Engineering Manager

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Engineering Manager

Department: Tech - Engineering

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Zinc - London

Reporting To: Rob Leonard

Compensation: GBP 95,000 / year

Description

We are looking for a people-first Engineering Manager to lead two of our core product engineering squads. Our platform is at a critical inflection point: we are evolving from a fast-growth startup into a mature, scaled engineering organisation.

You will lead a group of eight senior and mid-level engineers. This is not a hands-on coding role; instead, your "code" is the team itself. You will focus on building a high-trust environment, refining our delivery engine, and ensuring our engineers have the clarity and support they need to ship high-quality, compliant software.

Key Responsibilities

1. People Leadership & Growth

• Coach & Mentor: Manage 1:1s, career progression frameworks, and performance reviews for 8 engineers.
• Hiring & Onboarding: Own the talent pipeline for your squads, ensuring we hire for both high skill and high cultural add.
• Performance Management: Set a high bar for excellence. You'll celebrate wins and directly address underperformance with clear, actionable feedback.

2. Delivery & Process Evolution

• Scaling Maturity: Lead the transition from "scrappy" startup workflows to structured, predictable delivery patterns without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Operational Excellence: Partner with Product Managers to improve sprint predictability, throughput, and the "Definition of Done."
• Cross-functional Alignment: Act as the bridge between your squads and the wider business, ensuring stakeholders have visibility into progress and risks.

3. Technical Stewardship

• Architecture Review: While you won't be writing PRs, you will facilitate technical discovery and review architectural proposals to ensure they align with our long-term goals for scalability and security.
• Quality Standards: Foster a culture of "Security by Design," ensuring our background checking platform maintains the highest standards of data privacy and auditability.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• An Experienced Leader: You have a proven track record of managing 5+ software engineers in a SaaS environment (ideally B2B).
• A "Systems Thinker": You don't just fix a bug; you fix the process that allowed the bug to happen. You have experience evolving engineering cultures as they scale.
• Technical Foundation: You have a strong background in modern full-stack development (ideally within the TypeScript/Node/Vue ecosystem) which allows you to challenge technical decisions and mentor senior talent.
• High Integrity: You understand the responsibility of building a platform that handles sensitive PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and value reliability over "moving fast and breaking things."
• Empathetic but Direct: You care deeply about your team's well-being but are comfortable having difficult conversations when necessary.

What we offer

Zinc offers a chance to work on a product that brings a fresh perspective on data ownership in hiring

• 24 days holiday + Bank Holidays + your birthday off
• GBP 1200 annual benefits allowance (ThanksBen, from month 2)
• Early finish Fridays (16:00)
• Yearly company retreat abroad
• 30 days to Work from anywhere
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave (2 months full pay, then statutory)
• Statutory pension with NEST (3% employer, 5% employee)
• Zinc shares, issued through the EMI Scheme
• Unlimited access to MoreHappi coaching + Spill
• Company socials, quarterly team socials Free Monday lunches
• Nursery workplace benefit scheme (Yellownest)
• Option to lease an electric car through Electric Car Scheme
• Celebrated Zinc anniversaries