Engineering Manager London
Technical leadership and team building with proven product delivery
As Associate Director of Applied AI/ML at Fitch Ratings, I combine deep technical expertise with mentorship and leadership across a 15-person AI/ML team. My experience spans applied AI engineering at major financial institutions, giving me insight into both technical excellence and high-performing team culture.
Engineering Management Philosophy
My approach to engineering management centers on empowering developers while ensuring technical excellence and business value:
People-First Leadership
I believe in creating an environment where engineers can do their best work. This involves understanding individual motivations, providing growth opportunities, and removing obstacles to productivity.
Technical Excellence
Maintaining high standards for code quality, system architecture, and development practices. I ensure teams build solutions that scale and remain maintainable as they grow.
Business Impact Focus
Aligning technical decisions with business objectives to ensure development efforts contribute directly to company goals and customer value.
Management Experience
Lead Developer & Team Mentor - BNP Paribas
Led development of the trade compression system while mentoring junior developers and establishing coding standards. Coordinated between business stakeholders and engineering teams to ensure technical solutions aligned with financial requirements. The project successfully reduced capital requirements while maintaining risk controls, with 0 critical incidents in production.
Founder & Engineering Lead - xThreads.app
Built and scaled the technical team for xThreads.app from solo development to a multi-person operation. Established technical processes, code review standards, and development workflows. Guided technical decisions that enabled the platform to serve thousands of users while maintaining performance and reliability.
Project Lead - Definitive Healthcare
Led a cross-functional team developing machine learning pipelines for healthcare data analysis. Coordinated between data scientists and software engineers, ensuring proper integration of models into production systems. Improved system reliability by 40% and reduced incident response time.
Leadership Competencies
Team Building and Development
Building and nurturing high-performing engineering teams:
- Hiring processes and technical interviews
- Onboarding and mentoring new team members
- Individual contributor and manager career development
- Performance management and feedback delivery
Technical Leadership
Guiding technical decisions and maintaining architectural integrity:
- System architecture design and review
- Technology selection and evaluation
- Code review processes and quality standards
- Technical debt management and refactoring prioritization
Project Management
Ensuring projects are delivered on time and with quality:
- Agile methodologies and process optimization
- Release planning and milestone tracking
- Risk assessment and mitigation strategies
- Stakeholder communication and expectation management
Technical Management Skills
Development Process Leadership
- Implementing and refining development workflows
- CI/CD pipeline design and optimization
- Testing strategies and quality assurance processes
- Code review standards and best practices
Architecture and Scaling
- System design for growth and scalability
- Microservices architecture and service decomposition
- Database design and optimization for performance
- Security architecture and compliance implementation
DevOps and Infrastructure
- Cloud infrastructure management and optimization
- Monitoring, observability, and incident response
- Capacity planning and scaling strategies
- Disaster recovery and business continuity
Team Performance Optimization
Individual Development
Helping engineers grow in their careers:
- Creating personalized development plans
- Providing challenging and growth-oriented projects
- Coaching on technical and soft skills
- Facilitating cross-team knowledge sharing
Team Dynamics
Fostering collaboration and productivity:
- Establishing psychological safety and open communication
- Facilitating effective team meetings and retrospectives
- Managing team conflict and interpersonal dynamics
- Building inclusive team culture and practices
Stakeholder Management
Executive Communication
Translating technical concepts into business value:
- Quarterly technical presentations to executive team
- Technology strategy alignment with business objectives
- Resource allocation and investment justification
- Technical risk communication and mitigation planning
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Working effectively with other departments:
- Product management partnership and requirement refinement
- Design team collaboration for optimal user experience
- Operations and support team coordination
- Marketing and sales team technical enablement
Engineering Culture and Values
Quality and Excellence
Instilling a culture of technical excellence:
- High standards for code quality and system reliability
- Continuous improvement mindset and practices
- Investment in technical learning and exploration
- Ownership mindset and accountability
Innovation and Experimentation
Encouraging creative problem-solving and innovation:
- Allocating time for technical exploration and experimentation
- Creating safe environments for trying new approaches
- Learning from failures and sharing insights across teams
- Staying current with emerging technologies and practices
Recruitment and Hiring
Tech Interview Process Design
Creating fair and effective hiring processes:
- Assessment of technical skills and problem-solving ability
- System design interviews for senior roles
- Pair programming sessions to evaluate collaboration
- Cultural fit evaluation and team dynamics assessment
Team Composition and Growth
Building balanced teams with complementary skills:
- Diversity of backgrounds and expertise
- Experience levels and mentoring opportunities
- Specialization and generalization balance
- Future growth and scalability considerations
Performance Management
Goal Setting and Alignment
Connecting individual contributions to team and company objectives:
- Setting clear, measurable performance expectations
- Regular feedback and performance review cycles
- Identifying and addressing performance gaps
- Recognition and reward systems
Development Planning
Creating growth paths for individual contributors:
- Skills assessment and gap identification
- Identifying stretch assignments and learning opportunities
- Technical mentorship and coaching
- Leadership development for those interested in management
Technical Decision Making
My approach to technology and architecture decisions:
Information Gathering
Collecting input from relevant stakeholders and team members:
- Team expertise and preferences
- Business requirements and constraints
- Long-term vision and strategy
- Operational and maintenance considerations
Analysis and Evaluation
Weighing options against multiple criteria:
- Technical feasibility and risk
- Resource requirements and timeline
- Impact on team productivity and morale
- Business value and competitive advantage
Team Metrics and Success Measurement
Delivery Metrics
- Feature delivery velocity and predictability
- Code quality metrics (test coverage, defect rates)
- System reliability and uptime
- Time to market for new features
Team Health Metrics
- Employee satisfaction and engagement
- Retention and turnover rates
- Knowledge sharing and collaboration
- Professional development and growth
Industry Experience Areas
Fintech Engineering Management
Leading engineering teams in financial services:
- Financial-grade security and compliance
- Regulatory reporting and audit requirements
- Real-time processing and low-latency systems
- Risk management and fraud prevention
SaaS Product Management
Managing engineering teams for software-as-a-service products:
- Multi-tenant architecture and scalability
- Usage-based billing and tracking systems
- Customer self-service and onboarding
- Performance optimization for multiple tenants
AI/ML System Management
Leading teams building artificial intelligence applications:
- AI model deployment and lifecycle management
- Monitoring and observability for ML systems
- Responsible AI and ethical considerations
- Cost optimization for AI usage
Availability and Next Steps
I am available for engineering management positions in London focusing on building and leading high-performing technical teams. I offer both full-time employment and contract consulting engagements depending on your needs.
Contact me today to discuss how my combination of technical expertise and leadership experience can help your engineering organization succeed.