Development Manager, AI Transformation & Innovation

Overview

This is a high-impact role with a mandate to change how Quest builds software, operates as a business, and innovates its product portfolio.

You will lead a team of ten software engineers, data scientists and data engineers across three connected areas:

• AI-first software development: Roll out and continuously improve an AI-first development lifecycle (AI-DLC) across Quest Engineering.

• Business transformation: Lead data science and engineering initiatives with the CIO, Finance and other functions to automate processes and turn Quest’s data into actionable insight.

• Innovation: Build and validate AI-driven prototypes that can differentiate Quest and be adopted across the product portfolio.

The team will have scope to grow as it demonstrates impact, creating an opportunity for the role to expand significantly.

Responsibilities

1) AI-first software development

• Lead the design, rollout and adoption of AI-DLC across Quest Engineering, working with development leaders across locations and portfolios.

• Drive adoption through practical workflows, playbooks, onboarding, champions and hands-on support.

• Establish responsible-use guardrails covering quality, security, licensing, IP and data.

• Continuously evolve the approach as AI models and tooling develop.

• Manage AI consumption and budget, including monitoring, model selection, routing and cost controls.

• Measure and report engineering productivity and team health using metrics such as throughput, cycle time, quality, defects and engineer experience.

• Build a high-performance team with clear accountability and a strong reputation across engineering.

2) Data science and business transformation

• Own a roadmap of AI and automation initiatives across the business, prioritising opportunities based on value and capacity.

• Partner with the CIO, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success and Product to identify and deliver high-value use cases.

• Turn Quest’s existing data into commercially useful insight, including initiatives such as customer churn and propensity modelling.

• Build the data engineering foundations required to scale this work, including pipelines, data quality, governance and access.

• Ensure models and insights influence real business decisions rather than becoming standalone analyses or dashboards.

• Manage privacy, security and compliance considerations in partnership with the relevant functions.

3) Innovation

• Lead a small, fast-moving prototyping capability focused on commercially meaningful innovation.

• Identify, prototype and validate AI use cases for the Quest product portfolio.

• Prioritise reusable capabilities that can benefit multiple products.

• Work with Product and Architecture to create a clear path from successful prototype to product adoption.

• Stop initiatives that do not demonstrate sufficient value and continuously monitor the external technology and competitive landscape.

Qualifications

Essential

• Experience leading a team of 8–10 software developers using an AI-first development methodology.

• 5–8 years’ experience as a first-line manager.

• Degree in Computer Science or a related discipline.

• Strong technical credibility across software engineering and/or data science.

• Experience working with multiple stakeholders across a business.

• Track record of building and leading high-performing teams.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, including presenting to senior leadership and non-technical audiences.

Preferred

• Experience managing or working closely with data scientists and data engineers.

• Understanding of AI development economics, including token consumption, model selection and cost management.

• Experience with engineering productivity metrics such as DORA.

• Experience delivering machine learning or data science solutions into production.

• Experience with enterprise data platforms, pipelines and governance.

• Experience leading organisational change without direct authority.

• Enterprise software or B2B SaaS experience.

• Experience building and scaling a team from a small starting point.

What success looks like in the first 12 months

• AI-DLC: Adopted beyond the pilot, with repeatable enablement for new teams.

• Productivity: Trusted data demonstrates the health and productivity of engineering teams and identifies measurable improvement.

• Cost control: AI consumption is visible, understood and managed within budget.

• Business transformation: A prioritised roadmap is in place and initial initiatives are delivering measurable value.

• Customer insight: Data-driven insights, including churn propensity, are being used to influence business decisions.

• Innovation: At least one prototype has been successfully adopted by a product team, ideally across multiple products.

• Team: The team is high-performing, accountable and well regarded, with a clear case for growth.

Leadership attributes

We are looking for someone who:

• Is comfortable operating in ambiguity and shaping the role through execution.

• Influences effectively without direct authority.

• Is commercially minded and treats budget and AI consumption with discipline.

• Uses evidence to make decisions and changes course when the data demands it.

• Prioritises ruthlessly and is comfortable saying no.

• Develops technically strong people and enjoys building high-performing teams.

• Is ambitious for impact and earns increased scope through results.

Why Quest Software… Quest Software helps organisations around the world manage and secure their data & IT environments and get more value from them. This role sits at the centre of how Quest is changing — the way we build software, the way we run the business, and the innovations that will differentiate our products. It starts with a team of ten and a broad mandate, and it grows on the strength of what you deliver.