Platform Technical Lead (Order Management & Fulfilment)

About the Role

Location: Paddigton or Newbury (Hybrid) 

We design, build and operate the digital and technology capabilities that power Vodafone's next-generation products and services. We provide the cloud-native engineering foundations, reusable platform capabilities, APIs, integrations and secure digital services that enable rapid, scalable delivery across multiple customer journeys, propositions and markets.  
Joining us means shaping the platforms, engineering practices and technology capabilities that underpin Vodafone's future growth. Our engineering teams leverage AI-native engineering practices to accelerate how software is analysed, designed, developed, tested and delivered, enabling faster delivery of high-quality solutions whilst maintaining strong governance, security and engineering discipline.  
The Platform Technical Lead – Order Management & Fulfilment is a senior technical and people leader responsible for defining, governing and evolving Vodafone's Order Management & Fulfilment (OM&F) capability across multiple squads and delivery streams.  
The role acts as Vodafone's recognised technical authority for the Order-to-Fulfilment domain, providing leadership across Product Ordering, Service Ordering, Order Decomposition, Order Orchestration, Fulfilment, Provisioning and Service Activation capabilities.  Working across Product, Architecture, Engineering, Network, Security and Operations teams, the Platform Technical Lead ensures solutions align with TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA), TM Forum Open APIs, Vodafone engineering standards and long-term platform strategy.  
The role combines deep telecommunications domain expertise with engineering leadership, specification governance and technical strategy, ensuring business intent can be translated into scalable, reusable and AI-native platform capabilities.  

Given the responsibilities outlined above, the role includes:  

-Providing technical and domain leadership across Vodafone's Order Management & Fulfilment capability.  
-Leading multiple engineering squads delivering Order-to-Fulfilment capabilities.  
-Defining domain standards, implementation approaches and engineering guardrails.  
-Driving adoption of AI-native and specification-driven software delivery practices.  
-Establishing TM Forum-aligned architecture, integration patterns and delivery approaches.  
-Leading transformation of business requirements into structured, reusable and machine-readable specifications.  
-Building and developing high-performing engineering teams and telecommunications domain capability.  
-Influencing strategic platform, engineering and investment decisions

What you’ll do

• Own the technical strategy, engineering direction and evolution roadmap for the Order Management & Fulfilment domain.  
• Define and govern technical standards, implementation approaches and engineering practices across the OM&F stream.  
• Provide leadership across Product Ordering, Service Ordering, Order Decomposition, Order Orchestration, Fulfilment, Provisioning and Service Activation capabilities.  
• Establish domain guardrails aligned to Vodafone architecture principles and TM Forum standards.  
• Act as Vodafone's senior subject matter expert for OM&F processes, operational workflows and telecommunications fulfilment capabilities.  
• Ensure solutions align with TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and relevant TMF Open APIs.  
• Define how business intent is translated into structured, implementation-ready specifications supporting AI-native software delivery.  
• Ensure specifications are complete, unambiguous, reusable and suitable for machine-assisted development approaches.  
• Lead technical governance, design assurance and delivery reviews across the stream.  
• Resolve major technical risks, integration issues and delivery challenges.  
• Drive engineering productivity, quality and delivery effectiveness through adoption of AI-native delivery approaches.  
• Build engineering capability through leadership, coaching, mentoring, succession planning and capability development.  
• Shape technology strategy, platform evolution and engineering roadmaps across the Order-to-Fulfilment domain.  
• Partner with Product, Architecture, Network, Security and Operations teams to ensure alignment between business priorities and engineering execution. 

Who you are

• Engineering Leadership – Ability to influence technical direction across multiple engineering teams whilst building a culture of accountability, ownership and engineering excellence. 
• Order Management & Fulfilment Expertise – Deep understanding of telecommunications Order Management & Fulfilment processes, including Product Ordering, Service Ordering, Order Decomposition, Order Orchestration, Fulfilment, Provisioning and Service Activation. 
• TM Forum Expertise – Strong understanding of TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA), Open APIs and telecommunications industry best practices, with the ability to drive adoption across engineering teams and platform capabilities. 
• AI-Native Engineering – Strong understanding of AI-native software delivery practices and how AI can be applied throughout the software development lifecycle to improve engineering productivity, quality and delivery outcomes. 
• Technical Excellence – Deep expertise in cloud-native architectures, APIs, integrations, distributed systems, platform engineering and modern software delivery practices. 
• Specification-Driven Delivery – Ability to translate business intent, requirements and product strategy into structured, implementation-ready specifications that support AI-native and machine-assisted software delivery approaches. 
• People Leadership – Proven experience building, leading and developing high-performing engineering teams through coaching, performance management, capability development and succession planning. 
• Strategic Thinking & Influence – Ability to shape domain strategy, platform evolution and engineering roadmaps whilst effectively influencing Product, Business, Architecture, Engineering and senior stakeholder communities. 

Must have technical/professional qualifications:

• 10+ years telecommunications, OSS/BSS, digital platform or software engineering experience.  
• 5+ years in senior technical leadership, architecture leadership or engineering leadership roles.  
• Recognised subject matter expertise in telecommunications Order Management & Fulfilment processes and system design.  
• Deep understanding of TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) principles and TM Forum Open APIs.  
• Strong knowledge of Product Order, Service Order, Product Catalogue and related TMF Open APIs.  
• Experience designing and delivering Order-to-Fulfilment capabilities within telecommunications environments.  
• Proven experience defining technical standards and delivery approaches across multiple engineering teams.  
• Strong experience translating business requirements into structured technical and functional specifications.  
• Experience leading greenfield platform initiatives and operating effectively within high-ambiguity environments.  
• Experience with specification-driven, model-driven or AI-native software delivery approaches.  
• Deep understanding of APIs, integration platforms, event-driven architectures and telecommunications operational processes.  
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent practical experience.