Head of Engineering

Who are we?

Smarkets is a betting exchange for sports and political trading that has handled over £29 billion in volume since 2010. Our company mission is to fix the betting industry with the best products and best prices. We are upending the sports betting industry by growing a transparent platform that offers the best value for bettors, with the fairest odds, best technology and a superior customer experience.

Smarkets is a Series B tech company that brings a professional, product-led approach to our mission. We embrace collaboration, trust, innovation and scientific rigour, while we celebrate ambitious goals and passionate energy. Our culture rewards people on merit and excellence and we strive to provide a working environment where recognition, challenges, support, collaboration, interesting benefits and shared meals provided by our chefs mix together to let you unlock your potential, grow with us and become your best self.

The Role

As a company rooted in technical and product excellence, engineering is at the heart of everything we do. We are now looking for a senior technical leader to take the helm of this critical function that reports into the COO. 

The Head of Engineering will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our technology, culture, and team structure. This is a great opportunity for someone willing to influence the company at its core. You’ll be trusted to design, build, and scale high-performing engineering teams while driving architectural and strategic decisions that fuel long-term business growth.

If you're a leader with a proven track record, a passion for building teams and systems, and the strategic vision to scale engineering in a high-growth, founder-led company, we want to hear from you.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Set the engineering vision and roadmap, ensuring our low-latency, transactional B2C systems remain robust and scalable.
• Drive architectural decisions for our microservices-based architecture to enhance scalability, reliability, security, and efficiency.
• Oversee end-to-end software development processes and ensure timely, high-quality project delivery.
• Dive into technical details when needed while maintaining a strategic overview of projects.
• Build, hire, and mentor high-performing engineering teams—drawing on your experience of creating departments from scratch.
• Foster a strong, communicative, and collaborative team culture that attracts top talent and encourages innovation.
• Instill a builder mentality; focus on growing and scaling teams rather than dismantling established structures.
• Own and optimise engineering processes, from code quality and testing practices to platform uptime and cybersecurity.
• Manage compliance, infrastructure, and internal technology systems to maximize productivity.
• Work closely with key stakeholders (including CEO and COO) to align engineering priorities with overall business goals.
• Engage with leadership to ensure technical decisions support our long-term strategic vision.

 

About You

• 10+ years of experience in software development, with at least 5+ years in senior leadership roles (Director, VP, or similar) 
• Demonstrated track record in a leadership role (stable tenure of 2+ years) with experience growing and managing engineering teams (ideally 50+ people).
• Extensive backend experience with a hands-on history of building scalable, low-latency, transactional systems. 
• Strong capability in making architectural decisions and setting long-term technical strategy.
• Able to operate at a strategic level—defining long-term goals and architectural frameworks—while also diving into details when necessary.
• Experience in rebuilding teams or doubling team sizes is a plus, demonstrating a true builder’s mentality.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to work well with diverse teams and leadership
• You bring passion for the job and the product, are comfortable operating in a founder-led environment, and are balanced in your approach
• You understand the importance of making measured, strategic decisions without sacrificing the technical and cultural backbone of the company.
• Demonstrated ability to tackle complex technical challenges, make data-driven decisions, and deliver innovative solutions in a fast-paced environment. 

Values

• Push to win
• Make others better
• Give a shit
• Be a pro
• Bring the energy

Our values are at the heart of everything that we do. We believe these are the fundamentals to ensure we are delivering what’s expected of us in the best way possible for ourselves and for those around us.

Benefits

We offer a competitive salary package and benefits, along with a dynamic and collaborative work environment. Your work with us will make an impact and your voice will be heard. We are a diverse team with a strong work ethic and plenty of hunger to win. We have designed our benefits offering around Health, Wealth, Lifestyle and Development.

These include:

• Stock options which vests over 4 years
• Pension scheme - An impressive pension scheme via Aviva. We will match 6% if you choose the same
• Health insurance
• Fresh fruit and snacks provided in the office everyday! (tea, coffee, soft drinks also included)
• We’re a member of a cycle to work scheme
• We want to continue to invest in all our employees and do so by providing a £1000 yearly education budget that can be used on courses, conferences, books or training
• 25 days paid holiday + bank holidays to enjoy - you have the choice to carry over 5 days to the next year!
• Flexible working - we want to provide a hybrid model approach to working and provide you with 2 days a week working from home
• 20 days a year of globally working - we provide the ability to work from anywhere in the world for up to 20 days a year
• We will provide you lunch everyday in the office - you don’t need to worry about feeding your belly as we have it sorted with top quality food served by our in-house Chef Alex!