Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
Leadership & Team Management
Lead, mentor and develop a high-performing team of software engineers and engineering managers, creating clear goals, career paths and growth opportunities.
Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, psychological safety and continuous learning in line with Ogilvy's beliefs.
Ensure effective staffing, capacity planning and succession planning across projects and products.
Promote a practitioner culture - leading by example with hands-on technical engagement where needed.
Engineering Strategy & Architecture
Translate the Technology and Ogilvy One strategy into a clear engineering roadmap (platforms, products, tools, architecture).
Own the technical architecture for key platforms and applications (mobile, web, APIs, integrations), ensuring scalability, reliability, security and cost efficiency.
Evaluate and select appropriate technologies, frameworks, and third-party services (including cloud, data, martech and AI/ML) aligned to business and client needs.
Define and maintain reference architectures, coding standards, and best practices across teams.
Software Delivery & Project Governance
Oversee the full software development lifecycle (discovery, design, development, testing, deployment, operations) for both internal products and client-facing solutions.
Ensure robust project governance: estimation, planning, resourcing, risk management, change control and progress tracking.
Drive predictable, high-quality delivery using Agile/Iterative methods (Scrum, Kanban, etc.) and modern DevOps practices (CI/CD, automated testing, observability).
Collaborate with Project Management, Client Services and Product teams to keep delivery on schedule, within scope and to budget, while managing trade-offs transparently.
Cross-Functional & Client Collaboration
Act as a key technical counterpart to business, product, data, creative, and account leadership.
Translate non-technical requirements into clear technical specifications and architectures (including UX/UI, data models, integrations and security).
Support pre-sales and solutioning for key client opportunities: participate in discovery, propose architectures, scope work, and present solutions to senior client stakeholders.
Build and manage relationships with external technology partners, vendors and delivery partners across the region.
Innovation, Data & Emerging Technologies
Lead innovation initiatives in software, data and AI/ML aligned to Ogilvy Africa's ambitions (e.g., personalization, real-time marketing, analytics, content automation, eÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂcommerce).
Encourage and oversee proofs-of-concept (PoCs), pilots and experiments; facilitate "fail-fast, learn-fast" cycles and scale successful initiatives.
Work with Data and Strategy teams to ensure data-driven design, analytics and measurement are embedded into solutions.
Process, Quality & Operational Excellence
Design, implement and continuously refine engineering processes that improve speed, quality and reliability (SDLC, code review, branch strategy, release management).
Define and track key engineering KPIs (velocity, lead time, defects, reliability, uptime, incident MTTR, cost efficiency) and drive continuous improvement.
Ensure robust quality assurance processes including automated/unit testing, integration testing, security and performance testing.
Establish and enforce security-by-design and privacy-by-design practices, in line with client and regulatory requirements.
Financial & Resource Management
Participate in budgeting and resource planning for the engineering function (headcount, tools, cloud, licences, third-party services).
Optimize cost of delivery through effective use of cloud, automation, open-source, and vendor negotiations.
Contribute to pricing, effort estimation and cost models for software projects and managed services to ensure profitability and sustainable operations.
Reporting & Stakeholder Communication
Provide regular reporting to the CTO and senior leadership on engineering performance, project status, risks and mitigation plans.
Communicate complex technical issues and trade-offs clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
Represent the engineering function in internal forums and, where appropriate, in client and industry forums.
Professional, Technical Skills and Experience Required
Education
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems or a related field.
Master's degree and/or relevant professional certifications (e.g., cloud, agile, architecture) are an advantage.
Experience
10 - 15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, including significant hands-on development experience.
At least 4 - 6 years in engineering leadership roles (e.g., Head of Engineering, Engineering Manager, Technical Director) managing multi-disciplinary teams.
Proven track record of successfully delivering multiple complex software projects (web and mobile) across varied domains; agency, consulting or multi-client environments are an advantage.
Experience running enterprise-scale projects and platforms, including vendor evaluation, contracting/SLAs, and coordinating with distributed teams.
Demonstrated experience aligning technology initiatives with business goals and delivering measurable improvements in service delivery, customer experience and operational efficiency.