Product Development Team Leader

Birketts is a full service UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals based in Bristol Cambridge Chelmsford Ipswich London Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate Corporate Services Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do. RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 5th best law firm to work at in 2024.

With our ambition to succeed comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do with female partners comprising 40% of our partnership.

The role leads and manages the Product Development team within the wider IT Team. The IT teams operating model is based on cross functional teams Squads. These are autonomous teams that are focused on the delivery of specific products / solutions efficiently and effectively through collaboration and self-organisation.

Working collaboratively with Key Stakeholders the Product Development Team Leader will provide technical vision and leadership to successfully develop and implement new solutions products and services in order to enhance user experience and outcomes and align delivery to the firms strategic vision.

• Line manages the Product Development Team.
• Act as the primary development technologies specialist at Birketts.
• Work directly with the Solutions Architect and senior IT team members to ensure that solutions are designed and developed in line with the firms strategies using Microsoft Cloud based technologies / platform.
• Works with stakeholders both within and outside of IT to understand their needs help to translate into requirements and ultimately deliver business value.
• Mentors junior members of the Product Development team helping them to embrace new technologies and foster a growth and innovation culture within the team.
• Drives the adoption of DevOps and Scrum within the IT team with a focus on CI/CD and IaC to enable automation within the SDLC.
• Works with the Senior QA Engineer to implement automated test processes where possible.

Through the leadership of the Development Team the Product Development Team Leader will be responsible for documentation technical specifications program/project management programming and testing/quality assurance on all systems projects and products produced. Writing reviewing and approving code to ensure accuracy secure by design principals are followed and thefunctionality is as needed.

• Drives the TDD approach throughout all software development solutions.
• Ensures that developed solutions are aligned to the firms business technology and data strategies.
• Works as part of the wider IT Leadership team to build a high performing Agile team following Agile methodology Scrum for product development focusing on the delivery of objectives and tracking and managing via KPIs to show promote and manage Development performance and effectiveness / value.
• Create a strong agile SCRUM development environment including leading the adoption of agile development methodologies and tools to meet the fast pace and rapidly changing business environment.
• Work with IT Leadership members to develop the long-term strategy for software and application development to support the firms Business Data and Technology strategies.
• Works directly with the Product Delivery Team Leader to oversee functional / technical specifications and documentation of products and services / process to ensure that the needs of the business are captured prior to commencing new projects.
• Leads the Product Development team to create and execute appropriate project plans test strategies and processes for development activities in conjunction with the business.
• Develops a team of technology experts who understand the business and effectively work with vendors and other development staff to enable the continuous deployment/development of our products and services.
• Build an effective development team through coaching mentoring and developing team members to drive innovation productivity continuity.
• Be the advocate for where AI and emerging technologies can be used to maximise value within the Development process. Keeping up to date with emerging technology developments and industry trends.

• 3 years of experience managing and leading a Software Development team.
• Senior development background of at least 6 years of hands-on software development including proven experience in overseeing the full implementation of the Software Development Life Cycle.
• Proven experience of leading a team working within Azure DevOps and running DevOps methodologies.
• Certified Agile Scrum methodology practitioner.
• Management and Leadership skills.

• Strong leadership project and change management skills with the ability to build and lead a successful technology team.
• Proven success in defining building and releasing software-based solutions that drive customer ROI.
• Ability to create a dynamic results-oriented culture within the Development team passionate about innovation collaboration accountability and professionalism.
• Strong experience in development frameworks and API management.
• Detailed understanding of Microservices and the development of them as part of a wider architectural strategy.
• Expert in agile development methodology and toolkits.
• Strong written verbal and presentation skills and consensus- and relationship-building skills. Ability to be flexible and quickly grasp concepts and solve complex problems.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence across the organization and articulate technical requirements and issues in clear business language. Experience of Test Driven Development TDD and automated test processes.
• Detailed understanding of APIs and extensive experience of using 3rd party APIs to integrate solutions in a multi cloud and hybrid environment. Extensive experience of developing custom APIs. Detailed understanding of M365 development technologies and experience in using Power Processes including Power Automate Logic Apps and Canvas Apps to build M365 based solutions.
• Advanced knowledge of Programming languages and frameworks such as .net C# React / JavaScript J2EE JQuery.

At Birketts our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success development and wellbeing of our colleagues helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. Alongside a flexible and inclusive work environment we offer the following core benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Agile/Hybrid Working Policy
• Dress for your Day Policy

is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. We welcome applications from people looking for flexible agile and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age disability sex race religion or belief gender reassignment marriage or civil partnership pregnancy or maternity or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all valuing the right mix of talent skills and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.