm ent About the role W e are growing our technology team and looking for an engineering m anager with a shared belief in the power of data and technology to change lives. As a team we want to continue building a solid engineering culture so that we can m ove the com pany and m ission forward and grow professionally and personally. You will lead a team of engineers balancing people m anagem ent with delivery oversight. You will be responsible for the perform ance growth and wellbeing of your direct reports. Youll work closely with Product and other stakeholders to ensure your team delivers high-quality work aligned with business priorities setting clear expectations rem oving blockers and fostering a culture of psychological safety continuous im provem ent and accountability. A core part of this role is helping our team s excel at agile delivery. W e run both Scrum and Kanban across different team s and you will work across them - coaching facilitating and continuously im proving how we plan deliver and learn. Youll need to be uent in both m ethodologies and understand when and why each is the right t. You will rem ain technically credible and able to engage m eaningfully in architectural and technical discussions though your prim ary focus is on enabling others to do their best work. This is a scale-up environm ent with plenty of opportunity to take responsibility and lead on im proving our ways of working alongside new developm ent. Key Responsibilities Agile delivery and process ownership Own and evolve agile practices across engineering team s working uently with both Scrum and Kanban depending on team context and the nature of the work Facilitate sprint planning reviews retrospectives and stand-ups for Scrum team s ensure Kanban team s have well-m aintained boards clear W IP lim its and effective ow m etrics Coach team s on when and how to adapt their process - recognising that different work product features vs. BAUsupport vs. data delivery benets from different approaches Use delivery m etrics cycle tim e throughput velocity lead tim e to identify bottlenecks drive im provem ents and provide visibility to stakeholders - without reducing agile to a num bers gam e Cham pion continuous im provem ent through well-facilitated retrospectives and follow-through on action item s Ensure cross-team alignm ent on cadences dependencies and shared cerem onies where needed People leadership and development Run effective 11s provide tim ely and constructive feedback and support each team m em bers developm ent through clear goals and regular career conversations Manage perform ance fairly addressing issues early and with care Build trust within your team and create an environm ent where people feel safe to take risks ask for help and challenge ideas Grow junior team m em bers through m entoring pairing code review and leading by exam ple using our engineering career pathways fram ework to support progression Actively support hiring - contributing to job descriptions interviews and onboarding Delivery and execution Ensure your team delivers reliably and sustainably working with Product to prioritise work m anage dependencies and set realistic expectations Protect the team from unnecessary disruption while keeping them connected to business context Track progress identify risks early and intervene when delivery is at risk - without m icrom anaging Balance feature delivery with technical health ensuring tim e is allocated for m aintenance refactoring and technical debt reduction Technical engagement Rem ain technically credible - you dont need to be the strongest individual contributor but you should participate m eaningfully in design discussions code review conversations and architectural decisions Identify technical risk ask good questions and support sound decision-m aking Ensure technical standards are m aintained and that the team invests appropriately in code quality testing and docum entation W ork as a hands-on engineer where needed - front-end back-end CICD IaC and security Ensure the security of data entrusted to the organisation m inim ising risk of breach data loss or downtim e Stakeholder and cross-functional collaboration Build strong working relationships with Product Design Data Policy and Client Services team s Com m unicate com plex technical concepts to all audiences within the organisation Represent your team s capacity constraints and progress clearly Escalate risks and blockers appropriately Contribute to cross-team planning and coordination ensuring your team s work aligns with broader engineering and organisational goals Manage external technical relationships with pentesters infrastructure specialists accessibility testers and contractors Shape the com panys thinking on software technology architecture and how to build system s that work for us our custom ers and our users over the long run The Ideal Candidate Essential Skills Dem onstrable experience as an engineering m anager or senior tech lead m anaging a team Deep practical experience with both Scrum and Kanban - real-world facilitation and continuous im provem ent of agile team s is preferred over certication Track record of im proving team delivery through process changes rem oving im pedim ents and coaching engineers on agile practices Experience working across team s that use different agile m ethodologies and the judgem ent to understand which approach ts which context Strong people m anagem ent skills - perform ance m anagem ent career developm ent constructive feedback and difcult conversations handled with care Hands-on software engineering experience across the full stack you dont need to code daily but you m ust be technically credible enough to engage in design discussions identify technical risk and m aintain the team s trust Experience with CICD autom ated testing and m odern developm ent workows Strong com m unication and stakeholder m anagem ent - you can represent your team clearly inuence decisions through well-reasoned argum ents and com m unicate com plex ideas sim ply Com fort with am biguity and change - you help others navigate pressure and keep the team focused Desirable Experience in a scale-up or growing engineering organisation Fam iliarity with our tech stack TypeScript Node.js AngularReact AW S Lam bda Fargate RDS Dynam oDB S3 Python Experience with Jira for sprintKanban board m anagem ent and roadm ap planning Certied Scrum Master CSM Professional Scrum Master PSM or Kanban Managem ent Professional KMP - useful but not required Experience working in GovTech public sector or m ission-driven organisations Understanding of data engineering workows and cross-discipline collaboration Technical environment Our benets m odel uses JavaScript TypeScript Node.js Angular transitioning to React MochaChaiPlaywright AW S S3 CloudFront Lam bda Fargate Dynam oDB RDS MySQL. Our data analysis workow uses Node.js AW S RDS PostgreSQL Fargate Lam bda S3 Python Stata Excel Tableau. Our developm ent practices include GitHub CICD via GitHub Actions with code review and autom ated quality checks AW S CDK Jira for epicsticketsroadm aps with quarterly roadm ap review. Interest and aptitude for ongoing learning is m ore im portant than what you know today. About Policy in Practice Policy in Practice believes data and technology have the ability to em power people and change lives. Our goal is to be the single point of access for all people on m eans tested benets and enable effective public services through citizen centred services. W e aim to reach as m any households as possible across the UK. W e will do this via growth of existing products in public and private sector organisations and through expansion into new m arkets. Policy in Practice is at a pivotal point as we continue to m ove from start up to scale up. W e have invested in our capability and developm ent has m oved from ideas to prototypes and in som e cases to production. Policy in Practices vision and mission Vision W e believe data and technology have the ability to em power people and change lives. Mission Em power people via proactive integrated support. W e will help m ore people to live better lives using our expertise in social policy data and technology. W e are transform ing the way society supports low incom e fam ilies through citizen centred approaches. W e focus on im proving how all policy areas sectors and journeys com bined can have an im pact on people and their outcom es. Values Purposeful and passionate W e push for opportunities to im prove not just for our clients or for ourselves but also for the people who need our help. W e take responsibility. Details Matter. W e have a genuine passion to help people with a willingness to take action. Insightful and im pactful W e go beyond straightforward analysis to get to the 'So W hat driving our policy insight and services to deliver im pact. W e think deeply and com m unicate sim ply in a way that helps people m ake the right decisions. Respectful and supportive W e are willing to discuss and debate openly listening to both sides and relying on evidence and strong relationships to reach shared positions. W e have each others back. Why work here W orking at Policy in Practice is not just about m axim ising our own prot and product perform ance. It is also about what is right for people in the UK and the system supporting them . W e are a team of professionals with extensive knowledge of the welfare system who are passionate about m aking social policy work . W e love what we do have fun and while we recognise the im portance and im pact of our work we take life-work balance seriously. W orking in a thought-leading organisation where you can em power people and change lives. Flexible working arrangem ents with hybrid and rem ote working available Opportunities for quick career progression Policy in Practice colleagues say Everyone is lovely and we do such im pactful work. There is a very caring em ployee culture and a drive to share expertise." I appreciate how our work helps shape policies and the supportive team environm ent here encourages everyone to grow. Flexible working options m ake it easier to balance life and work and our inclusive culture m akes this a welcom ing place to be." The work is extrem ely m eaningful and translates directly into tangible benets." How to apply Please send your CV with a cover letter that clearly outlines your suitability and your interest in the post to jobs policyinpractice.co.uk as soon as possible.