Engineering Manager

At SumUp, we are motivated by the purpose of levelling the playing field for small businesses. We empower small business owners by creating simple and affordable tools to manage payments, finance and customer relationships.

This is a high-impact engineering leadership role within our Lifecycle Tribe, focused on shaping and optimising some of the most critical customer touchpoints in the merchant journey,  from a merchant’s first interaction on our website through to activation and beyond.

You’ll lead cross-functional teams working on customer-facing platforms and digital experiences that sit at the core of how merchants discover, explore, and engage with SumUp. The work spans modern web architectures, scalability challenges, and data-informed decision-making to continuously improve quality and performance.

We’re looking for a hands-on, technically credible leader who can drive delivery excellence, foster high engineering standards, and strengthen SumUp’s ability to move fast while maintaining quality and reliability across our web and platform ecosystems.

What you’ll do

• Lead and Develop Teams: Lead, mentor, and grow high-performing  engineering squads and a shared Quality team, focused on delivering exceptional web and customer-facing experiences. You’ll create a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement where people can do their best work.
• Drive Platform Evolution: Oversee ongoing modernization and transformation initiatives that enhance SumUp’s web and digital capabilities, supporting flexibility, performance, and scalability.
• Elevate Technical Excellence: Define and drive the technical direction for our web and purchase architectures, ensuring high standards for quality, observability, reliability, and maintainability.
• Build a Data-Informed Culture: Introduce and operationalise measurement frameworks for engineering effectiveness, using metrics (such as DORA) to identify friction points, improve throughput, and guide performance discussions.
• Champion Performance: Manage engineering performance with clarity and empathy. This includes setting clear expectations, creating development plans, mentoring talent, and managing underperformance constructively.
• Collaborate and Align: Build high-trust, effective collaboration with cross-functional partners, including Product, Marketing, Design, and Platform teams, to align on roadmaps and enhance delivery predictability.

What we’re looking for

• Experience: 8-12 years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years managing multiple engineering squads or teams.
• Technical Depth: Strong technical background in modern web technologies and architecture, including Go, React, Next.js, Typescript, microservices, and APIs.
• Migration Leadership: Demonstrated success leading large-scale migration projects or complex technical transformations.
• Operational Excellence: Proven experience in driving engineering and operational excellence, including on-call processes, observability, testing, and CI/CD.
• People Leadership: A track record of developing, mentoring, and managing engineers and tech leads, maintaining a high bar for performance and collaboration.
• Communication: Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build alignment across both technical and non-technical domains.
• Mindset: A strategic yet hands-on leader who thrives in ambiguity, acts with ownership, and balances innovation with disciplined execution.

Bonus Points

• Direct experience with CMS platforms (like Builder.io or Contentful) and managing web infrastructure at scale.
• Background in Growth, Lifecycle, or e-commerce domains.
• Understanding of SEO, personalisation, and experimentation frameworks.

Why you should join SumUp

• Opportunity to work with a truly global, multicultural team from our central Covent Garden location, wrapped in historic charm and modern flair. This involves an office-first setup
• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: be part of a workplace that values and promotes diversity, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone's perspectives are respected and embraced
• Enrolment onto our VSOP program: you will own a stake in SumUp’s future success
• Generous time off: enjoy 28 days of paid leave plus public holidays and special leave days
• Numerous other benefits such as Urban Sports Club subsidy, Kita placement assistance, subsidised office lunches
• Break4me: 1-month sabbatical after 3 years of service
• Referral Bonus: earn additional rewards by referring talented individuals to join the SumUp team