{"id":2431709,"url":"https://alion.io/job/tesco-head-of-software-development-2","title":"Head of Software Development","company":{"id":1059,"name":"Tesco","domain":"tesco.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/tesco","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Avature","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":100,"open_postings":21,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0.048,"time_to_fill_p50_days":7,"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"}},"role":"Leadership","role_family":"Leadership","seniority":"head","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Bengaluru, India"],"countries":["IN"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":56000,"max_usd":147000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":37},"experience_years_min":15,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Micronaut","optional":false},{"name":"Platform Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"Proxmox VE","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Rest API","optional":false},{"name":"Terraform","optional":false},{"name":"VMWare","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-13T09:15:10Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-13","last_verified_at":"2026-10-14T05:36:04Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"About the role\nTesco operates a large, geographically distributed retail estate where technology is fundamental to the day-to-day running of our stores. Critical retail capabilities, including checkout, payments, stock management and colleague-facing applications, depend on technology that must operate reliably at the edge, close to where our business operates.\nThe Edge Platform provides the underlying computing environment and software capabilities that enable applications to run across our stores. It encompasses edge computing, server hardware, Linux operating systems, virtualisation, storage, platform software, infrastructure automation and centralised management capabilities required to deploy, operate, secure and maintain technology consistently across a diverse retail estate.\nThe Edge Platform is business-critical to Tesco. Store technology must remain dependable despite connectivity disruptions, constrained local resources and the complexity of managing software and infrastructure changes across thousands of locations. Failures or poorly executed changes can directly affect store operations, colleague productivity and customer experience.\nAs Head of Software Engineering: Edge Platform, you will lead two major, interconnected engineering priorities: modernising Tesco’s edge virtualisation estate through the migration from VMware to Proxmox, and building a robust, scalable software-driven Edge Management Platform to provision, manage, monitor and maintain the retail edge estate throughout its lifecycle.\nYou will define the technology strategy and architecture, lead complex engineering and migration programmes, and build a high-performing engineering organisation. You will combine deep software engineering expertise with infrastructure knowledge, strategic thinking and organisational leadership to simplify complexity, improve resilience, drive automation and deliver a scalable, secure and cost-efficient platform for the future of Tesco’s stores.\nThis role requires a leader who can move seamlessly between enterprise-level strategy and detailed technical decisions, balancing the safe execution of a large-scale infrastructure transition with the long-term development of a modern software platform.\nWhat is in it for you\nAt Tesco, we are committed to providing the best for you.\n As a result, our colleagues enjoy a unique, differentiated, market- competitive reward package, based on the current industry practices, for all the work they put into serving our customers, communities and planet a little better every day.\n Our Tesco Rewards framework consists of pillars - Fixed Pay, Incentives, and Benefits.\n Total Rewards offered at Tesco is determined by four principles -simple, fair, competitive, and sustainable.\n Salary - Your fixed pay is the guaranteed pay as per your contract of employment.\n Annual Bonus - Opportunity to earn additional bonus, distributed as 2/3rd in compensation and 1/3rd in shares.\n Leave & Time-off - Colleagues are entitled to 30 days of leave (18 days of Earned Leave, 12 days of Casual/Sick Leave) and 10 national and festival holidays, as per the company’s policy.\n Making Retirement Tension-FreeSalary - In addition to Statutory retirement beneets, Tesco enables colleagues to participate in voluntary programmes like NPS and VPF.\n Health is Wealth - Tesco promotes programmes that support a culture of health and wellness including insurance for colleagues and their family. Our medical insurance provides coverage for dependents including parents or in-laws.\n Mental Wellbeing - We offer mental health support through self-help tools, community groups, ally networks, face-to-face counselling, and more for both colleagues and dependents.\n Financial Wellbeing - Through our financial literacy partner, we offer one-to-one financial coaching at discounted rates, as well as salary advances on earned wages upon request.\n Save As You Earn (SAYE) - Our SAYE programme allows colleagues to transition from being employees to Tesco shareholders through a structured 3-year savings plan.\n Physical Wellbeing - Our green campus promotes physical wellbeing with facilities that include a cricket pitch, football field, badminton and volleyball courts, along with indoor games, encouraging a healthier lifestyle.\nYou will be responsible for\nKey responsibilities:\n1. Technology strategy and architecture\nDefine and execute the Edge Platform engineering strategy, target architecture and modernisation roadmap, aligned with Tesco’s wider technology objectives.\nLead the evolution of the platform across edge computing, server hardware, Linux, virtualisation, storage, distributed systems and platform software, balancing reliability, scalability, security, cost and maintainability.\nEstablish architectural principles, engineering standards and reusable capabilities that simplify the technology landscape and enable consistent operation across the retail estate.\nMake sound architectural decisions, challenge technical assumptions and balance immediate delivery commitments with long-term platform sustainability.\nPartner with enterprise and domain architects to ensure the Edge Platform integrates effectively with wider infrastructure, cloud, network, security and store technology capabilities.\n2. Virtualisation modernisation: VMware to Proxmox\nOwn the engineering strategy and execution of Tesco’s migration from VMware to Proxmox across the edge estate, delivering a secure, reliable and cost-effective alternative virtualisation platform.\nDefine the target architecture, migration patterns and repeatable build configurations for different store environments, accounting for hardware compatibility, workloads, networking, storage and operational constraints.\nLead the assessment, design, engineering, testing and production validation of platform variants before progressive rollout across the retail estate.\nEstablish automated approaches for hypervisor provisioning, configuration, workload migration, upgrade management, validation, rollback and recovery.\nManage migration dependencies, technical risks, compatibility challenges and cross-functional delivery, ensuring changes are introduced safely without compromising critical store operations.\nEstablish clear engineering ownership, documentation, knowledge transfer and operational handover so the platform can be sustainably supported and evolved by Tesco teams.\n3. Edge Management Platform engineering\nLead the design and development of a robust, software-driven Edge Management Platform that provides centralised management and lifecycle control of Tesco’s distributed edge estate.\nDefine a modular, API-first architecture that enables automated provisioning, configuration management, fleet inventory, health monitoring, software distribution, patching, upgrades and remote diagnostics.\nDrive engineering across Java, Micronaut, microservices, REST APIs, Python automation, Terraform and Infrastructure as Code, applying appropriate technologies and architectural patterns to build maintainable, scalable platform capabilities.\nEstablish consistent abstractions and automation for managing different hardware configurations, Linux environments, virtualisation platforms and store deployment patterns.\nDesign for scale, resilience and intermittent connectivity, including safe handling of disconnected stores, asynchronous operations, configuration drift, failed deployments and recovery scenarios.\nBuild in observability, auditability, security controls, role-based access and policy-driven configuration to enable reliable and secure fleet-wide operations.\nCreate reusable platform services and self-service capabilities that reduce manual effort, simplify store technology operations and enable consuming engineering teams to deploy and manage workloads consistently.\nEnsure the management platform evolves independently of individual infrastructure technologies wherever practical, reducing future migration complexity and supporting long-term technology flexibility.\n4. Software engineering and automation\nSet high engineering standards across software design, development, testing, deployment and production operations.\nChampion automated testing, CI/CD, infrastructure provisioning, configuration management and observability to improve engineering productivity, release confidence and operational consistency.\nEstablish repeatable approaches for building, testing, deploying and upgrading platform software and infrastructure across diverse store environments.\nEnsure software and infrastructure are designed for maintainability, resilience and predictable operation, including stores with constrained resources or intermittent connectivity.\nPromote continuous improvement in engineering quality, developer productivity, deployment safety and operational efficiency.\n5. Engineering and people leadership\nLead and develop a high-performing engineering organisation through Engineering Managers, Principal Engineers and senior technical leaders.\nBuild the capabilities required to deliver both the virtualisation migration and the long-term Edge Management Platform roadmap, maintaining clear ownership and delivery accountability across workstreams.\nEstablish a culture of engineering excellence, technical curiosity, collaboration, ownership and continuous improvement.\nDevelop engineering leaders, strengthen succession planning and build sustainable internal expertise in edge computing, virtualisation, platform software and automation.\nEmpower teams to make decisions and deliver independently while maintaining clear architectural standards and engineering governance.\n6. Reliability and operational excellence\nDrive platform reliability, security, resilience and operational readiness across the retail estate.\nEstablish repeatable approaches for hardware and firmware lifecycle management, Linux upgrades, virtualisation maintenance, storage management, patching and recovery.\nEnsure platform releases and migration waves are thoroughly tested, progressively deployed and supported by effective rollback and recovery strategies.\nEstablish service-level objectives, fleet health monitoring and operational metrics to improve availability, incident recovery and service quality.\nPartner with Infrastructure Operations, Cyber Security and Store Technology teams to ensure the platform meets business-critical operational and security requirements.\n7. Strategic execution and commercial outcomes\nTranslate business priorities into clear engineering roadmaps, investment plans, milestones and measurable outcomes.\nLead complex, cross-functional programmes, managing dependencies, risks and competing priorities across engineering, architecture, infrastructure, security, operations and store technology.\nBalance the demands of the immediate VMware exit programme with investment in the strategic Edge Management Platform, ensuring neither compromises the other.\nDrive cost optimisation through automation, hardware consolidation, improved compute and storage utilisation, technology standardisation and reduced operational complexity.\nEvaluate technology investments and supplier decisions based on long-term value, total cost of ownership, operational risk and strategic fit.\nInfluence senior stakeholders, communicate complex technical trade-offs in business terms and build alignment around the platform strategy and migration roadmap.\nYou will need\n\n15+ years of experience in software engineering and technology, with a proven track record of technical leadership, architecture and delivery of complex software platforms.\nSignificant experience leading multiple engineering teams, developing engineering leaders and delivering large-scale technology transformation.\nStrong technical foundations and credibility across Java, Micronaut or comparable Java frameworks, microservices, REST APIs, Python automation and Terraform.\nSolid experience with Linux operating systems, edge computing, server hardware, virtualisation and storage technologies, incl...","description_format":"text","description_chars":17166,"description_truncated":true,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":15,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Health insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"India","iso":"IN","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Retail & Shop Systems","Online Groceries"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-13T09:15:10Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":7,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/tesco-head-of-software-development-2","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/tesco-head-of-software-development-2.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-14T09:47:55Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":11061,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1059},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1059"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Ftesco-head-of-software-development-2"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Ftesco-head-of-software-development-2"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Ftesco-head-of-software-development-2"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/tesco-head-of-software-development-2\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Ftesco-head-of-software-development-2"}]}