Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering | High-Growth Specialty MGA | Remote (UK) | Full-Time | £110-120K+ and 25% Bonus

About the Company

Our client is a modern, high-growth specialty MGA dedicated to bringing technical excellence, operational agility, and data-led decision-making to the insurance marketplace. They’ve tripled their team size this year, and are now looking for an ambitious Head of Technology & Engineering to build and deliver their end-to-end technology platform.

As they continue to scale, they need a leader who wants to leave traditional corporate bureaucracy behind, turn technology into a core competitive advantage, and help shape a category-defining MGA platform from an early stage.

This will be a senior role with absolute ownership, strong backing from the C-suite team, and a fast-track into the CTO role as the engineering team is built under you. We do not care if you have insurance experience - we're looking for someone with modern tech stack experience and a willingness to learn and build.

The ideal candidate prioritises absolute platform ownership over traditional, slower management. You will be the definitive technical authority on the intersection of architectural design, delivery timelines, product intricacy, and strategic commercial goals. We hope that you have the ambition to transition into a CTO role and are looking to build the skills and commercial experience that lead into this.

About the Role

Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer (with a dotted line to the Chief Executive Officer), this is a hands-on role designed for someone who does. We do not need someone who wants to solely manage. You will act as the technical architect and lead builder, helping to design and deliver a scalable, API-first platform that enables "native insurance" products embedded directly into customer environments, not just bolted on.

Initially, you will remain close to the code and systems, operating as a player-coach. As the platform scales, you will take responsibility for defining team structures, managing capability gaps, and designing the engineering organization and roadmap expected of a future CTO. This role does not require a current CTO; it is a leadership incubator designed for an experienced Lead, Principal, or Founding Engineer ready for a major step up.

Key Responsibilities

Design and execute a modern, API-first, microservices-based architecture to support embedded products and rapid, cross-departmental partner integrations.

Build flexible, modular infrastructure that enables the launch of new insurance products in weeks, not months.

Design digital-first, automated claims experiences and workflows that leverage AI to drastically reduce friction and operational overhead.

Establish a core data platform that captures granular insights across the full customer lifecycle to actively optimize underwriting and pricing performance.

Set technical standards through direct contribution, managing delivery capacity and resource allocation while fostering a collaborative, pragmatic culture.

Embed regulatory compliance, data protection, and operational resilience directly into system designs in line with FCA requirements.

Skills & Competencies

Strong hands-on engineering capability with absolute comfort designing, building, reviewing, and shipping production systems.

Deep understanding of cloud architecture, modular services, integration patterns, and platform scalability.

A sharp business mindset, understanding how technical trade-offs directly affect growth, distribution, cost, and customer risk.

A product-driven approach that moves efficiently from business problem to MVP to scalable capability, balancing speed with quality.

The confidence to operate fluently at strategic, architectural, and deep technical delivery levels without losing momentum.

Qualifications & Experience

Proven experience building, scaling, and taking platforms from early concept to live operation in a startup or high-growth environment.

Direct, working exposure to Insurtech, Fintech, or embedded SaaS product environments is highly desirable.

Clear communication skills with a track record of making technical decisions understandable to non-technical leaders, operational teams, and corporate partners.

A continuous learning mindset, staying current with technological trends and applying them only where they create true business value.

Highly organized and comfortable creating order from ambiguity without requiring perfect requirements or massive teams.

Role Details

Up to £120K base salary, with up to a 25% annual bonus.

Health insurance, 8% pension, and other contributions

Remote, with two offices (Bristol and London) to work from as well.

Meaningful ownership over platform direction with a clear pathway to develop breadth across the entire technical and commercial ecosystem into a CTO-level leader.