Head - Software Development

Head - Software Development

Application closing date: 25/11/2025

Interviews will take place: Week commencing 01/12/2025

A bit about the role...

Homes England is looking for an experienced engineering leader. As head of profession, and a senior technical member of the digital directorate, you will build and maintain excellence in software engineering and quality assurance testing. We are building empowered agile teams that can provide the organisation with the technical capabilities to meet its mission with greater agility. Together, we'll transform the way that Homes England provides services to our colleagues, partners, and customers.

Key responsibilities include creating high performing teams with an agile mindset. Building teams that consistently and iteratively deliver quality services.  

You will develop the technical strategy to deliver the organisational goals in collaboration with the principal/lead engineers and other senior leaders including from product and architecture. 

You set the technical direction of your teams and apply the appropriate technical governance to manage quality, risk and compliance. 

Lead the engineering professions including supporting a thriving community of practice and facilitating internal mobility, shaping career paths, and recruiting talent. 

A bit about you...

You are excited about contributing to the Homes England mission. 

You have great people management skills to lead and manage a large diverse multi-disciplined 

You have successfully led high-performing agile teams.  

You have a track record of hiring and retaining top engineering talent and nurturing an engineering community that can repeatedly deliver results with quality through the standards and process guardrails that you are responsible for. 

You have experience of developing cloud-based business solutions and migrating/transforming legacy IT systems to the public cloud.  

You have experience working in environments using DevOps practices and Microsoft Azure public cloud.  

You are good at building strong relationships across the organisation to be able to influence strategy and execution and advocate for the delivery of scalable, resilient, and reusable solutions. 

You have strong technical acumen and keep abreast of emerging technological trends and best practices and can embed relevant trends and practices into the organisation. 

Nice to have: You have working knowledge of the The Technology Code of Practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Who are we? 

Homes England: The Housing and Regeneration Agency

We believe that affordable, quality homes in well-designed places are key to improving people’s lives. As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, we create thriving new places and transform urban areas, combining the full breadth of our powers, expertise, land, capital and influence to bring investment to communities and get more homes built.

How? We form long-term partnerships that bridge the gap between the public and private sector to meet local needs and aspirations. We use our influence to champion the creation of sustainable homes, communities and places that are brilliantly designed for the people that live there now, and in the future. And we use our funding and support to build a more resilient, diverse and innovative housing sector, helping new entrants in the market, encouraging modern methods of construction and design, and promoting the utmost attention to building safety.

Together with our partners, we’re accelerating the pace of house building, remediation and regeneration across the country, as we seek to deliver ever more affordable homes in places people are proud to call home for generations to come.

What we offer... 

As well as a competitive salary and 33 days annual leave, we are committed to 50/50 hybrid working. We’ll support you, wherever possible, so that you don’t miss out on what matters to you. 

Membership of the Homes and Communities Agency Pension Scheme, which is a contributory defined benefit scheme with the amount you receive on retirement based on your salary and years worked at the Agency.

Internal applicants: please note that if you are successful, the salary you are offered will be in accordance with our pay policy. You can find details on the HR Hub SharePoint site.

If you ever need a bit of extra help, we have a great employee assistance programme, a wide range of healthcare plans, financial wellbeing support and access to many great discounts with leading high street names. 

Our range of network groups are also there to support you to be yourself at work and play a key role in helping shape our future. 

If you are a member of a professional body, we’ll pay for your membership and once you get your digital kit, you’ll be good to go. 

Homes England are a geographically diverse community. We work to a 50/50 office/ home based model. Moving back into our office environments has enabled us to utilise our space and time together in the most collaborative way. 

We would encourage all applicants to apply as soon as possible as we may close vacancies early should we receive a high number of applications. 

We also encourage you to apply using the full application option as opposed to quick apply, this is especially important if you would like to indicate to us that you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme. 

Our people remain at the heart of everything we do, and we’re committed to building an Agency that not only reflects the diverse communities we serve, but also champions inclusion in how we shape homes and places across the country. For more information about our EDI strategy please see our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2024 to 2025 — Second Edition - GOV.UK

You will be required to have the Right to Work in the UK and Homes England do not offer visa sponsorship. If your application is shortlisted to interview we will require you to provide proof of your Right to Work in the UK at this stage.

Your application needs to be in your own words, reflect your personal understanding and experience, and must not have been generated by AI tools such as ChatGPT.