Engineering Manager, Zinc Work
£95k
In-office Mon/Thur
2 days a week in office (Old Street, London)
Automated employee reference and background checking software
Be an early applicant
Automated employee reference and background checking software
101-200 employees
Be an early applicant
£95k
In-office Mon/Thur
2 days a week in office (Old Street, London)
101-200 employees
Company mission
To change the way people prove their work identity.
Role
Who you are
- An Experienced Leader: You have a proven track record of managing 5+ software engineers in a SaaS environment (ideally B2B)
- A "Systems Thinker": You don’t just fix a bug; you fix the process that allowed the bug to happen. You have experience evolving engineering cultures as they scale
- Technical Foundation: You have a strong background in modern full-stack development (ideally within the TypeScript/Node/Vue ecosystem) which allows you to challenge technical decisions and mentor senior talent
- High Integrity: You understand the responsibility of building a platform that handles sensitive PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and value reliability over "moving fast and breaking things."
- Empathetic but Direct: You care deeply about your team's well-being but are comfortable having difficult conversations when necessary
What the job involves
- We are looking for a people-first Engineering Manager to lead two of our core product engineering squads. Our platform is at a critical inflection point: we are evolving from a fast-growth startup into a mature, scaled engineering organisation
- You will lead a group of eight senior and mid-level engineers. This is not a hands-on coding role; instead, your "code" is the team itself
- You will focus on building a high-trust environment, refining our delivery engine, and ensuring our engineers have the clarity and support they need to ship high-quality, compliant software
- 1. People Leadership & Growth
- Coach & Mentor: Manage 1:1s, career progression frameworks, and performance reviews for 8 engineers
- Hiring & Onboarding: Own the talent pipeline for your squads, ensuring we hire for both high skill and high cultural add
- Performance Management: Set a high bar for excellence. You’ll celebrate wins and directly address underperformance with clear, actionable feedback
- 2. Delivery & Process Evolution
- Scaling Maturity: Lead the transition from "scrappy" startup workflows to structured, predictable delivery patterns without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy
- Operational Excellence: Partner with Product Managers to improve sprint predictability, throughput, and the "Definition of Done."
- Cross-functional Alignment: Act as the bridge between your squads and the wider business, ensuring stakeholders have visibility into progress and risks
- 3. Technical Stewardship
- Architecture Review: While you won't be writing PRs, you will facilitate technical discovery and review architectural proposals to ensure they align with our long-term goals for scalability and security
- Quality Standards: Foster a culture of "Security by Design," ensuring our background checking platform maintains the highest standards of data privacy and auditability
Salary benchmarks
Our take
The existing processes for referencing and background checking suffer from notable inefficiencies, marked by biases, time-consuming procedures, and an intimidating experience for candidates. Addressing these challenges, Zinc Work aims to solve these processes by introducing an automated reference and background-checking solution.
Setting itself apart in the market, Zinc Work focuses on the user-friendly design of its solution, its swift integration into existing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and its high level of customisation. With a vision to offer a solution for background checks, Zinc covers a spectrum from criminal record checks to financial, education, identity, employment, and reference checks.
Funding secured in 2023 was led by esteemed financial services investor AVP (AXA Venture Partners) and supported by Seedcamp, and will facilitate the launch of groundbreaking industry initiatives. These include the introduction of the first reusable global Right To Work check, the first Employment verification reference integrated with HMRC, and a background check template library collaboratively contributed to by over 40 Zinc Work customers. This financial injection underscored Zinc's commitment to innovation and reinforced its position as a trailblazer in the realm of automated reference and background checking solutions.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
43% female employees
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Jul 2023
$6.8m
SERIES A
Mar 2022
$1.4m
SEED
Total funding: $8.6m
Company benefits
- 24 days holiday + Bank Holidays + your birthday off
- Apple laptop and latest tech gear for your home workstation
- £1200 annual benefits allowance (ThanksBen, from month 2)
- Early finish Fridays (16:00)
- Yearly company Retreat
- Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave (2 months full pay, then statutory)
- Statutory pension with NEST (3% employer, 5% employee)
- Zinc shares, issued through the EMI Scheme
- Unlimited access to MoreHappi coaching
Company values
- Empathy: Seeking to understand your perspective first
- Collaboration: We will work teogether to solve problems
- Empowered: Empowering candidates with information and data
- Speed: We will work to deliver at pace
- Integrity: We are truth seekers, providing transparent information
- Pragmatic: We're a solutions oriented team that seeks to solve
Company HQ
London, UK
Leadership
Charlotte Lucy Hall
(Co-Founder)Previously a Marketing Manager at Superscript, Podcast Producer at Talent Hacks for Scaleups, and a Marketing Executive at ILTM.
Luke Shipley
(Co-Founder)Previously EMEA Head of Technology at Intelletec for 1 year. Has also co-founded stitch Leggings and Lean Lychee.
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