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Head of Engineering - Operator Platform

Sunderland, United Kingdom
Head Of Engineering Engineering Manager
Actively hiring

Head of Engineering - Operator Platform

tombola
Sunderland, United Kingdom
Head Of Engineering Engineering Manager
tombola
Actively hiring

hackajob is partnering with tombola to fill this position. Create a profile to be automatically considered for this role—and others that match your experience.

 

As Head of Engineering – Operator Platform, you’ll shape and deliver the technology that powers how we operate, scale and continuously improve the tombola experience. This is a key leadership role at the heart of Platform Engineering, where you’ll define and drive a player-first technology strategy while enabling the teams behind the scenes to move faster, smarter and more effectively.

Leading multiple engineering teams across back-end and front-end, you’ll own the architecture, design and development of our operator platform and the systems that support our player-facing products. Working closely with teams across the business, you’ll ensure our technology is scalable, reliable and built to deliver seamless, high-quality experiences for our players.

What you'll lead and deliver

Technical strategy

  • Provide expert leadership across software design and development

  • Champion modern technologies, best practices and coding standards

  • Build and evolve a platform that supports long-term strategic goals

  • Define and deliver a technical roadmap aligned to player experience

  • Identify opportunities for innovation in how players interact with our products

  • Share knowledge and insight to help stakeholders understand what’s possible

Leadership

  • Lead, coach and support a cross-functional team of engineers

  • Create an inclusive, collaborative environment where people can thrive

  • Support career growth and identify future leaders within the team

  • Build and empower a high-performing Platform Engineering leadership group

Cross-functional collaboration

  • Work closely with Product, Design, Game Studio, Marketing and Customer Support

  • Turn player insights, feedback and data into meaningful technical solutions

Strategic planning

  • Contribute to the wider technology vision and roadmap

  • Translate business goals into clear, actionable engineering plans

  • Ensure alignment with company strategy and long-term objectives

Development and delivery

  • Oversee the full development lifecycle, from idea through to deployment

  • Ensure delivery is timely, scalable and meets high quality standards

  • Work with senior leaders to create transparent, scalable ways of working

Quality and innovation

  • Set and maintain high engineering and quality standards

  • Encourage experimentation and continuous improvement

  • Enable data-driven decision-making through strong platform capabilities

Project management

  • Oversee delivery of engineering projects within timelines and budgets

  • Balance new feature development with maintenance and technical debt

  • Collaborate with product and technology leaders on prioritisation

Technical expertise

  • Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies

  • Use knowledge to guide technical direction and decision-making

Stakeholder communication

  • Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences

  • Build strong relationships across teams and with external partners

Budget management

  • Own and manage departmental budgets, including people, hosting and tooling

  • Work with senior leadership to plan and forecast effectively

What we're looking for

  • Experience leading large, multi-layered engineering teams

  • Proven experience managing budgets

  • Experience setting and tracking objectives using OKRs

  • Background in customer-facing technology environments

  • Strong knowledge of front-end technologies such as Vue and React

  • Experience working in experimentation-led or UX-focused organisations

  • Experience leading multi-disciplinary delivery teams or functions

  • Understanding of platform engineering and development operations

  • Familiarity with technologies such as C#, Node, Docker, SQL Server and AWS

Desirable:

  • Experience within the iGaming sector or similar regulated industries

hackajob is partnering with tombola to fill this position. Create a profile to be automatically considered for this role—and others that match your experience.

 

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