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Zopa is a fintech company founded in 2005 as the first peer-to-peer lending platform, and launched Zopa Bank in 2020 to redefine banking by putting customers first. The company has been recognized as one of the UK's Most Loved Workplaces.
As Director of Engineering, you will lead an established engineering organization responsible for a key business area at Zopa. This is a high-impact role with significant autonomy and accountability to drive meaningful improvements across people, technology, and ways of working.
Key Responsibilities:
**Lead Engineering Strategy & Drive Meaningful Change:** Set and lead engineering strategy for your area, identifying major opportunities to improve technology, people, and processes. Take ownership of moving the organization from its current state to a clear future state, building stakeholder buy-in and delivering measurable progress. Operate with high autonomy, making decisions and driving execution independently.
**Build a High-Performing Engineering Organization:** Lead a sizeable engineering organization through Engineering Managers, setting high standards for people leadership and performance. Build and develop high-performing teams through effective hiring, performance management, and people practices. Identify organizational challenges and opportunities, including team structure and capacity utilization. Reduce key-person dependencies and build sustainable organizational capability.
**Improve Engineering Effectiveness Through Data & AI:** Identify and deliver improvements that enhance engineer and team effectiveness across people, technology, and process. Use meaningful engineering metrics to identify opportunities, guide decisions, and demonstrate impact. Drive practical adoption and experimentation with AI, focusing on how it changes engineering effectiveness. Share evidence of engineering performance with teams and stakeholders to inform decisions and drive continuous improvement.
**Shape Technology & Architecture:** Bring technical credibility to challenge significant design and architectural decisions. Develop clear strategies for improving, modernizing, consolidating, or replacing technology. Make pragmatic build, buy, or partner decisions based on organizational needs. Work effectively with engineering, architecture, platform, and other technology teams to manage dependencies and deliver change.
**Partner Across the Business & Raise the Engineering Bar:** Build strong partnerships with Product and Commercial leaders, creating shared ownership of outcomes. Influence senior stakeholders, navigate demanding conversations, and build support for significant engineering change. Build effective relationships across Technology and supporting functions. Contribute beyond your immediate organization to raise the level of engineering across Zopa.
You'll work from the Canary Wharf office 2-3 days per week in a hybrid arrangement, with the option to work abroad up to 120 days annually (subject to work authorization).
**Requirements:**
- Proven experience leading sizeable engineering teams and building high-performing organizations through strong Engineering Managers, effective hiring, performance management, and people leadership
- Demonstrated ability to improve engineering effectiveness across people, technology, and ways of working, using data and metrics to identify opportunities and measure impact
- Track record of leading significant organizational change, moving teams from current state to materially better outcomes, with ability to set clear direction, build stakeholder buy-in, and translate strategy into tangible progress
- Technical credibility to engage in significant design and architectural decisions, process complex information, challenge thinking, and make sound judgments including build/buy/partner decisions
- Strong partnership-building skills with Product teams and ability to influence senior stakeholders; comfortable navigating competing priorities and difficult conversations with high EQ and low ego
- Active exploration of how AI can improve engineering effectiveness; ability to discuss practically what you've tried, what worked, what didn't, and what you learned
- Comfortable operating with significant autonomy, bringing experience and judgment to complex challenges; naturally curious, adaptable, and resilient with ability to adjust course as priorities change
- Experience in FinTech, lending, or other regulated environments is valuable, as is experience in technology-first organizations
