Job Description

Role Title

Lead Developer

Business Area

Enterprise Technology

Career Stream

Technical

Career Level

T4

Location

Manchester

Reports to

Head of Engineering

Number of direct reports

3

Number of total reports

3

Department Context

 

Sitting within Enterprise Technology, Product Engineering is responsible for developing high-quality software products for customers of Cox Automotive Europe.

Our teams are responsible for the development and maintenance of multiple systems across the UK and European Wholesale division.

We are committed to using cutting-edge technologies supporting fast paced delivery and driving innovation. Cloud native in our approach, seeking to leverage Managed Services where possible, enabling our developers to remain laser focused on delivering business value. The product that we are developing will require the adoption of appropriate, and best practise technologies.

The Manheim Auction Services (MAS) team operates across a range of Automotive technical domains to develop, source and harness technologies into the Cox Connected Platform which sits across all Cox systems and provides customers with a single point of access to gain a single view of all their assets.

The MAS Lead Developer is a varied role, leading a team to both develop assets and work with our partners and suppliers to share assets in the business effectively. We pride ourselves on fostering a collaborative and challenging work environment that encourages professional growth and creativity.

Scope of Role

As a Lead Developer, you will play a crucial role in designing, developing, and maintaining our digital products. You will be a ‘Hands on’ leader, leading a team of skilled engineers, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and driving the technical vision for our product suite.  Your ability to lead by example using modern cloud native software engineering approaches will be instrumental in ensuring the scalability, security, and performance of our applications.

Delivery of Quality is a must, and you will pride yourself not only on your code but also all aspects of your work.

You will have strong people skills, adept at getting the best out of technical colleagues and helping mentor and build our stars of the future.

 

Tech Stack

 

We constantly challenge ourselves around our Core Tech Stack to keep up to date with the latest advances within Software Engineering:

·       Cloud Platform: AWS or Azure

·       IAC: Terraform

·       Primary Compute: .NET 8 / AWS ECS / Azure VM

·       Worker Compute: AWS Lambda (.NET 8) / Azure Functions

·       Database: DynamoDB / MS SQL

·       Message Bus: SNS/SQS, AWS EventBridge, Event Grid, Azure service Bus

·       Web Experience: React, Typescript

·       Source Control: GitHub Enterprise, Azure Devops

·       CICD: GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines

Objectives for Role

 

·       Provide technical leadership and guidance to a team of developers, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.

·       Collaborate with architecture, product, relevant stakeholders to define and implement the technical roadmap for our products.

·       Lead by example being hands-on in the code and code reviews to ensure high-quality code standards are maintained.

·       Implement scalable and maintainable solutions using .NET technologies within the AWS cloud environment.

·       Mentor and coach team members, fostering their professional growth and development.

·       Coordinate with product and delivery to allocate resources, set priorities, and ensure timely delivery of the product roadmap.

·       Utilise your in-depth knowledge to design and implement scalable, reliable, and secure cloud-based solutions.

·       Stay updated on the latest technologies and trends, incorporating them into our product development strategy.

·       Work closely with cross-functional teams such as quality assurance, platform, delivery, to ensure successful software delivery.

·       Effectively communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Key Skills:

·       Experience in a similar role, working within fast paced teams, using Continuous Delivery and modern software Engineering practices.

·       Strong Software Engineering background with hands on experience of .Net, AWS, Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform), document databases and event driven systems.

·       Experience of leading Engineering teams, leading by example to deliver high-end solutions within an agile environment.

·       Demonstrable experience in designing and delivering highly scalable, highly resilient, highly secure systems, using principles of data security & privacy by design.

·       Experience working with Product driven teams, adapting to changing demands of customers within a Lean / Agile environment.

 

Key Technical Skills:

·       Excellent understanding of C# and .NET, preferably .NET 8 and C# 14.

·       Excellent understanding of the various types of cloud compute. 

·       Excellent understanding of event driven concepts and patterns.

·       Excellent understanding of restful APIs and relevant concepts.

·       Excellent understanding of CI / CD (pipelines), ideally GitHub Actions. 

·       Good understanding of cloud and associated concepts, ideally in AWS.

·       Good understanding of Infrastructure as Code, preferably Terraform.

·       Good understanding of document databases, ideally DynamoDB.

·       Good understanding of micro-frontends.

·       Good understanding of JavaScript, Typescript, and ideally React.

·       Familiar with Graph QL.

·       Familiar with single table design principles.

·       Familiar with shift-left principles and test automation – Playwright / K6.

 

Interpersonal and Non-Technical Skills

·       Excellent interpersonal skills, verbal and written communication skills when working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

·       Ability to articulate arguments well and is comfortable working with a wide range of stakeholders.

·       A strong natural focus on what matters; delivering value and designing to minimise risk.

·       Hands-on experience of leading teams, working through the end-to-end project lifecycle within an Agile environment.

·       The ability to work across multiple priorities in parallel and the ability to contribute to wider group strategies.

·       Ability to work alone or collaboratively without supervision.

Information Security Statement

You must ensure that you are aware of, understand and comply with the Cox Automotive Information Security Policies and supporting procedures including the specific section on your own personal responsibilities.

You must ensure that adequate financial and people resources are available so that you can comply with all aspects of Team Member Training and Communication, Risk Assessment and Emergency Planning, Security and for those locations or departments that are within your line management responsibilities as stated with Cox Automotive’s Information Security and other related policies.

Along with those responsibilities you shall ensure that all information handling and computer use activities performed in your business area are developed and managed in accordance with Information Security policies and any changes to process are specifically referenced against policy, business and IT change management as appropriate.

Furthermore, you must ensure that all your direct reports fulfil their own personal responsibilities and ensure compliance with all relevant Cox Automotive Information Security and other related Policies.

This job description is not a definitive list of the key deliverables or objectives for the role. They may be subject to change. By signing this document, you agree that you understand the requirements of the role.

Signed by:

Line Manager Name

Murray Smith

Signature

Murray Smith

Team Member Name

Signature