Engineering Manager - Consultant contract (6months)

1. Key Accountabilities
Delivery Quality Standards & Assessment - Defines architecture, security, and Definition of Ready/Done requirements for the Agile squad; at each milestone, assesses overall delivery readiness (what's solid, risky, or incomplete) to inform the sign-off decision
Embedded Code & Design Review - Reviews code, architecture, and pull requests; flags quality issues, tech debt, and design risks early, escalating disagreements with a clear recommendation
Hands-On POC / Spike Work - Personally codes de-risking spikes and proofs-of-concept
2. Key Requirements
Technical:
Strong backend microservices experience ([protected info] or .NET) at production scale
REST API design for service-to-service communication
Proficiency in Docker and Kubernetes (container orchestration, deployment pipelines)
SQL/NoSQL database design and data modeling
Advanced proficiency in LLM providers (OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic, etc.) and RAG patterns
Ability to critically evaluate system design - reads architecture and code, not just documentation, and pushes back with informed technical counter-arguments
Experience & Track Record:
10+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years leading engineering teams delivering products to market
Demonstrated experience leading multiple concurrent Agile engineering teams (e.g., leading 3 squads simultaneously as Tech Lead)
Experience building multi-agent orchestration frameworks that automate complex, multi-step operational workflows, reducing manual processing time and increasing productivity
Communication:
Advanced English proficiency, spoken and written
Comfortable embedding inside the vendor squad's own Agile ceremonies (planning, refinement, demo) as a working peer, not an external auditor
Communicates technical feedback constructively to vendor developers, QA, and BA, building trust and keeping delivery moving