VP, Engineering

Company Description

Hi! We're UW. We’re on a mission to take the headache out of utilities by providing them all in one place. One bill for energy, broadband, mobile and insurance and a whole lot of savings!

We’re aiming to double in size as we help more people to stop wasting time and money. Big ambitions, to be delivered by people like you. 

Got your attention? Read on…

We put people first. It’s all about you..

It's an incredibly exciting time at UW as our business continues to scale and this role is critical in bringing our North Star to life for our customers. We believe utilities shouldn't be complex and our proposition turns that perception on its head - but to deliver it at scale, we need a commercially-minded Technology leader, to lead a large engineering organisation.to provide a clear technical vision and strategy for Engineering at UW. You’ll be a seasoned people leader and a proven track record of operating in complex, multi-product, scaling environments.

Here’s the key skills, behaviours and experience we’re looking for you to bring:

• You're a seasoned people-leader, having directly led large (100+) Engineering teams in a scaling, multi-faceted business. You’ll be comfortable managing managers and building effective organisational structures.
• You can demonstrate the ability to develop and drive the delivery of a complex technical roadmap in a fast-paced environment.
• You are a technology evangelist with a deep understanding of modern architectural patterns, cloud-native technologies, and how to leverage tech for business enablement. Our stack includes Go, React, ReactNative, Kubernetes, Kafka.
• Previous experience in the utilities and/or regulated industries is valued but not essential.
• Strategic Thinking: You provide long-term vision while remaining flexible enough to adjust course based on evolving circumstances.
• Commercial Acumen: You understand the financial and business drivers that impact the organisation’s and function’s success.
• Relationship Management: You engage effectively with internal and external stakeholders to align expectations and support outcomes.
• You role model our Leadership Belief: You put people first by really knowing your people. You are adaptable and trust people to do the right thing and work together. You deliver progress through driving performance and achieving results.

We work together. Your team and the people you will work with…

The VP, Engineering will report to the Chief Product & Technology Officer and will lead a team of 175 engineers. You’ll be a key member of our Business Leadership Group. 

We deliver progress. What you’ll do and how you will make an impact.

As VP Engineering, you will be responsible for driving technical excellence, fostering innovation, and building world-class products that delight our customers, partners, and internal users. This is a pivotal leadership role that combines strategic vision with technical leadership in a complex, fast-paced environment. 

The key responsibilities for this role will include:

Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a diverse engineering organization of ~175 people including software engineers, engineering managers, and heads of engineering. 
• Build and maintain a high-performance culture that attracts, retains, and develops top engineering talent. Drive performance management, goal setting, and regular feedback processes
• Establish clear career progression paths and ensure continuous learning and professional development across all levels
• Foster collaboration, innovation, and technical excellence throughout the organization

Technical Architecture & Strategy

• Own and evolve the overall technical architecture and engineering strategy for UW
• Drive architectural decisions for our event-sourced backend systems built with Go
• Ensure scalability, reliability, and performance of our distributed systems running on Kubernetes
• Oversee the evolution of our frontend and mobile applications built with TypeScript, React, and React Native
• Guide the strategic use of technologies including Kafka, event sourcing patterns, and emerging technologies
• Balance technical debt with feature delivery and long-term architectural goals

Developer Productivity & Engineering Excellence

• Own and drive developer productivity, ensuring engineering teams are focused on delivering the right things, in the right way
• Establish and embed engineering standards, best practices, and coding guidelines across all teams
• Implement tooling, processes, and automation that accelerate development cycles and improve code quality
• Drive standardization efforts where beneficial while maintaining flexibility for innovation
• Establish metrics and KPIs to measure and improve engineering productivity and system reliability
• Champion DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure as code

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner closely with Product, Data, and Design leadership, as well as the wider business leadership, to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Collaborate on product roadmap planning, ensuring technical feasibility and optimal resource allocation
• Work with Data teams to build scalable data pipelines and analytics capabilities
• Role model cross-functional working, inspiring the engineering teams to integrate and embrace working with colleagues across the UW organisation
• Participate in executive decision-making and strategic planning initiatives

So why pick UW?

We’ve got big ambitions so there’s going to be plenty of challenges. There are also a lot of benefits: 

• An industry benchmarked salary. We’ll share it during your first conversation.
• Share Options and a Save as You Earn scheme.
• Hybrid working, with 2 days in the office. (We’re definitely open to discussing flexible working arrangements)
• Electric Car salary sacrifice scheme through Tusker
• Discount on our services and you get our coveted Cashback Card for free. You’ll also get access to 100s of rewards and discounts through Perkbox
• A matched contribution pension scheme and life assurance up to 4x your salary. You can also access free mortgage advice and a financial wellbeing tool.
• Family-friendly policies, designed to help you and your family thrive.
• Discounted private health insurance, access to an Employee Assistance line and a free Virtual GP. Our wellbeing app Unmind supports your mental health.
• Belonging groups that help UW shape an even more inclusive future.
• A commitment to helping you develop your career journey through learning, coaching and new experiences

Apply Here!

You’ve got this far… Hit apply - we can’t wait to hear from you! Worried you don’t hit all the criteria? We welcome applications from diverse and varied backgrounds so get your application in and let’s chat!

Claire Fennell will be your point of contact throughout the recruitment process.  

Additional Information

Not sure you meet all the requirements? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs if they think they may not meet every qualification, when in fact they often do.

We provide equal opportunities, a diverse and inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone. You are welcome to apply no matter your age, disability, gender, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity status, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. Please don’t be afraid to ask about what we can do to support your needs. All requests will be carefully and fairly considered.

Please note, if you are successful and offered a role at UW, you will be subject to a background check. Where checks are unsatisfactory or incomplete and/or a failure to reveal information relating to convictions that you are required to identify as part of the background checks, could lead to withdrawal of an offer of employment.