Engineering Operations Manager
At Arbor, we're on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better.
We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesn't mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff, and where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day.
Our School Management Tools are already making a difference in over 9,000 schools and trusts. Giving time and power back to staff, turning data into clear, actionable insights, and supporting happier working days.
At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today aren't just about efficiency, outputs and productivity - but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education everyday : the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work, as well as learn.
About the Role
We are looking for a highly strategic and experienced Engineering Operations Manager to help bring operational excellence, data-driven insights, and consistency across Arbor's growing engineering organisation.
This role will act as the operational backbone of our engineering function, responsible for tooling governance, access management, engineering metrics, and process coordination. You'll ensure engineers have the right tools, data, and support to work efficiently, securely, and consistently across our platform and product teams.
You will collaborate closely with Engineering Leadership, Platform, and DevSecOps to align systems, automate workflows, and deliver high-quality reporting and operational support to enable better decision-making.
Core responsibilities
Tooling Administration & Governance
- Manage and maintain key engineering tools (e.g. GitHub, Atlassian suite, Snyk, LaunchDarkly, CI / CD platforms), ensuring consistent configuration and access across teams.
- Administer onboarding / offboarding processes for engineers, ensuring consistent identity and permissions across systems (SSO, SCIM, role-based access).
- Maintain an up-to-date inventory of engineering tools, licences, and integrations.
Metrics, Reporting & Data Operations
Develop and maintain dashboards that provide visibility into engineering productivity, velocity, and quality (e.g. DORA metrics, AI adoption, release cadence).Partner with the Head of Developer Productivity to track progress against key metrics and report outcomes to leadership.Aggregate and analyse data from multiple systems (e.g. GitHub, Jira, CI / CD, Snowflake) to drive decision-making and continuous improvement.Own data hygiene and consistency across tooling integrations to ensure reporting accuracy.Process & Operational Enablement
Working with Engineering Leadership, coordinate engineering-wide processes (e.g. team onboarding, tool provisioning, change management, and incident response reviews).Maintain and publish operational documentation, playbooks, and checklists for internal tools and workflows.Support engineering managers in alignment of ways-of-working (WoW) across teams to ensure consistent, predictable delivery practices.Collaborate with Finance and Procurement to track and forecast tool costs and licence utilisation.Engineering Leadership Support & Operations Coordination
Partner with the VP Engineering and other senior leaders to deliver monthly operational reports, including key metrics, resourcing updates, and productivity insights.Coordinate weekly engineering updates to ensure visibility of progress, blockers, and key initiatives across teams.Support the organisation of engineering offsites, all-hands, and quarterly reviews, ensuring alignment on goals and strategic priorities.Act as a key liaison between leadership, People, and Finance functions to maintain accurate organisational data and facilitate communication across the department.Contribute to the planning and execution of key engineering initiatives, tracking milestones and dependencies.