Software Engineering Manager - Security

Thought Machine
London, United Kingdom
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Aimed at mid-to-senior-level engineering managers who can lead security initiatives in a cloud-native fintech environment and thrive in a collaborative, innovative culture.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with a track record in leading security engineering teams in cloud-native environments
    — “Knowledge and experience in designing, developing, and maintaining security for modern technology stacks similar to the stack we use at Thought Machine (AWS or GCP, Kubernetes, Go/Python)”
  • Individuals who enjoy both managing teams and engaging in hands-on technical work
    — “We are particularly excited to hear from people who show strong product ownership and enjoy switching between engineering management and being hands on with technical work”

Things to consider

  • The role requires managing a team while actively participating in technical work and design reviews
    — “Actively participate in technical discussions and design reviews”
  • Candidates must be comfortable with evolving responsibilities and team needs
    — “You are comfortable wearing different Engineering Manager hats that suit the changing needs of a team as it evolves”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in defining and delivering security engineering roadmaps
    — “Working with your team closely on defining and delivering our security engineering roadmap”
  • Emphasize contributions to security frameworks like CSA-CCM or OWASP SAMM
    — “Awareness and experience with “well-architected” security frameworks such as CSA-CCM, OWASP SAMM, or similar cloud, infrastructure, or application security frameworks”
  • Showcase leadership in developing and growing engineering teams
    — “Develop engineers in your team and help them in their career development”
  • Demonstrate experience in building security for distributed systems at scale
    — “Existing experience building and operating security for distributed systems at scale”
  • Include examples of hands-on technical contributions and code reviews
    — “Leading by example: Code reviews and hands-on technical work”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • managing complex technical projects
  • leading a team of engineers
  • contributing to product strategy
Typical background
engineering management experiencetechnical background in security

Skills & requirements

Required

Engineering ManagementProduct OwnershipTechnical LeadershipSecurity Engineering

Preferred

Cloud-native ArchitectureFintech

Stack & domain

PythonReactLeadershipCommunicationFinanceHealthcare

About the role

Original posting from Thought Machine via Ashby

Thought Machine's mission is bold – to properly and permanently rid the world's banks of legacy technology. To achieve this, we have developed the foundations of modern banking through core and payments technology which run natively in the cloud. What we are attempting is hard and means we need great people working together to build great technology.

We have grown rapidly in the past few years – growing our team to more than 550 individuals across offices in London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and our newly established Engineering Hub in Lisbon. We have raised more than £500m in funding and our investors include Molten Ventures, Eurazeo, Intesa Sanpaolo, Temasek, Nyca Partners, JPMorgan Chase Strategic Investments, Standard Chartered Ventures, and more.

We have created a culture that enables our team to produce the best work in the industry while ensuring we have fun along the way. We're regularly cited as having a fantastic workplace culture and have been recognised by Sifted magazine as having one of the highest Glassdoor ratings for a UK fintech company and the industry's most generous employee share package. Named one of the world's most innovative fintechs by Global Finance Magazine, we were also recognised by the Financial Times as one of Europe's fastest-growing companies for two consecutive years—and a UK Best Employer for 2026.

Engineering Managers at Thought Machine lead complex technical projects to deliver on our product roadmap. To accomplish this you will manage a group of talented engineers as they identify issues and implement creative solutions to address them. You will manage your own project deliverables, contribute to the team strategy, and help develop and grow your team. We are particularly excited to hear from people who show strong product ownership and enjoy switching between engineering management and being hands on with technical work.

The security team is cross-functional and comprises diverse people who bring their unique engineering expertise. The team covers the following areas:

  • Define the best in class solutions to engineering problems
  • Designs to build secure services and platforms
  • Engineer unique solutions and tooling to engineering problems
  • Implement and maintain cutting-edge solutions and capabilities

A large part of the Thought Machine function is greenfield; we are building the bank of tomorrow with cutting-edge technology. To achieve this, we need innovative thinking to create solutions that fit into our products and our infrastructure. We look for people who think outside the box and outside of traditional silos to find unique solutions and approaches that lead the industry.

Duties

  • Working with your team closely on defining and delivering our security engineering roadmap.
  • Actively participate in technical discussions and design reviews.
  • Measuring your team’s impact.
  • Contributing to product strategy.
  • Contributing to engineering-wide initiatives as part of the engineering management team on anything from recruitment to team processes.
  • Operate collaboratively with other Thought Machine teams with trust and influence
  • Develop engineers in your team and help them in their career development.
  • Leading by example: Code reviews and hands-on technical work

Requirements

Essential

  • 2+ years experience in engineering management of product-aligned teams.
  • Technical background to drive technical choices and great interpersonal skills to communicate with Product Managers and client representatives. You should enjoy working in environments where you have a high level of responsibility and autonomy.
  • Knowledge and experience in designing, developing, and maintaining security for modern technology stacks similar to the stack we use at Thought Machine (AWS or GCP, Kubernetes, Go/Python).
  • You are comfortable wearing different Engineering Manager hats that suit the changing needs of a team as it evolves.

Desirable

  • Experience in defining roadmaps, technical architecture, and deliverables.
  • Experience in balancing risk management with company objectives and opportunities.
  • Awareness and experience with “well-architected” security frameworks such as CSA-CCM, OWASP SAMM, or similar cloud, infrastructure, or application security frameworks.
  • Existing experience building and operating security for distributed systems at scale.
  • You’ve previously helped recruit and shape brilliant engineering teams.
  • You’ve previously taken an active role in defining and evaluating effective team processes.
  • Contributions to the security community (public research, blogging, presentations, etc).

Benefits

  • Highly competitive salary
  • Pension plan (match up to 5%)
  • Life insurance - three times annual salary
  • Competitive maternity (six months fully paid) and paternity leave (four weeks fully paid)
  • Shared parental leave (matched to our maternity leave for the same point in time)
  • 25 days holiday and bank holidays
  • Flexible working hours
  • Cycle-to-work scheme
  • Electric car scheme
  • Season ticket loan
  • Access to outstanding learning materials and courses
  • Sports and hobby clubs, subsidised by Thought Machine
  • All the latest tech you need
  • Start the day properly with fresh fruit and cereals
  • Huge range of healthy (and not-so-healthy) snacks, smoothies and drinks
  • A talented and experienced team as your colleagues
  • An environment where we encourage learning and progress
  • Two charity days a year
  • Weekly food pop-up

We actively hire candidates who demonstrate technical excellence in their field and welcome people of all ages and backgrounds, providing everyone with equal access to professional development. You are encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't accurately match the job description. We also encourage applications from those with different abilities, including candidates with ADHD, autism, dyslexia or dyspraxia.

Source: Thought Machine careers (Ashby)

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