Head of Engineering

Job Description

Head of Engineering - Energy & Commodities

πŸ“ Location: Belfast (Hybrid - 3 days in office)
πŸ’Ό Job Type: Permanent | Full-Time
πŸ“£ Posted by: VANRATH

VANRATH is delighted to be recruiting on behalf of a global Fintech company for a key leadership position within their Energy & Commodities technology division.

This is a career-defining opportunity for a seasoned technical leader to join a highly respected organisation operating at the intersection of finance, technology, and commodities. The company is a recognised leader in its field, providing world-class access to global markets, and delivering innovative solutions to improve price discovery, data distribution, and liquidity.

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The Opportunity

The successful candidate will join as Head of Engineering within the Energy & Commodities (E&C) division, taking full ownership of software delivery across multiple agile teams. This individual will be instrumental in driving the organisation's engineering culture forward while overseeing the design and development of complex, scalable systems used globally.

Reporting to the divisional CIO, the role blends strategic leadership with hands-on technical guidance, and is suited to a delivery-focused individual with deep experience in full-stack engineering and managing distributed development teams.

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Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead and manage 4-5 Agile software engineering teams across the E&C function.

  • Provide hands-on leadership across architecture, delivery, and team development.

  • Ensure high-quality code, system performance, and reliability across a large, distributed ecosystem.

  • Drive engineering best practices and continuous improvement across teams.

  • Collaborate closely with architecture, governance, and production functions to ensure alignment with technical and business goals.

  • Influence and guide cloud modernisation efforts (hybrid on-prem and AWS environments).

  • Represent engineering in discussions with senior leadership and key stakeholders.

  • Champion Agile delivery, facilitate Scrum of Scrums, and mentor team leads.

  • Support recruitment and capability building across the engineering function.

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Candidate Profile - Essential:

  • Proven experience leading multiple software delivery teams (Head of Engineering / Lead of Leads level).

  • Hands-on technical background in C#, Java, C++, JavaScript/TypeScript (React) and event-driven architectures.

  • Experience in scripting (Python, Perl, Ruby) and solid SQL skills.

  • Strong understanding of engineering principles and architectural patterns (e.g. Microservices, Backend for Frontend, cloud-native design).

  • Familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD tooling (Git, GitLab, TeamCity, etc.).

  • Deep understanding of clean code practices (SOLID, DRY, YAGNI).

  • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

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Desirable Experience:

  • Background in trading platforms, financial markets, or commodities.

  • Knowledge of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

  • Exposure to Domain Driven Design (DDD), CQRS, GraphQL, or streaming architectures.

  • Experience with AWS or other cloud platforms.

  • Knowledge of actor frameworks (DAPR, AKKA, Orleans) and containerisation tools.

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What You'll Get:

  • Senior leadership role in a world-class organisation with global reach.

  • Exposure to high-impact, mission-critical platforms and cutting-edge technology.

  • Hybrid working model with strong flexibility and autonomy.

  • Excellent compensation package including competitive salary and performance-based bonus.

  • Opportunity to shape engineering strategy and drive transformational change.

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To find out more or to apply in confidence, please contact VANRATH today.

VANRATH is acting as a recruitment partner on behalf of our client. All enquiries will be handled with the strictest confidentiality.