Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About Digital Services

Digital Services is at the heart of delivering life-changing learning experiences that enrich society. We combine trusted design, data expertise, and cutting-edge technology to support lifelong learning.

Our objectives are to:

• Enhance the student and staff experience through simple, evidence-based solutions.
• Deliver value iteratively, securely, and at speed.
• Foster a vibrant, supportive workplace that embraces continuous learning and growth, empowering everyone to succeed.

As a service-led institution, we are committed to simplifying and improving how we work by organizing ourselves around the services we provide. This enables us to design and deliver outstanding services effectively and efficiently.

With our ethos of being “open to people, places, methods, and ideas,” we proudly support students in every setting imaginable—from submarines to prisons, and everywhere in between. We take pride in enabling our academics to teach and our students to learn, no matter the circumstances.

About the Role

The Lead Software Engineer (Design System) role (known internally as Lead Engineer) sits within the Design System team, owning the technical direction and evolution of a shared UI platform used by multiple product teams across the organisation. You will provide technical leadership across the Design System ecosystem, shaping architecture and standards for reusable components, and developer experience, while working closely with Design and Product leadership. The role focuses on enabling teams at scale through clear interfaces, strong governance, versioning strategies, accessibility standards, documentation, and operational excellence, rather than delivering product‑specific features.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead & manage engineering teams: Lead on team performance, motivation, and setting clear objectives to ensure successful delivery of high-quality products.
• Develop & mentor your team: Support the professional development of your team members, such as mentoring junior engineers, helping them grow their skills and achieve their career goals.
• Contribute to the wider engineering community: Lead process improvements (aligned to agile & DevOps), drive technology management, and champion best practices in methods and tools. By actively engaging with the wider engineering profession and community, you will inspire and help shape the future of technology and elevate engineering standards within and beyond our organization.
• Resource & supplier management: Assist in allocating resources to projects and managing relationships with external suppliers to ensure smooth project execution.
• Architect technical solutions: Lead the design and development of complex systems and software architectures that meet The Open University objectives and technical requirements. Conduct in-depth analysis of potential solution options, considering factors such as cost, performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Oversee the full development lifecycle: Ensure seamless systems integration, configuration management, and rigorous testing practices throughout the entire software lifecycle.
• Data & database design: Oversee the data modelling and database design processes in conjunction with our Data Architects to ensure optimal system performance and scalability.
• Ensure security & compliance: Lead the implementation of robust security measures and ensure compliance with information assurance standards across all systems.
• Drive innovation: Stay ahead of emerging technologies and evaluate new tools and trends that can improve our technology stack.
• Manage analysis & feasibility assessments: Collaborate with stakeholders to analyse The Open University needs, define requirements, and assess the feasibility of technical solutions.
• Ensure service & application support: Oversee service level management and ensure that our applications and infrastructure are supported effectively, including out-of-hours as required, to minimize downtime.
• Capacity & problem management: Lead capacity management efforts and problem resolution to ensure the scalability and efficiency of our systems.
• Collaborate with the Product Lead & Design Lead: collaborate closely with the Product and Design Leads to balance the product roadmap and features request with essential technical priorities, ensuring the technology agenda is clearly communicated and aligned with product goals.

You will help lead the transformation towards a DevOps culture by promoting automation, integrating practical AI, and fostering a continuous improvement mindset to enhance workflow efficiency, accelerate feedback loops, and support ongoing learning.

You will support this work by developing and advocating for the Open University’s Engineering manifesto and promoting best practices.

About You

Key Skills & Experience:

• Strong technical leadership in software and systems development, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality solutions on time.
• Excellent people management & mentoring skills, with the ability to inspire and grow engineering teams.
• Proven Software Engineering Expertise: Extensive experience in software development (coding, test writing and debugging), reviewing other people’s work, with a deep understanding of programming, system design, and testing practices.
• Expert in systems architecture and designing scalable, reliable software solutions with deep expertise in cloud services, microservices, and distributed systems, ensuring seamless integration across complex environments.
• Advanced programming & software development experience, with proficiency in modern development practices and tools.
• In-depth knowledge of testing & configuration management particularly with experience in Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Automated Testing processes to ensure system reliability and performance, enhancing software maintainability, and continuous integration.
• Data & database design expertise, ensuring efficient data structures and performance.
• Information security & compliance awareness, with the ability to implement and monitor security protocols.
• Experience in non-functional testing to ensure systems meet performance, security, and scalability requirements.
• Stakeholder relationship management, with a strong ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and manage expectations.

We are seeking an experienced engineer with proven expertise in modern digital development, including cloud, DevOps, automation, TDD, infrastructure as code, and MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless). Must be skilled in using observability tools and effective in leading hybrid teams across permanent and offshore/nearshore settings.

Behaviours:

• Leadership & Ownership: You take full ownership of your work and lead by example. You are not only focused on the “what” but also the “how” and inspire those around you to strive for excellence.
• Collaboration: You are a team player, a proactive communicator who works effectively across functions and departments, actively sharing your team’s progress and seeking wider feedback to those outside of the team. You foster a collaborative environment that encourages knowledge-sharing and ensures alignment with the broader organizational goals.
• Problem-Solving: You have a knack for diagnosing complex problems and offering practical, innovative solutions, while always keeping the bigger picture in mind.
• Adaptability: In a rapidly changing environment, you embrace change and thrive on the challenge of learning new technologies and methodologies.
• Strategic Thinking: You have a forward-thinking mindset, always looking for ways to improve processes, systems, and technology to achieve long-term success.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be on average once per month.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

We anticipate that first stage interviews for this role will be taking place online via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 20 July 2026.

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications have been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented.

If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following documents:

• CV.
• A supporting statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the job description.

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.