Head of Platform Development NEW

Manchester, Lancashire
Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG

At Bauer Media, millions of listeners engage with our content every day across mobile apps, websites, connected devices, voice assistants and in-car experiences. Behind every stream, recommendation, login and interaction sits a platform engineering team responsible for powering those experiences at scale.

You will be joining our Product Engineering function within Technology & AI, a highly skilled group of engineers who build and operate the backend services that underpin Bauer’s digital audio ecosystem. The team is made up of passionate engineers who care deeply about quality, continuous learning and delivering meaningful customer outcomes.

The Difference You Will Make

This is one of the most influential engineering leadership roles within Bauer’s digital business.

As Head of Platform Development, you will lead the engineering teams responsible for the core backend platforms powering our consumer products across audio streaming, web, mobile and connected devices. You will inherit a talented team of around 20 engineers and leaders, shaping the direction, operating model and long-term capability of the function.

Your Role

Responsibilities Include

• Leading, mentoring and developing a team of approximately 20 platform engineers and engineering leaders.
• Creating a high-performance engineering culture focused on delivery, quality and continuous improvement.
• Partnering closely with Product, Delivery and Technology leaders.
• Providing technical leadership across roadmap planning and strategic initiatives.
• Championing operational excellence, reliability and platform performance.
• Ensuring secure, resilient and scalable backend services.
• Owning recruitment, succession planning and capability development.

The Skills You Will Bring

• Previous Head of Development, Head of Platform Development or similar leadership experience.
• Strong backend engineering or platform development background.
• Proven leadership of software engineering teams.
• Experience operating within Agile environments.
• Technical credibility with senior engineers.
• Media, streaming or audio industry experience.
• Experience with high-scale, high-volume platforms.
• AWS, APIs, microservices and cloud-native environments.
• Interest in AI and emerging technologies.

Working Pattern / Location

Manchester Permanent Hybrid – 1-2 days per week in the office.

What’s in it for you

• Access to Bauer Academy for personal development
• Enhanced Maternity/Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Leave Pay

About Bauer Media Group

We are a media business focused on creating content that matters to millions of people across Europe. Our offering extends from print and online publishing to audio broadcasting and entertainment, alongside investments in other media related sectors. With more than 500 million copies sold each year, we are one of Europe’s largest Publishers. From women’s and celebrities’ magazines to TV listings to food and special interest, we own some of the most popular publishing brands in Germany, UK, Poland and France – both digital and print. But not only that. Reaching over 61 million listeners weekly, we operate over 150 radio and podcast brands in nine countries, spanning the UK, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Portugal. Family-owned in the 5th generation, Bauer Media focuses on the long-term, with a consumer-first mindset that guides us across our diverse portfolio. Our workforce of 12,000 shares a common purpose: to deliver content and services that enrich people’s everyday lives.

What’s in it for you

• You’ll have 28 days holiday, bank holidays & 2 volunteer days to use.
• Your development matters, so access to our internal training provider – Bauer Academy, is a huge win.
• We have enhanced Maternity/Adoption, Paternity and Shared Parental Leave Pay.
• You’ll have the opportunity for flexible working.
• And much more! Find the full details of our benefits here

We are an international employer and equal opportunities are important to us. That’s why we welcome everyone in their uniqueness, regardless of e.g. religion, gender, skin color, disability in our house.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or a long term health condition, and need us to make any reasonable adjustments or do anything differently during any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing

We are actively recruiting for this position, so the job advert may close earlier than expected.

If you have any feedback regarding our UK recruitment process, please email we would love to hear from you.