Senior Manager, Data Engineering and Operations

Job Description

About the role

Operating within Etc, BT’s innovation unit, this role leads Data Operations and Engineering and is a senior leadership position within the Data and Developer Solutions business area.

You will provide authoritative technical leadership to design, build and operate scalable, secure and resilient data and software solutions that deliver measurable business value and meet customer needs. This includes end‑to‑end accountability across architecture, engineering standards, automated testing, deployment, and in‑life service performance.

Leading and developing high‑performing engineering teams, you will set technical direction and make informed trade‑offs that balance near‑term delivery commitments with longer‑term platform strategy, operational excellence and commercial outcomes. You will shape technical recommendations that influence investment decisions in new and emerging areas, ensuring alignment with unit strategy and BT Group priorities.

You will collaborate with Data, AI and Digital teams across BT to define and build a multi‑tenant data platform strategy, enabling scalable reuse and the delivery of multiple revenue‑generating solutions

What you’ll be doing

1. Provide senior technical and engineering leadership for data and software engineering, acting as the primary interface between networks, business, product, design and technology to deliver customer‑focused outcomes at pace and scale.
2. Own and execute the data and software engineering strategy and technology roadmap, accountable for architecture, platforms, data infrastructure and engineering practices from initial design through delivery and in‑life operation.
3. Lead high‑performing engineering teams, setting clear technical direction, developing capability, and fostering a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, accountability and continuous improvement.
4. Ensure the delivery of reliable, secure and scalable platforms and services, overseeing engineering quality, release management, DevOps adoption and operational performance against defined standards and metrics.
5. Deliver a shared, multi‑tenant data platform, including accountability for data availability, quality and resilience, enabling multiple revenue‑generating products and solutions in line with BT enterprise architecture.
6. Shape investment and commercial decisions through authoritative technical leadership, balancing near‑term delivery commitments with longer‑term platform strategy, operational efficiency and business growth.
7. Drive engineering and operational excellence, embedding agile delivery, automation, continuous improvement and best practices across software development, data engineering, security and compliance.
8. Identify and manage technology risks and opportunities, ensuring regulatory adherence, architectural compliance and proactive resolution of complex data and engineering challenges.
9. Partner with senior stakeholders across BT, including Data, AI, Digital, Product, Sales and Operations, to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions that deliver measurable value.
10. Lead supplier and partner engagement, ensuring effective collaboration, clear delivery accountability and alignment to strategic priorities, roadmaps and outcomes.
11. Continuously evolve capabilities and ways of working, evaluating emerging technologies, tools and approaches to improve developer productivity, platform performance and time‑to‑market.

Essential Skills / Experience

You will have a passion for software engineering, data engineering and data science, with a hands‑on approach that enables you to deliver complex work while guiding and supporting your team to deliver the highest value for customers and the business.

• Commercial and risk awareness
  Experience identifying, assessing and managing commercial, delivery and operational risks within programmes or projects, and determining appropriate mitigation and commercial responses.
• Software engineering foundations
  Practical experience applying core software and data development concepts
• Portfolio and compliance management
  Experience managing technology or data portfolios that include operational performance, data protection, regulatory, legal and environmental considerations.
• People leadership
  Experience leading teams in a technical environment across the full employee lifecycle, including recruitment, performance management, development and succession planning.

Desirable Skills / Experience

• Business acumen
  Knowledge and experience of business strategy and the drivers of organisational performance, including financial literacy, business KPIs and the development of clear, evidence‑based business cases.
• Stakeholder management
  Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with senior peers, customers, suppliers and partners, enabling productive collaboration, informed decision‑making and the resolution of complex escalations.
• Technical leadership and judgement
  Ability to provide clear, practical and authoritative technical guidance on complex and unfamiliar problems, including emerging technologies. Comfortable drawing on specialist expertise where needed to develop well‑considered solutions.
• Hands‑on problem solving
  Confident in diving into technical detail, contributing directly to design and delivery, and supporting teams through complex engineering decisions.
• Agile delivery and ways of working
  Detailed understanding and demonstrable experience of agile software delivery practices and their practical application in engineering teams. Able to actively participate in sprint planning, prioritisation, delivery and release management, and to adapt agile approaches to improve flow, quality, predictability and time‑to‑market.
• Accountability and values‑led behaviour
  Demonstrates high ethical standards and sets clear expectations, holding self and others to account. Willing and able to address misaligned or poor behaviours constructively and consistently.

Our Package

Tailored benefits make a real difference. That’s why we offer a comprehensive range to support your growth, wellbeing, and everyday life. You can design the package to suit you and your lifestyle. Your core benefits include:

• Company car scheme (or cash alternative)
• 15% on target annual bonus
• Private healthcare for you and your family
• Access to an online private GP 24/7 for you and your immediate family
• Market-leading paid carers leave with up to 2 weeks off
• Equalised maternity, paternity, and adoption leave – 18 weeks’ full pay and 8 weeks’ half pay
• Discounted EE and BT products, including mobile and broadband
• Market leading Pension scheme – 5% from you and 10% from us
• Holiday purchase scheme

You can select additional benefits, including healthcare, dental, gym memberships and more when you’re ready.

BT Group is the UK’s leading communications group and the holding company behind some of the country’s most recognised brands – including BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet. Our purpose is as simple as it is ambitious: we connect for good. Our customers include consumers, small, medium and large businesses, public sector organisations and other communications providers.

BT Group’s role is about setting direction, unlocking value and creating the conditions for our brands and businesses to thrive.

Having come through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, our focus now is on what comes next – simplifying how we operate, using technology and AI to work smarter, and organising ourselves to serve customers better and grow sustainably. Group teams shape strategy, policy, brand, capital allocation and transformation, helping the whole organisation perform at its best.

We have a singular culture that unites all our people: we are customer-first challengers, who are committed, clear and connected. These behaviours unite us as one team to deliver for our colleagues, our customers, our stakeholders and the country. Joining BT Group means working at the heart of a business that matters to the UK, with the opportunity to shape decisions, influence outcomes and help set the future course of one of the country’s most important companies.