VP / Head of Engineering - Contract

A well-funded, cloud-native SaaS platform operating in the energy and utilities sector is going through a significant transformation. New leadership is in place, the structure has been streamlined, and now the focus shifts to rebuilding the engineering organisation - culture, performance, and delivery.

This is a critical interim hire at a pivotal moment. The platform handles real-time billing at scale for some of the UK’s largest energy suppliers - technically demanding, commercially high-stakes, and moving fast.

The role

They need a hands-on engineering leader, equally comfortable in a calibration conversation as they are reviewing a pull request. Someone who can walk into an engineering org with low morale and low ownership, and turn it around through technical credibility, genuine care for people, and a relentless focus on measurable improvement.

You won’t be managing layers of managers. You’ll be close to the engineers, close to the work, and close to the architecture.

What you’ll be doing

• Rebuilding engineering culture from the ground up, ownership, accountability, craft
• Driving DORA metrics across the teams: deploy frequency, lead time, change failure rate, MTTR
• Instilling data-driven ways of working - making performance visible and meaningful, not performative
• Being present with engineers - 1:1s, team rituals, unblocking, genuine people leadership
• Reviewing architecture and PRs where needed - you’re expected to have an opinion and to be taken seriously when you do
• Working with the new leadership team on engineering strategy and delivery roadmap
• Identifying and closing structural gaps left by the restructure

• A track record of leading engineering teams through transformation - not just steady-state management
• Strong technical foundation - enough to engage meaningfully on architecture, review code, and earn credibility with senior engineers fast
• Experience driving DORA performance improvement in a real engineering org
• Genuine people instincts - you know how to rebuild trust and ownership in a team that’s been through change
• Comfort working in a TypeScript/AWS environment (hands-on proficiency a bonus, not a must)
• Ability to operate with autonomy and pace - this is a contract role, not a slow ramp
• Background in SaaS, billing, utilities, or complex B2B platforms - useful but not essential if the leadership fundamentals are strong, The detail