Senior Engineering and Operations Manager

Who are we?

We are Motorpoint, the UK’s leading omnichannel car retailer of nearly new cars. At Motorpoint, we all share the same vision:

To be the Car Buyer's Champion , trusted to deliver unrivalled Choice , Value and Quality .

We believe that by creating a fantastic place to work for our colleagues, we will deliver the best possible experience for our customers. So, if you want to work with an amazing group of people who are fun, friendly and get stuff done - and who bring our values to life – PROUD, HAPPY, HONEST, SUPPORTIVE – by working TOGETHER , then Motorpoint is the place to be and we are on a mission!

The Role: S enior Engineering and Operations Manager

Location: This is a hybrid role, combining remote work with regular collaboration in our Derby office at least three days per week. (Applicants must have the right to work in the UK as we are unable to offer visa sponsorship).

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Friday).

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Role Overview

The Senior Engineering and Operations manager is accountable for the day-to-day delivery, operational performance and technical execution of Technology across the business. Reporting into the Head of Engineering and Operations, this is a senior leadership role with responsibility for overseeing delivery across development and operations, ensuring work is prioritised, coordinated and delivered effectively whilst maintaining operational stability and high engineering standards.

The role provides clear senior ownership of Technology execution, acting as the bridge between strategic direction and practical delivery. The successful candidate will lead Development Managers and the Operations Team Lead whilst remaining closely connected to engineering teams, technology platforms and technical decision-making.

Unlike traditional delivery management positions, this role is expected to maintain strong hands-on engagement with software engineering, architecture and technology delivery. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating at both leadership and technical levels, providing direction on engineering practices, delivery approaches, operational resilience, platform evolution and technical strategy. They will be expected to establish credibility through technical understanding, active engagement and a willingness to get involved where necessary to support successful outcomes.

This is a technical leadership role for someone who remains close to the code. While the role includes senior leadership, delivery ownership and line management responsibilities, it is not intended for someone who has moved fully away from software engineering. The successful candidate must be willing and able to engage directly with code, technical design, debugging, code reviews and hands-on problem solving where required.

The Senior Engineering and Operations manager is expected to remain hands-on and technically engaged. The role requires someone who is comfortable diving into technical detail, contributing to solution design and architectural discussions, supporting teams through complex delivery and operational challenges, and helping to remove barriers that impact delivery, quality or service performance.

The Senior Engineering and Operations manager will be expected to provide senior technical leadership during major incidents, complex change initiatives, technology transformation programmes and delivery recovery situations, combining strategic oversight with practical involvement to ensure outcomes are achieved effectively.

This role is ideally suited to an experienced Development Manager or Head of Development seeking broader responsibility across Technology whilst retaining close involvement with software engineering, technology delivery and operational excellence. It offers the opportunity to lead across a wider Technology function without losing connection to the engineering and operational challenges that drive business success.

What will you be getting up to?

Technology Delivery Ownership

• Own the execution of Technology delivery across development, operations and supporting IT verticals.

• Ensure delivery commitments are realistic, prioritised and aligned to business objectives.

• Maintain clear oversight of plans, milestones, dependencies, risks and delivery constraints.

• Act as the senior escalation point for delivery trade-offs, sequencing challenges and cross-team conflicts.

• Take hands-on ownership of complex, high-risk or business-critical delivery situations where senior technical intervention is required.

• Own prioritisation trade-offs across Technology when demand exceeds capacity, balancing delivery, operational stability, technical sustainability and strategic objectives.

Engineering & Technical Leadership

• Provide senior technical leadership across software engineering teams, ensuring engineering standards, delivery practices and technical decision-making support business outcomes.

• Partner with Development Managers, technical leads and engineers to shape engineering approach, solution design and platform evolution.

• Contribute to architecture reviews, technical design discussions and key technology decisions where cross-team alignment or senior judgement is required.

• Remain close to software delivery, understanding technical challenges first-hand and helping teams remove blockers that affect delivery, quality or service performance.

• Be prepared to contribute directly to technical delivery when appropriate, including reviewing code, supporting debugging, validating technical approaches, contributing to prototypes or proof-of-concepts, and helping teams resolve complex engineering issues.

• Champion scalable, maintainable and secure engineering practices, including appropriate use of AI, testing, monitoring, observability and DevOps ways of working.

• Maintain visibility of technical debt, platform health, system resilience and engineering investment priorities.

• Provide hands-on technical support and challenge during complex technical issues, major incidents, delivery recovery and technology change initiatives.

Operational Oversight

• Ensure the smooth day-to-day running of Technology services, platforms and operational support activity.

• Balance delivery activity with operational stability, service resilience and long-term sustainability.

• Oversee incident, problem and change activity to minimise business impact.

• Ensure operational readiness, supportability and resilience are considered as part of all change and delivery activity.

• Act as senior technical and operational escalation during significant incidents, service failures or complex support scenarios.

Leadership & Line Management

• Line manage Development Managers and the Operations Team Lead.

• Set clear expectations around accountability, delivery outcomes, engineering quality and ways of working.

• Support, challenge and develop senior leaders within Technology.

• Create a culture of ownership, transparency, technical curiosity and continuous improvement.

• Coach managers and teams to balance autonomy with clear accountability for outcomes.

Strategy Execution

• Translate Technology strategy and direction from the Head of Engineering and Operations into actionable delivery plans.

• Shape sequencing and delivery approach to maximise successful outcomes across development and operations.

• Ensure delivery activity reflects strategic priorities, architectural direction, capacity constraints and operational risk.

• Surface delivery risks, technical risks and operational implications early to support informed decision-making.

• Help shape the technology roadmap by balancing business demand, engineering health, platform maturity and operational resilience.

Governance, Visibility & Reporting

• Establish and maintain effective delivery governance across Technology without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

• Provide clear, concise reporting on delivery progress, risks, dependencies, technical health and operational performance.

• Ensure senior stakeholders have confidence in Technology’s ability to deliver consistently and manage risk effectively.

• Create visibility of engineering risks, technical debt, service health and constraints so that priorities can be managed transparently.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify structural or systemic delivery, engineering or operational issues and take ownership of resolving them.

• Improve delivery predictability, engineering flow, cross-team collaboration and operational outcomes.

• Promote pragmatic ways of working that balance speed, quality, technical rigour and risk management.

• Support ongoing improvement in engineering maturity, technical practices, platform resilience and delivery governance.

Skills & Experience

Essential:

• Previous experience as a Development Manager, Engineering Manager, Technical Lead, Principal Engineer or equivalent senior software engineering leadership role.

• Strong hands-on background in software engineering, application delivery or engineering-led technology environments.

• Current or recent hands-on software engineering experience, with the ability and willingness to read, understand, review and contribute to production code when needed.

• Experience leading software engineering teams through the full software development lifecycle.

• Ability to contribute meaningfully to technical discussions across architecture, application development, integration, operational support and platform resilience.

• Strong understanding of modern software delivery practices, engineering standards, DevOps principles and IT operations.

• Experience balancing technical leadership, people leadership, operational oversight and delivery ownership.

• Comfortable operating between strategic planning, delivery leadership and detailed technical problem solving.

• Proven ability to manage managers or senior team leads whilst remaining technically credible with engineering teams.

• Experience coordinating multiple delivery streams with competing priorities, dependencies and business stakeholders.

• Ability to assess technical risk, challenge constructively and make pragmatic decisions that balance business need, quality and long-term sustainability.

Desirable:

• Experience in organisations with mixed legacy and modern technology stacks.

• Exposure to Microsoft technology stacks, .NET, SQL Server, Azure, Microsoft 365 or similar enterprise platforms.

• Experience with cloud platforms, CI/CD pipelines, automation, monitoring, observability and DevOps-aligned operating models.

• Experience improving engineering maturity, delivery governance or operational effectiveness.

• Experience contributing to platform modernisation, technology transformation or business-critical system improvement programmes.

Leadership Characteristics:

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong ownership – taking responsibility for outcomes, not just activity.

• Hands-on technical credibility – staying close enough to engineering and operations to understand detail, challenge effectively and support teams directly when required.

• Delivery focus – prioritising predictable, high-quality outcomes that support business objectives.

• Engineering mindset – valuing quality, maintainability, resilience, security and continuous improvement.

• Clarity under pressure – especially when managing incidents, technical complexity, trade-offs and competing priorities.

• Credibility with senior stakeholders – trusted, pragmatic, transparent and able to explain technical matters clearly.

• Collaborative leadership – aligning development and operations as a single Technology function.

• Pragmatism – knowing when to delegate, when to coach and when to get personally involved to unblock progress.

What is in it for you?

• Paid time off every month to do something that makes you happy

• 31 days' holiday plus days off for your birthday, getting married, or moving house

• Additional holidays for length of service

• Long service awards

• Staff discount on cars and finance options

• Discounts and cashback at hundreds of high street retailers and restaurants through our “My M.O.T” platform

• Smart Tech in partnership with Currys

• Cycle to work

• Pension

• Healthcare

• Enhanced Parental Leave

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

• Vocational and personal development training courses

• Quarterly team socials

• Team feasts

• Scratch card rewards

• Sharesave scheme (SAYE)

• Plus much more!

Closing Date: 9th July 2026

Please note, this role may close before the closing date if the advert receives a high volume of suitable applications, so it is best to apply as soon as possible.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If you have any concerns about potential barriers in the application process, please get in touch so we can ensure they are removed.