Director of Engineering

About Marshmallow

We started Marshmallow when we found out how unfair insurance prices are for people who move to the UK. All because the industry hasn’t given this huge cohort of people a second’s thought, and isn’t set up to price them properly. 

We saw an opportunity to do things differently, so we made it our mission to back the ones who step outside the norm. Since we started, we’ve helped 100,000s of people get a fairer deal on their car insurance. Using technology, we serve people that are often overlooked by financial services companies, solving important problems for people who need it most. 

We know there are millions of marginalised customers out there. And we know that they face unique problems that most companies aren’t even aware of. We believe that our future is helping these people by learning about their experiences, and building our company around their needs. And there are strong signs that there’s a need for a company like us. Earlier this year we hit profitability, which is a huge milestone, but the most exciting thing is that we’re only just getting started.

How we work

We’re really proud of the culture we’ve created. We push for progress every day, because we know that we’ll only hit big milestones by taking lots of smaller steps. We’re always open to helping our team mates, sharing our ideas, experience and knowledge to solve problems together. We take risks, think creatively and experiment relentlessly to meet our customer’s needs, and never pass blame when things go wrong. We encourage people at all levels to take ownership of their work, and to be bold in challenging how we do things. Everyone has a voice and the opportunity to make an impact. 

And autonomy and ownership are only possible with clear direction. That’s why we collaborate to do in-depth planning twice a year, and make sure we leave with clear goals and objectives that flow from top to bottom. To make sure we’re as aligned as possible across functions, most of our work rolls up into four tribes; Acquisition, Retention, Claims and Pricing, Underwriting & Fraud. Each tribe has multiple teams embedded in it, working cross-functionally to do great work.

We’re so excited for all of the challenges up ahead, and we need more people to help us tackle them! If life at Marshmallow sounds like it could be for you, explore our culture handbook or read our blog to find out more.

About the Role

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of Software Engineering to lead and scale our engineering organisation. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, you will oversee a team of 60-70 backend, frontend and mobile engineers across London and Budapest through a tiered management structure of Engineering Managers and Senior Engineering Managers. Your primary responsibilities will include coaching the next generation of our engineering leaders, driving strategic engineering initiatives, ensuring the delivery of high-quality software products, and fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead, hire, mentor, and grow an international team of engineering managers and senior engineering managers.

• Own the delivery of high-quality product features and the scalability, maintainability, security and operational excellence of our systems.

• Embed a culture of continuous learning, improvement and engineering excellence across the engineering organisation. 

• Drive continuous improvement to the engagement and growth of our people, the health of our systems, and the efficiency and outputs of our product teams.

• Develop and execute our engineering strategy, ensuring it supports our company's long-term goals.

• Collaborate with product management, our data organisation, design, infosec and executive stakeholders to ensure cross-functional alignment towards our goals.

• Identify, propose and drive opportunities for innovation within our product development.

About you:

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 8 years in a leadership role and 5 years managing other managers.

• Proven track record of managing several engineering teams, ideally across multiple locations.

• Strong technical background with expertise in software development methodologies, system design and architecture in a tech lead role or equivalent.

• Strong product mindset and commercial acumen. Demonstrated ability to work closely with senior and executive product and business stakeholders.

• Exceptional leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.

• Demonstrated ability to drive strategic initiatives and deliver results.

What We Offer:

• Flexible working - Spend at least 3 days a week with your team in our London office.

• Competitive bonus scheme - designed to reward and recognise high performance 🌟

• Flexible benefits budget - £50 per month to spend on a Ben Mastercard meaning you get your own benefits budget to spend on things you want. 

• Sabbatical Leave - Get a 4-week fully paid sabbatical after being with us for 4 years

• Mental wellbeing support – Access therapy and mental health sessions through Oliva 💚

• Learning and development – Personal budgets for books and training courses to help you grow in your role. Plus 2 days a year - on us! - to further your skillset 🤓

• Private health care - Enjoy all the benefits Vitality has to offer, including reduced gym memberships and discounts on smartwatches 🏥

• Medical cash plan - To help you with the costs of dental, optical and physio (plus more!)

• Tech scheme - Get the latest tech for less 🖥

Our Process

We break it up into 5 stages:

• Initial call with our Tech Talent Acquisition Partner  (30 mins)

• A past experience interview with our VP of Engineering (1 hour)

• An interview with one of our Tech Leads to discuss your understanding of technology and your ways of working (1 hour)

• A culture interview with our co-CEO to discuss how your work style fits our processes and values (1 hour)

• A leadership interview with our People Partner Director to focus on your leadership style and ways of working (30 mins)

Everyone belongs at Marshmallow

At Marshmallow, we want to hire people from all walks of life with the passion and skills needed to help us achieve our company mission. To do that, we're committed to hiring without judgement, prejudice or bias.

We encourage everyone to apply for our open roles. Gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or background does not affect how we process job applications.

We're working hard to build an inclusive culture that empowers our people to do their best work, have fun and feel that they belong.

Recruitment privacy policy

We take privacy seriously here at Marshmallow. Our Recruitment privacy notice explains how we process and handle your personal data. To find out more please view it here.