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Zopa

Posted 14 days ago

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Director of Engineering

LondonHybrid

AI Summary

Leads an established engineering organisation at Zopa Bank, setting strategy, building high-performing teams, and driving measurable improvements in technology, people, and ways of working.

About this role

Our Story
Hello there. We’re Zopa.
We started our journey back in 2005, building the first ever peer-to-peer lending company. Fast forward to 2020 and we launched Zopa Bank. A bank that listens to what our customers don’t like about finance and does the opposite. We’re redefining what it feels like to work in finance. Our vision for a new era of banking puts people front and centre — we’ve built a business that empowers everyone to aim high, every day, to move finance forward. Find out more about our fantastic offerings at Zopa.com!
We’re incredibly proud of our achievements and none of it would be possible without the amazing team here. It’s not just industry awards we’re winning, we’ve also been named in the top three UK’s Most Loved Workplaces.
If you embrace unconventional challenges, are unafraid to think differently and are driven to make an outsized impact, you’ll thrive here at Zopa, so join us, and make it count. Want to see us in action? Follow us on Instagram @zopalife

As a Director of Engineering, you’ll lead an established engineering organisation responsible for one of our key business areas, with the autonomy and accountability to make a significant impact on how engineering performs at Zopa. You’ll set direction, build high-performing teams and drive meaningful improvements across people, technology and ways of working. This isn’t a role focused on incremental change: we’re looking for someone who can identify where the biggest opportunities exist, create a clear strategy and turn it into measurable progress. You’ll have the scope to influence significant technical and architectural decisions, improve engineering effectiveness and shape how we build and operate technology.

Your impact will extend beyond the teams you directly lead. Our Directors are expected to raise the level of engineering across Zopa, working closely with Product, Commercial and Technology leaders to turn engineering improvements into better business outcomes. You’ll bring strong people leadership, technical credibility and a genuinely data-led approach to understanding what’s working and where we can improve, while helping us push further in areas such as AI-enabled engineering.

This is an opportunity for an experienced engineering leader to take real ownership, drive substantial change and clearly see the results of the decisions they make.

As a highly collaborative role, you’ll attend our Canary Wharf office 3 days per week

What you'll do:

  • Lead Engineering Strategy & Drive Meaningful Change:
    • Set and lead the engineering strategy for your area, identifying the biggest opportunities to improve technology, people and ways of working.
    • Take ownership of moving the organisation from its current state towards a clear future state, building stakeholder buy-in and delivering measurable progress.
    • Operate with a high degree of autonomy, making decisions and driving execution without requiring significant direction.
      • Build a High-Performing Engineering Organisation:
        • Lead a sizeable engineering organisation through Engineering Managers, setting a high bar for people leadership and engineering performance.
        • Build and develop high-performing teams through effective hiring, performance management and people practices.
        • Identify organisational challenges and opportunities, including how teams are structured and how engineering capacity is used most effectively.
        • Reduce key-person dependencies and build an organisation that can perform sustainably as it evolves.
          • Improve Engineering Effectiveness Through Data & AI:
            • Identify and deliver improvements that make engineers and engineering teams more effective across people, technology and process.
            • Use meaningful engineering metrics to identify opportunities, guide decisions and demonstrate whether changes are delivering the intended impact.
            • Drive practical adoption and experimentation with AI, focusing on how it changes engineering effectiveness rather than simply introducing new tools.
            • Share meaningful evidence of engineering performance with teams and stakeholders to inform decisions and drive continuous improvement.
              • Shape Technology & Architecture:
                • Bring the technical credibility to challenge significant design and architectural decisions and make informed judgements on complex technology choices.
                • Develop clear strategies for improving, modernising, consolidating or replacing technology where opportunities exist.
                • Make pragmatic build, buy or partner decisions based on the needs of the organisation.
                • 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 rather than operating in functional silos.
                    • Influence senior stakeholders, navigate demanding conversations and build support for significant engineering change.
                    • Build effective relationships across Technology and supporting functions, understanding how to leverage those teams rather than simply transact with them.
                    • Contribute beyond your immediate organisation, helping raise the level of engineering across Zopa.

How you'll do it:

  • Lead with Autonomy & Ownership:
    • Bring the experience to quickly understand the problem space, form a clear point of view and turn it into action.
    • Take ownership of outcomes, moving at pace while knowing when to seek input, support or validation.
    • Draw on lessons from challenges you’ve faced before, adapting your approach rather than relying on a fixed playbook.
      • Be Curious, Adaptable & Improvement-Focused:
        • Ask the right questions, challenge existing approaches and continually look for opportunities to make engineering better.
        • Stay adaptable as business priorities and technology needs evolve, responding effectively when plans need to change.
        • Bring genuine curiosity to emerging technologies, particularly AI, and be willing to experiment, learn and apply what works.
          • Use Data to Make Better Decisions:
            • Take a genuinely data-led approach, using meaningful metrics to understand engineering performance and identify where improvement is needed.
            • Go beyond reporting metrics by using them to shape priorities, change behaviours and measure the impact of your decisions.
            • Communicate engineering effectiveness in a way that gives teams and senior stakeholders a clear view of progress and outcomes.
              • Influence with High EQ & Low Ego:
                • Build trusted relationships across Engineering, Product, Commercial and the wider organisation.
                • Be comfortable having difficult conversations, constructively challenging others and standing behind decisions you believe are right.
                • Adapt your style to different stakeholders, combining conviction with collaboration to build buy-in and move change forward.
                  • Think Big & Deliver at Pace:
                    • Look beyond incremental improvements and identify opportunities to make a step change in the organisations you lead.
                    • Translate ambitious ideas into practical plans, bringing people with you and creating momentum towards meaningful outcomes.
                    • Balance long-term thinking with visible progress, demonstrating impact while building towards larger-scale change.

About you:

  • You’re an experienced engineering leader who has led sizeable teams and knows how to build a high-performing organisation through strong Engineering Managers, effective hiring, performance management and people leadership.
  • You can demonstrate meaningful improvements to engineering effectiveness across people, technology and ways of working. You use data and metrics to identify opportunities, make decisions and understand whether your changes are having the intended impact.
  • You’ve led significant organisational change, taking teams from their current state to a materially better one. You can set a clear direction, build stakeholder buy-in and translate strategy into tangible progress.
  • You bring the technical credibility to engage in significant design and architectural decisions. You can process complex information, challenge thinking and make sound judgements, including practical build, buy or partner decisions.
  • You know how to build strong partnerships with Product and influence senior stakeholders. You’re comfortable navigating competing priorities and difficult conversations, combining conviction with high EQ and a low-ego approach.
  • You’re actively exploring how AI can improve engineering effectiveness and can talk practically about what you’ve tried, what worked, what didn’t and what you learned.
  • You’re comfortable operating with significant autonomy, bringing experience and judgement to complex challenges without needing the path laid out for you. You’re naturally curious, adaptable and resilient, and comfortable adjusting course as priorities change.
  • Experience within FinTech, lending or another regulated environment would be valuable, as would experience in a technology-first organisation.

    • Skills

    AIArchitectureBuild Vs Buy DecisionsData-led Decision MakingEngineering MetricsFintechLending PlatformsRegulatory EnvironmentsTechnology Modernisation

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