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tombola • Sunderland, United Kingdom

Head of Engineering - Operator Platform

Employment type:  Full time
8.4

/10

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Job Description

As Head of Engineering – Operator Platform, you’ll shape and deliver the technology that powers how we operate, scale and continuously improve the tombola experience. This is a key leadership role at the heart of Platform Engineering, where you’ll define and drive a player-first technology strategy while enabling the teams behind the scenes to move faster, smarter and more effectively.

Leading multiple engineering teams across back-end and front-end, you’ll own the architecture, design and development of our operator platform and the systems that support our player-facing products. Working closely with teams across the business, you’ll ensure our technology is scalable, reliable and built to deliver seamless, high-quality experiences for our players.

What you'll lead and deliver

Technical strategy

  • Provide expert leadership across software design and development

  • Champion modern technologies, best practices and coding standards

  • Build and evolve a platform that supports long-term strategic goals

  • Define and deliver a technical roadmap aligned to player experience

  • Identify opportunities for innovation in how players interact with our products

  • Share knowledge and insight to help stakeholders understand what’s possible

Leadership

  • Lead, coach and support a cross-functional team of engineers

  • Create an inclusive, collaborative environment where people can thrive

  • Support career growth and identify future leaders within the team

  • Build and empower a high-performing Platform Engineering leadership group

Cross-functional collaboration

  • Work closely with Product, Design, Game Studio, Marketing and Customer Support

  • Turn player insights, feedback and data into meaningful technical solutions

Strategic planning

  • Contribute to the wider technology vision and roadmap

  • Translate business goals into clear, actionable engineering plans

  • Ensure alignment with company strategy and long-term objectives

Development and delivery

  • Oversee the full development lifecycle, from idea through to deployment

  • Ensure delivery is timely, scalable and meets high quality standards

  • Work with senior leaders to create transparent, scalable ways of working

Quality and innovation

  • Set and maintain high engineering and quality standards

  • Encourage experimentation and continuous improvement

  • Enable data-driven decision-making through strong platform capabilities

Project management

  • Oversee delivery of engineering projects within timelines and budgets

  • Balance new feature development with maintenance and technical debt

  • Collaborate with product and technology leaders on prioritisation

Technical expertise

  • Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies

  • Use knowledge to guide technical direction and decision-making

Stakeholder communication

  • Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences

  • Build strong relationships across teams and with external partners

Budget management

  • Own and manage departmental budgets, including people, hosting and tooling

  • Work with senior leadership to plan and forecast effectively

What we're looking for

  • Experience leading large, multi-layered engineering teams

  • Proven experience managing budgets

  • Experience setting and tracking objectives using OKRs

  • Background in customer-facing technology environments

  • Strong knowledge of front-end technologies such as Vue and React

  • Experience working in experimentation-led or UX-focused organisations

  • Experience leading multi-disciplinary delivery teams or functions

  • Understanding of platform engineering and development operations

  • Familiarity with technologies such as C#, Node, Docker, SQL Server and AWS

Desirable:

  • Experience within the iGaming sector or similar regulated industries

Company benefits

Adoption leave
Enhanced sick days
Open to part-time employees
Work from anywhere scheme – available to specific parts of the business
Work from home budget – for fully remote employees
Free meals – Office based
Technology Loan
Enhanced sick pay
Health insurance
Gym membership
Compassionate leave
Private GP service
Theme park discounts
Travel insurance
Restaurant discounts
Coffee discounts
Cinema discounts
25 days annual leave + bank holidays
Buy or sell annual leave
Optional unpaid leave
Enhanced maternity leave
Enhanced paternity leave
Shared parental leave
On-site gym
Cycle to work scheme
Faith rooms
Bike parking
On-site catering
Fully stocked snack cupboard
Annual bonus
Equity packages
Referral bonus
Salary sacrifice
Life insurance
Enhanced pension match/contribution
Share options
Annual pay rises
Electric Car Salary Sacrifice
Sabbaticals
Volunteer days
Home office set up
In house training
Company freebies
Teambuilding days
Mentoring
Pregnancy loss leave
Employee discounts
Coaching
Lunch and learns
Open to part time work for some roles
Open to job sharing
Open to compressed hours
Pregnancy loss leave
Menopause support
On-site barista
On-site shower
Secure on-site parking
Modern office
Ergonomic workstations
Collaboration spaces
Private booths

Working at tombola

Company employees:

780

Hiring in countries

Gibraltar

Ireland

United Kingdom

Office Locations

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