Manager, Tech – Software Development Governance

H&R Block Ireland 

Job Title: Manager, Tech – Software Development Governance  

Location: Flexible Remote, Merrion Square South, Dublin 2

Hours of Work: Monday - Friday, 9am - 5:30pm

Contract: Full-Time, Permanent

Our Company 

In 1955, two brothers, Henry and Richard Bloch, set out to provide the public with the highest quality personal tax services. Today we continue to serve our clients, our community, and our brand with the same passion our founders held. We’ve been true to that purpose since 1955 and in that time, we’ve prepared more than 800 million tax returns.  

People are often surprised when they begin working here. Maybe it's because the company founded by two brothers still has the feeling of a family. Or it could be our high-ambition associates who believe in our purpose and core values. Or the growth opportunities that come with H&R Block careers.  

Our company is forward thinking and creative, we combine passion & expertise to create fresh powerful experiences. In IT we provide an exceptional customer experience through reliable systems, consistent delivery, innovative solutions, working with the latest frameworks and technologies! We are an equal opportunities employer, and we are committed to a culture of belonging and equity where every voice is heard and everyone feels safe, included, and inspired. Our leadership is accessible. Our team is welcoming, fun and collaborative. Build your career, and future, with a position at H&R Block.  

Our Team & Purpose 

Our overall purpose in H&R Block Global Technology Centre Ireland is to build confidence in H&R Block products by driving quality and efficiency through our Process Governance and Product Certification practices and supporting our overall Enterprise Priority which is to provide an exceptional customer experience through reliable systems, consistent delivery, and innovative solutions. We do this by ensuring adherence to Quality Standards, providing transparency on the quality of our products, and insights to trends in quality through product reviews and audit and partnering with product squads and leaders across the Organization. We aim for operational excellence, having a DevOps culture with an agile based development culture.  

What is the opportunity  

The Governance function in Ireland is in its infancy and it’s a great time to join our team to contribute to the growth and success. We are building on a previous process of Product Certification which ensured the delivery of quality products to our customers for 14 of our Tier 1 products and applications. With the addition of a new Internal Developer Portal to our already great tech stack, the opportunity to extend the existing product certification to all H&R Block products, apps and services has arisen and this will enable our organization to achieve even greater heights of success and quality for our customers.   

In addition, our Engineering Team employs some of the top engineering talent who are constantly working to improve processes, quality, and techniques, with the goal of producing the highest quality software solutions in the industry. The Governance team will partner with our squads and principal engineers to enable them to comply with our standards, methodology and recommended best practices.  

Reporting to the Director, we are looking for a Manager, Tech that has a Data Engineering/Data Visualisation background proven leadership experience. The ideal candidate will be a detail-oriented self-starter who enjoys communicating complex concepts to stakeholders at all levels across an organization and who has an in-depth knowledge of the software development lifecycle.  

In this role, you will 

• Lead the governance team, a team of data engineers/analysts to deliver a lens into squad operations, identifying challenges for squads, inefficiencies, roadblocks and knowledge gaps, ultimately clarifying areas of opportunity.  

• Manage project workplan, staffing and resources. Set daily priorities and assign tasks and projects to all team members.

• Monitor performance and develop team members to ensure consistent, effective and efficient processes, as well as comprehensive test plans and reliable test results.

• Develop a deep understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) at Block and underlying information to support leadership and stakeholders make data-driven decisions and continuous process improvements. 

• Collaborate closely with stakeholders on these opportunities to optimize and streamline development and ensure consistency in our practices. 

• Develop project road mapping and update senior management with progress reports as necessary.

• Analyze product changes and provide direction where needed.

• Ensure compliance with expected standards outlined in our Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).   

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of standards and best practice to enable squads and improve the quality of our products.  

• Lead a global team across multiple time-zones, build organization-wide relationships, move initiatives forward and position ideas to enhance the likelihood of success. 

• Consult on complex technical problems and provide creative solutions through a rational problem-solving process.    

Who you are

• Bachelor’s degree qualified in Data Analytics, Computer Science, Information Systems or a related field. 

• Previous IT management experience including people and budget management is essential.

• Capable of working in an Agile/DevOps environment. 

• Solid experience with Azure Dev Ops or similar tools.

• Extensive knowledge of the Software Development Lifecycle.

• Demonstrable project management and project road mapping experience.

What will make you stand out 

• Demonstrated organizational, prioritization, decision-making, analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to confidently consult and recommend quality or policy improvements to squads across the organization 

• Knowledge in Python, SQL, .NET is a plus.

• Experience in object-oriented programming (e.g. C#) also a plus 

• Detail oriented and process driven. 

• Excellent ability to gather, organize, visualize and interpret information. 

• Excellent critical thinking, communication and presentation skills. 

• Excellent problem solving and troubleshooting skills. 

• Enjoy communicating, collaborating, and establishing positive relationships with all levels of an organization. 

• An understanding of Site Reliability Engineering, Platform Engineer, and Cloud team operations (CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, etc).

• Experience with data visualisation tools (eg. PowerBI). 

The behaviours to embrace to help you succeed 

• Craving and solving difficult problems.

• Taking calculated risks.

• Being bold and resilient.

• Being a team player who values building relationships. 

• Ability to lead an international team and work on your own initiative.

• Embracing diversity of thought to drive enriched client experiences with quality products.