Software Engineering Manager - Mobile Platform (React Native)

• Recruit, lead, and develop an agile team of 5-7 mobile engineers (React Native) across a mix of seniority levels.
• Own people management responsibilities including hiring, onboarding, line management, performance management, coaching, mentoring, and career development.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance team culture focused on continuous improvement and psychological safety.

Technical Leadership & Delivery

• Provide hands-on technical leadership for the design and delivery of greenfield mobile applications in iOS and Android using cross platform React Native technology stack. Solid experience & knowledge of React Native is a must-have.
• Define and uphold mobile engineering standards, best practices, and architectural principles.
• Lead technical decision-making, balancing short-term delivery needs with long-term maintainability and scalability.
• Ensure applications are performant, accessible, secure, and compliant with relevant standards and regulations.

Platform & Integration

• Lead the integration of mobile platforms with backend services using GraphQL APIs, and third-party systems to deliver seamless end-to-end user experiences.
• Collaborate with backend, platform, and DevOps teams to ensure well-designed interfaces and reliable deployments.

Ways of Working & Quality

• Take ownership of the agile software development lifecycle, including backlog refinement, Scrum ceremonies, CI/CD pipelines, release processes, and production deployments.
• Promote iterative delivery with a strong focus on customer outcomes, rapid feedback loops, and measurable value.
• Manage mobile release processes: feature flags, phased roll out, hotfix workflows and versioning.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work closely with Product Managers, Designers, and business stakeholders to align technical delivery with product strategy and customer needs.
• Communicate technical concepts, trade-offs, and progress clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• 10+ years of commercial experience building mobile applications across iOS and Android, and at least 4 years leading engineering teams.

• High proficiency in cross platform development in React Native is essential, with a strong grasp of front-end design patterns and best practices in mobile SDLC.

• Proven experience of REST/GraphQL API integration with mobile applications

• Solid understanding of mobile application fundamentals: iOS/Android app lifecycle, performance constraints and release management

• Proven hands-on software engineering background across modern mobile technologies e.g. cross platform / native development.

• Strong understanding of modern mobile architecture, including state management, responsive layouts, routing, navigation, performance optimisation and accessibility standards.

• Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, using version control effectively, and working within modern development workflows.

• Solid experience in managing mobile release processes: feature flags, phased roll out, hotfix workflows and versioning.

• Strong advocate for quality and security, embedding automated testing, code quality checks, and security scanning into development pipelines.

• Passionate about mentoring and developing engineers through coaching, code reviews, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

• Proven experience in leading high performing engineering teams in fast paced environments and well versed in line management duties.

• Able to thrive in fast-paced, regulated environments where delivery speed, quality, compliance, and innovation must be carefully balanced.

• Strong communication and articulation skills, capable of independently navigating an organization and able to negotiate and lead discussions to develop consensus across various levels and departments.

• Discretionary annual bonus* and annual pay review

• 25 days* holiday plus bank holidays and 1-day additional Christmas closure

• Option to purchase an additional 5 days holiday**

• Flexible working options available, including hybrid working

• Enhanced parental leave

• Pension scheme up to 11% employer contribution

• Income Protection and Life insurance (4 x salary core level of cover)

• Private medical insurance*

• Health care cash plans - including optical, dental, and outpatient care

• Health screening programme

• Help@hand - confidential support including mental health counselling and remote GP

• Wellhub - unlimited access to fitness providers and wellness coach sessions

• Variety of travel to work schemes with bike storage and shower facilities

• Inhouse barista and deli serving subsidised coffee and sandwiches

• Two paid volunteering days per year

• dependant on role level

** only available to select during our annual benefits window, in November each year

About HL and the opportunity We're building the next generation platform for one of the UK's largest financial services companies, trusted by over 2 million clients and managing c.£150 billion in assets. This is your opportunity to shape technology that will redefine how people invest and achieve financial freedom. You will build our green field next generation Unified Client Experience (UCX) mobile applications that will streamline client journeys across a range of products and services. It's an exciting opportunity to design, architect and build a modern cross platform mobile application from scratch using React Native and latest design patterns and industry best practices to modernize and transform our savings and investment platform. The UCX team consolidates the efforts of the whole organisation, transforming client journeys and delivering on HL's vision to give people financial freedom. You will work with like-minded people from business, product and engineering functions to develop and refine client journeys covering onboarding, KYC, account management and investment workflows in a secure and compliant environment. By joining us, you'll help deliver innovative and scalable solutions that make investing easier and more accessible to millions of users across the UK. Be part of HL's future. Be part of the future of investing. Shape it with us., Here at HL, we're the UK's number 1 investment platform for private investors, based in Bristol. For more than 40 years we've helped investors save time, tax and money on their investments. To achieve our mission, we believe we have a workplace like no other, with constant learning, dynamic teams, and a great ethos. We're steered by core values that promote service, quality, innovation, and opportunity in everything we do.