Head of Engineering (Future CTO role)

MRJ have partnered with a scaling SaaS company based in Manchester to help them find a Head of Engineering who will become the CTO in 12 months taking over from the CTO/Founder.

The role

We’re hiring a Head of Engineering to lead an AI-first engineering (currently 13 engineers) function and play a key role in shaping and scaling an AI-first SaaS platform at a pivotal growth stage.

This role is designed as a clear pathway into a future CTO position, with a structured 12-month transition plan and close partnership with the CTO/Founder. Over the first 12 months, you’ll work closely with the CTO/Founder to take ownership of engineering delivery, raise standards, and then drive strategy and technical direction. From 12 months onwards, you’ll be positioned to step into the CTO role.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead and develop a high-performing engineering team across the UK and Poland, with a focus on coaching, clarity, and delivery excellence

First 6 months (hands-on leadership):

• Improve delivery practices, team effectiveness, and engineering standards
• Establish scalable ways of working across a growing, distributed team
• Support the team in delivering high-quality product outcomes, balancing speed and quality

Next 6 months (strategic leadership):

• Own the engineering roadmap and long-term technical direction in partnership with the CTO/Founder
• Define and implement an AI-first engineering approach aligned to product goals
• Build a scalable platform mindset across architecture, reliability, observability, and security
• Drive best practice in cloud engineering on AWS, ensuring robust, secure, and scalable systems
• Partner with Product and other stakeholders to align engineering execution with business priorities
• Hire and scale the team as the business grows, ensuring the right structure and capability for the next stage

12 months onwards: all of the above as the new CTO.

PERSON REQUIREMENTS

• Proven experience leading cross functional and remote first engineering teams in a SaaS environment, ideally through a period of growth and scaling
• Strong engineering leadership with the ability to be hands-on when needed, particularly in the early phase of the role
• Experience operating in modern cloud environments, with strong AWS knowledge
• A track record of improving engineering delivery: standards, processes, quality, reliability, and team performance
• Confidence setting technical direction and making pragmatic decisions that support both product delivery and long-term platform health
• Comfortable working in a distributed, cross-border team environment (UK/Europe)
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to collaborate closely with a CTO/Founder and influence across the business
• Passion for AI-first engineering, including practical understanding of how AI influences product and engineering ways of working

NEXT STEPS

If you’re an engineering leader who enjoys building high-performing teams, raising the bar on delivery, and wants a clear route into a CTO seat, we’d love to hear from you.