About Zinkworks

Zinkworks partners with leading Telecommunications and Financial Services organizations to modernize legacy systems, migrate mission-critical platforms to the cloud, and engineer AI-driven automation. From OSS transformation to rApp development and network intelligence, our teams simplify complexity and turn it into competitive advantage. Based in Ireland and operating across the EU, UK, and US, Zinkworks combines deep domain expertise with delivery excellence to help clients modernize faster and operate smarter.

The Role

As an Engineering Manager, you will lead high-performing, cross-functional engineering teams delivering a flagship Agentic AI transformation programme for a major UK Telecommunications provider. Operating from our Innovation Hub in Athlone, you will be responsible for translating complex architectural vision into reliable, scalable, production-grade software.

You will sit at the intersection of engineering execution, people leadership, and delivery governance, ensuring that AI agents, automation platforms, and cloud-native services are delivered to enterprise standards. This role requires strong technical credibility, excellent leadership skills, and experience delivering complex systems in regulated, mission-critical environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and grow multidisciplinary engineering teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement.

• Delivery Ownership: Own end-to-end delivery outcomes, ensuring predictable, high-quality delivery across multiple streams of work.

• Technical Oversight: Provide hands-on technical leadership and guidance across cloud-native, AI-driven, and distributed systems.

• Execution Management: Plan and manage delivery across Agile teams, ensuring clear priorities, realistic commitments, and consistent velocity.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Solution Architects, Product Owners, Business Analysts, and DevOps to align execution with architectural intent and business outcomes.

• Quality & Reliability: Ensure engineering best practices around testing, security, performance, and operational readiness are embedded into delivery.

• Risk & Dependency Management: Identify and manage technical risks, dependencies, and delivery constraints across teams and platforms.

• Stakeholder Communication: Provide clear, transparent updates to senior stakeholders on progress, risks, and delivery health.

• Continuous Improvement: Drive improvements in engineering processes, tooling, and standards to increase efficiency and quality over time.

Must-Have Skills

• Proven experience leading software engineering teams in complex, enterprise-scale environments.

• Strong background in cloud-native application development and distributed systems.

• Experience delivering platforms involving AI/ML, data pipelines, or automation workflows.

• Solid understanding of modern software engineering practices, including CI/CD, DevOps, and Infrastructure as Code.

• Experience working within Agile delivery models (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe).

• Strong technical communication skills, with the ability to challenge and guide architectural and design decisions.

• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining delivery focus and team morale.

• Experience operating in regulated or mission-critical environments.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Telecom domain experience across RAN, Core, OSS/BSS, or Fixed Access engineering.

• Experience delivering AI-driven or data-intensive platforms at scale.

• Familiarity with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or similar public cloud environments.

• Exposure to platform engineering, SRE, or large-scale automation frameworks.

Inclusion & Diversity at Zinkworks

At Zinkworks, we are deeply committed to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging. We believe that our strength lies in the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of our team members. By embracing an inclusive environment, we empower innovation and collaboration across all levels of our organisation. Based in Ireland, we are proud to support and engage with our local communities through meaningful initiatives that promote equity and opportunity. Our commitment extends beyond the workplace, as we actively contribute to creating a more inclusive and connected society for all.