Associate Director, Engineering (Education)Competitive + BonusRemote, UKPermanent full timeAbout IRISIRIS is one of the UKs largest privately held software companies, delivering mission-critical solutions to businesses, schools and public sector organisations for over 40 years.With 3,000 colleagues across the UK, Ireland, Romania, North America and India, we are entering an exciting growth phase scaling through innovation, cloud transformation and strategic acquisition.Our mission is simple:to simplify the lives of organisations through powerful, intelligent software.The OpportunityWe are seeking a strategic and technically accomplishedAssociate Director of Engineeringto lead the technology vision, architecture and delivery of our Education-focused SaaS products.This is a senior leadership role responsible for:Leading a 30+ person engineering organisation (6 direct reports)Shaping cloud-native SaaS architectureEmbedding AI into engineering practices and product developmentDelivering secure, scalable, customer-centric solutionsYou will be instrumental in building ourAI-first engineering culture modernising tooling, accelerating delivery, and enhancing product intelligence.What Youll DoDrive Engineering StrategyDefine and execute architecture roadmaps aligned to business goalsChampion AI and automation across the SDLCEnsure scalable, API-first, cloud-native platform designPrevent platform duplication and optimise reuseLead & Inspire TeamsBuild, mentor and scale high-performing engineering leadersEstablish strong development frameworks and growth pathwaysCreate a culture of accountability, innovation and continuous improvementDeliver With ExcellencePartner with Product to bring AI-enhanced features to marketOversee delivery across multiple concurrent initiativesEnsure operational excellence in deployment, monitoring and resilienceChampion Security & GovernanceDrive secure engineering and compliance (GDPR, SOC2)Ensure risk-aware practices across architecture and deliverySupport responsible AI governanceWhat Youll Bring10+ years in software engineering, including senior leadership experienceProven SaaS delivery on AWS and/or AzureExperience modernising legacy platforms into scalable cloud-native solutionsStrong understanding of DevOps, SRE, API architecture and AI integrationDemonstrated ability to embed AI tools to improve engineering velocityCommercial awareness and customer-first mindsetWhy Join Us?Strategic influence in a high-growth divisionOpportunity to shape an AI-first engineering cultureWork on impactful Education technologyLeadership scope across architecture, people and innovationBacked by a strong M&A growth strategyIf youre a technologist who can scale engineering with vision, discipline and an AI-forward mindset wed love to hear from you!Please note:We occasionally close vacancies early in the event that we receive a high volume of applications. Therefore we recommend you apply as soon as possible.JBRP1_UKTJ