We are looking for a creative, diligent Senior Software Engineering Manager who will be responsible for driving the engineering teams researching and developing the next generation of PlayStation's testing technology. This technology - including automation tools, framework and CI infrastructure - is used to analyze the quality of front end workflows on the PS5.

As a Senior Manager, Software Engineering (Quality Engineering), you will lead and develop a team responsible for ensuring high-quality software delivery across multiple products and platforms. This role shapes quality strategy, drives engineering excellence, and enables efficient, reliable release processes. You will work cross-functionally and lead a distributed team across locations, embedding quality practices throughout the development lifecycle. The position entails collaboration with quality management leadership, different internal departments, as well as open source software communities. Together we will build an environment oriented to trust, open communication, creative thinking and cohesive team effort. You will also work closely with your peers and leadership to establish project prioritisation, team goals and overall quality.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a distributed team of quality engineers across multiple products and platforms.
• Manage and support remote team members, fostering effective collaboration across geographically dispersed teams.
• Define team member development and career path opportunities with team members and mentor them to achieve goals.
• Monitor and review everyone’s performance, deliver regular performance appraisals.
• Manage team capacity planning, hiring, onboarding and ensure effective succession planning for your teams.
• Lead day-to-day activities of engineering team using Agile/Scrum methodology.
• Define and implement quality engineering strategy, vision, and best practices to support reliable and efficient software delivery.
• Partner with product and development teams to define test strategies, acceptance criteria, and release plans.
• Identify, assess, and communicate risks to delivery timelines and product quality.
• Lead all aspects of delivery for general technical architecture and infrastructure to support the continued development of projects, including tools and pipelines.
• Research and craft new tools for overcoming inefficient processes by automating work.
• Advocate for reducing technical debt, improving test coverage, and maintaining engineering standards.
• Lead retrospective analysis of activities and champion continuous process improvement.

What We’re Looking For:

• At least five years in a people management role. Proven success in people management including mentorship. Past experience supervising people managers is strongly preferred.
• Effective leading of multiple Agile teams in quality and testing engineering domains. (Software engineering managers with deep experience and understanding of testing groups and processes should also apply.)
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, which encompass presenting to senior leadership, product managers, software engineers, project managers, and customers.
• Significant experience with software engineering practices, software automation and testing systems (for example, Jenkins).
• Proficient in Python programming. Enough C++ experience to provide guidance in larger architectural discussion and occasional code review.
• A solid understanding of the software development lifecycle, and applying proven software methodologies to testing and driving reductions in technical debt.            

Nice-to-haves

• Machine learning background.
• Prior experience with console or PC game development.
• Past experience with cloud computing and containerization.
• Development and debugging tools experience on Windows.

About Blank Street

At Blank Street, we’re on a mission to become the defining food and beverage brand of our generation. From the very beginning, we’ve set out to add a spark to ordinary experiences through elevated products, attention-to-detail, and a commitment to making every moment memorable. We’re motivated by the millions of customers we serve across cities, and know that our potential is unlimited. It all starts with our people and their commitment to make magic happen each and every day.

Start Something Extraordinary…

As a Shift Leader at Blank Street, you are a born player-coach who thrives when working alongside a team to deliver quality products. You are a proven people-person who takes pride in giving amazing service experiences and influencing your team to do the same. You thrive for opportunities to serve your community and make a big local impact. You are customer centric and believe in quality products through flawless execution, making every effort to give your customers exactly what they need, every day, in their way. You excel in fast paced environments and enjoy an inclusive, collaborative workplace, where your voice genuinely counts, and you can really make a difference.

You will spearhead individual, team and location initiatives to drive sales and business performance. Along with supporting your General Manager to lead these important company initiatives, you will regularly meet with the Senior Leadership team to voice feedback, improvements and overall be hands on in the success of your store, your customers and your teams’ best interests. You would be one of the first staff members to work in this location, which means you get the exciting opportunity to set the tone and create lasting connections in the neighbourhood.

Who We’re Looking For

• Love for cafe culture and people
• Friendly, open and approachable person who is able to work well with others
• Strong knowledge of coffee and equipment is a must
• Strong decision-making and multi-tasking skills
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Passionate about delivering excellent customer connections to create a regular customer base
• Able to work at a fast pace in high-volume environments
• Be an exemplary ambassador of our brand to new neighbourhoods

What You’ll Own

• Craft beautiful coffee products and serve all Blank Street customers with energy, warmth, and empathy
• Support your GM and our Training Team to help train new employees to succeed at Blank Street, including ensuring that new team members are following all recipes and training for menu items and processes and that they are in the correct uniform, are upbeat and vibes are positive
• Open and close the location safely and responsibly (Key holder) and ensure that cleaning duties for the store are followed at the beginning, during and end of the shift
• Positive and solution-focused handling of any minor customer issue
• At a store level, leads all initiatives with the operations and marketing teams to increase foot traffic, new customers, daily sales, and operational profitability and develop a loyal neighbourhood customer base for your store

Requirements

• Experience in the customer service or hospitality industry
• Availability that meets the needs of our cafes
• Full Time: 35 hours per week, 5 days of availability required and must be available to work 2 peak days (Peak days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
• Availability to work between 6:30 am and 9:00 pm
• Weekend and holiday availability preferred
• You must be authorised to work in the UK