Head of Software Engineering – Model and Platform Engineering

Aurora Energy Research

Head of Software Engineering at Aurora, leading model infrastructure for global analysis and software. Inspire and manage a 35-person engineering team in a hybrid environment.

Posted 7/21/2026full-timeOxford • 🇬🇧 United KingdomLeadWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates strong engineering leadership with a focus on AI-native practices, Agile delivery, and cloud-native platform development. Capable of driving organizational performance through effective coaching, strategic planning, and data-driven decision-making.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Engineering Leadership At ScaleAI-Native Engineering LeadershipAgile Delivery ExpertiseCloud And Software Engineering ExpertiseComplex Platform Experience

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Software EngineeringAI-Assisted DevelopmentAgile MethodologiesCloud-Native DevelopmentContinuous DeliveryData-Driven Decision MakingPerformance ManagementBudget ManagementCapacity PlanningTechnical Programme Delivery

Soft Skills

CoachingCommunicationInfluencingTeam DevelopmentStakeholder Leadership

Tools & Technologies

AWSDevOps PracticesSoftware PlatformsModelling ToolsAnalytics Tools

Industry Keywords

Engineering StrategyDelivery ExcellencePerformance CultureOrganizational ChangeTechnical Initiatives

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSCloud

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead and inspire a growing 35‑person, five‑squad engineering organisation split between Oxford and São Paulo, setting direction, standards and a shared sense of purpose.
Lead delivery excellence - Establish a high-performance delivery culture that consistently achieves business goals, delivers strategic initiatives on time and enables Aurora to execute effectively against its product and technology roadmap.
Develop people and teams through hands‑on coaching, career development, training initiatives and effective performance management.
Shape engineering strategy and roadmap in partnership with Product Management, Modelling, AI & Data Engineering and Product Engineering, balancing short-term delivery with long-term platform evolution.
Lead Aurora's model engineering transformation, embedding modern software engineering practices, AI-enabled development workflows and continuous delivery approaches to improve quality, productivity and delivery speed of our models.
Drive engineering excellence through strong architecture, testing, security, operational and delivery standards, supported by metrics and data-driven decision making.
Own organisational and financial performance, including budget management, capacity planning and investment prioritisation.
Contribute to Aurora's wider technology strategy, helping shape the future direction of our modelling platforms, software products and engineering organisation.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Engineering leadership at scale - Significant experience leading high-performing engineering organisations delivering complex software products, platforms or technical programmes through periods of growth and organisational change.
AI-native engineering leadership - Proven experience leading teams through the adoption of AI-assisted and agent-based software development practices, delivering measurable improvements in engineering productivity, quality and delivery outcomes.
Agile delivery expertise - Deep experience building and running modern Agile engineering organisations using continuous delivery and data-driven continuous improvement.
Strong execution and organisational leadership - Demonstrated track record of developing teams, building engineering capability and delivering complex technical initiatives while balancing business priorities, quality and long-term maintainability.
Complex platform experience - Experience leading teams delivering sophisticated software platforms, ideally in modelling, optimisation, analytics, data-intensive or other technically complex domains.
Technical leadership and credibility - A strong software engineering background with the ability to effectively lead senior engineering managers and architects, and challenge constructively when required, whilst empowering technical specialists and architects to lead on detailed design and implementation.
Cloud and software engineering expertise - Experience leading the development and operation of cloud-native platforms, ideally on AWS, with a good understanding of modern software engineering, DevOps and operational excellence practices.
People and stakeholder leadership - Exceptional coaching, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to align engineers, product leaders and executives around a shared vision and create a high-performance culture.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Private Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Parental Support
Salary-Exchange Pension
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Local Oxford Discounts
Cycle-to-work Scheme
Flu Jabs