Director of Engineering

"At Klipboard we've introduced a flexible hybrid work policy, where employees spend three days in the office and two days working from home. This approach promotes a balanced work environment that combines office collaboration with the comfort and convenience of remote work."

Klipboard provides specialist software, services and support to deliver fully integrated trading and business management solutions to companies in the distributive trade – wherever they are in the world. With a unique depth of knowledge and experience in ERP/SaaS solutions, Klipboard has a wide range of clients includes wholesalers, distributors, merchants and retailers from small traders to multinational enterprises. Klipboard has offices in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Kenya and North America. Our mission is simple: to design and deliver high performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable our distributive trade customers to source effectively, stock efficiently, sell profitably and service competitively

Lead, grow and run one of Klipboard’s global software engineering portfolios. You will be accountable for the direction, delivery and reliable operation of a portfolio of multi-tenant SaaS/OnPrem products. This includes shaping long-term technical strategy, building a high-performing engineering organisation, and ensuring our applications meet the highest standards of scalability, security and customer experience, with the support of the Vice President and other senior leaders in the organisation.

Key Responsibilities

People & Culture

• Build and develop an inclusive, high-performing group of engineering professionals (developers, architects, QA, DevOps).
• Attract, coach and retain top talent; define clear roles, responsibilities and career paths.
• Take an active interest in team organisation and personnel development, making structural changes where necessary to best meet Klipboard’s long-term needs.
• Lead and champion graduate and apprentice schemes, ensuring they are actively driven forward.
• Model Klipboard’s values and vision, helping your organisation understand how its work contributes to the wider business strategy.
• Encourage innovation, celebrate success and create an environment where people can do their best work.
  
  

Software Delivery & Operations

• Ensure reliable delivery of all products in your portfolio with clear schedules, transparent reporting and disciplined release management.
• Anticipate team workloads and resource pinch-points, prioritising and allocating work appropriately.
• Embed modern engineering practices (CI/CD, automated testing, cloud-native patterns) to move towards continuous delivery.
• Oversee SaaS/OnPrem production environments and ensure uptime, security and performance.
• Embed a culture of best practice and compliance, proactively managing risk and ensuring non-compliance is addressed appropriately.
  
  

Technical Strategy

• Formulate and communicate a long-term technology vision aligned with Klipboard’s business strategy.
• Partner with Product Strategy to define product roadmaps, architecture evolution and technical debt remediation.
• Research and evaluate emerging technologies (cloud, AI/ML, data platforms) and recommend adoption paths.
  
  

Organisational Capability

• Identify current and future capability gaps; plan mitigation (hiring, training, partnerships).
• Manage resource allocation across multiple programmes while maintaining sustainable delivery velocity.
• Establish metrics to measure reliability, effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
• Act as an ambassador for continuous improvement and global process alignment, anticipating change and helping stakeholders adopt it positively.
• Make data-informed decisions, balancing risk and opportunity for Klipboard’s long-term goals.
  
  

Stakeholder & External Communication

• Maintain transparent communication with senior leadership, product management, support and other business functions.
• Handle conflict and challenging conversations constructively, acting as an escalation point for complex or conflicting priorities.
• Build Klipboard’s external engineering reputation through speaking, writing and partnerships.
  
  

Key Relationships

• Product Teams & Customer Facing Teams
• Engineering Managers and Technical Leads across regions
• Architecture & Security leaders
• External partners, vendors and professional networks
  
  

Skills, Knowledge And Experience

• 12+ years’ experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role managing multiple teams or departments.
• Demonstrated success building and running large-scale, cloud-native, multi-tenant SaaS/OnPrem products.
• Deep technical background with credibility across architecture, design and delivery; hands-on exposure to modern languages and frameworks (KCML, C#, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, microservices, container orchestration).
• Proven track record implementing CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and DevOps practices at scale.
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, security and performance engineering.
• Experience recruiting, mentoring and retaining high-performance engineering organisations in a global context.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with proven ability to anticipate team workloads, prioritise effectively, manage conflicting priorities and handle challenging conversations constructively.
  
  

Desirable

• Exposure to Azure Cloud/Oracle Cloud, AI/ML and Data concepts.
• Experience with data platforms (big data, analytics) and event-driven architectures.
• Track record of driving organisational change towards continuous delivery.
  
  

What Success Looks Like

• A reliable, scalable SaaS/OnPrem portfolio aligned to Klipboard’s strategic goals.
• A motivated engineering organisation delivering predictably and innovating confidently.
• Transparent reporting on progress, risks and mitigations to leadership and customers.
  
  

Company Info

You may also have seen from our recent posts that we are excited to begin sharing our new company name – Klipboard. Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) is becoming Klipboard and our new brand is designed to bring together our expertise across distribution, automotive, retail, rental, transport management, manufacturing, and field service management. We have offices based across the world and we are looking for talented individuals to join our growing teams. Due to our growth over the last few years it is an exciting time to join us as we enter our next chapter! At Klipboard we've introduced a flexible hybrid work policy, where employees spend three days in the office and two days working from home. This approach promotes a balanced work environment that combines office collaboration with the comfort and convenience of remote work."

Equal Opportunities

As a global company, we value and respect the diversity of our workforce, aiming to empower everyone to embrace each other's differences. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to our company and culture. We recognize the benefits of a diverse workforce, where creativity and valuing differences enable us all to thrive and sparks innovation.

If you require any help, adjustments and/or support during the interview and offer process then please advise our TA or HR team.

Research shows that women and other underrepresented groups are less likely to apply for a role unless they meet every listed requirement. However, we recognise that skills and experience come in many forms, and we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every criterion. If you are passionate about this role and believe you have the right mindset and transferrable skills, we would love to hear from you!

To all recruitment agencies: Klipboard does not accept agency speculative resumes. At present we only accept CV’s from Agencies on our PSL who have been assigned specific position/s. Please do not forward resumes to our careers site or direct to Klipboard employee as this does not constitute an introduction and Klipboard retrospectively will not be liable for any candidate ownership or fees related to unsolicited resumes.