This senior leadership position is responsible for all application development across football and commercial operations, including self-service analytics platforms, bespoke football applications, data visualisation tools, and internal systems that directly support the club’s competitive advantage. The post-holder will professionalise the software engineering function, establish modern development practices, and build a team capable of delivering reliable, maintainable, and scalable software in a fast-paced sporting environment. The role sits within the Data & AI group and involves balancing immediate delivery demands with the longer-term goal of building a sustainable engineering culture, working closely with data engineers, data scientists, football operations, commercial, and IT stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Define and own the software engineering strategy, standards, and roadmap for the Data & AI group, establishing and embedding modern engineering practices including version control, code review, CI/CD, automated testing, and documentation.
Lead and develop a team of software developers and testers, managing recruitment, performance, individual development, and day-to-day priorities across the engineering function.
Architect and deliver full-stack web applications that make the club’s data accessible, actionable, and valuable, working closely with data engineers and data scientists to surface insights through intuitive platforms.
Own and evolve the club’s central insights platform, embedding powerful data tools and visualisations across football and business functions with a focus on performance, reliability, and user experience.
Make pragmatic technology choices that balance quality with delivery speed, managing technical debt and ensuring the codebase remains healthy and extensible.
Collaborate closely with football operations, commercial, and IT stakeholders to understand requirements, prioritise development work, and ensure software products are aligned to the club’s strategic priorities.
Required Experience & Qualifications
Significant experience leading software engineering teams, with a strong track record of building and shipping production applications.
Deep technical expertise across the full stack, with strong experience in JavaScript/TypeScript, React.js, Node.js, and Python in production environments.
Proven ability to establish and embed engineering best practices (CI/CD, automated testing, code review, documentation) in teams that are maturing or scaling.
Experience architecting and delivering data-centric applications and consuming APIs and data services.
Strong people management skills with a track record of developing engineers, setting clear expectations, and building a culture of quality and accountability.
Effective communicator who can translate business requirements into technical solutions and work with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Passion for using technology to improve performance in high-performance environments.
Preferred Skills
Experience integrating with modern cloud platforms such as Azure and Databricks.
Experience in elite sport, football, or similarly fast-paced operational settings.
Workplace
Work is based at Manchester United’s offices, with an emphasis on working together in person to enable connection and innovation.
Benefits & Perks
Annual Incentive Scheme to reward dedication and hard work.
25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with an opportunity to purchase additional holiday days.
Electric Vehicle scheme via Octopus and cycle to work scheme.
Simplyhealth Cash Plan supporting everyday healthcare needs.
Wellness support with access to mental health resources, digital health checks, and nutritionists through Aviva Digicare+ Workplace.
Exclusive discounts through the United Rewards platform, giving access to deals from the club and partners.
Gym facilities in onsite locations and opportunities for regular social events and team-building activities.
Enhanced family leave benefits and policies.
Enhanced career development with access to professional learning platforms such as LinkedIn Learning and internal training programmes.
A supportive work environment that values diversity, equity and inclusion, and individual growth.
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