Head of Engineering

About the Company
: WPP OPEN is WPP's proprietary, AI-powered operating system designed to connect our people, data, and technology to deliver integrated, creative, and effective solutions for our clients. It is a strategic imperative, central to our ambition to be the most integrated and client-centric creative transformation company. WPP OPEN is built to unlock the full potential of WPP's collective intelligence, streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and drive unparalleled value for our clients across all aspects of their marketing and business needs.

About the Role
: The Technical / Engineering Lead serves as the principal technical authority within their domain, combining deep architectural expertise with broad knowledge across the software development lifecycle. This role is pivotal in shaping technical strategy, ensuring solutions are robust and scalable, and fostering alignment between engineering and business objectives. The Technical Lead manages the technical team's daily work, ensuring code quality, collaboration, and efficient delivery through strong technical leadership and process discipline.

Responsibilities
:

• Lead the design and implementation of scalable, maintainable backend systems based on principles like Clean Architecture, Vertical Slice Architecture, or similar.
• Provide technical leadership across projects, championing best practices in Python development, especially within the FastAPI ecosystem.
• Architect, develop, and oversee microservice-based, distributed systems, ensuring high reliability, scalability, and performance.
• Design and optimize data storage solutions using PostgreSQL and implement efficient caching strategies leveraging Redis.
• Drive best practices for containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and modern CI/CD pipelines, continuously improving our DevOps workflows.
• Embed security by design, enforcing strong authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, JWT).
• Advocate for and implement Test-Driven Development (TDD) methodologies to ensure robust, maintainable code.
• Guide our cloud strategy, primarily leveraging Google Cloud Platform (GCP) with a vision for cloud provider agnosticism.
• Mentor and support development team members, providing technical guidance, code reviews, and leadership in Scrum ceremonies.
• Lead version control practices using GitHub/GitLab, enforcing strong branching and release management strategies.

Qualifications
:

• Demonstrated excellence in software architecture and technical leadership years).
• Proven ability to lead cross-team initiatives and drive collaborative outcomes.
• Strong business acumen and ability to align technical strategy with organizational objectives.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with experience engaging diverse audiences.
• Exceptional software design and architecture skills, with hands-on experience applying Clean Architecture, Vertical Slice Architecture, or equivalent patterns.
• Expertise in Python development, particularly using FastAPI for high-performance backend services.
• Strong background in distributed systems and microservices design principles.
• Deep experience with PostgreSQL databases and Redis caching technologies.
• Advanced knowledge of containerization (Kubernetes) and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• Comprehensive understanding of security protocols, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), and JWT.
• Proven experience with TDD and related testing methodologies.
• Experience leading cloud-native development, primarily on GCP, with flexibility towards multi-cloud solutions.
• Track record of leading teams in agile, Scrum-based environments.
• Expertise in Git workflows, including branching, pull request strategies, and release management.

Leadership Expectations
:

• Serve as the technical authority and point of escalation for backend engineering challenges.
• Collaborate closely with Product Owners, Architects, and other Engineering Leads to align technology strategy with business goals.
• Drive continuous improvement within the team by fostering innovation, mentoring developers, and refining engineering practices.

Equal Opportunity Statement
: WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.