Many thanks @SaqibHussain and apologies for not responding earlier.
I think I have the Management API working. I’ve tried using the Management API via node.js and I get an “Grant type ‘client_credentials’ not allowed for the client.” A quick look at the documentation and unfortunately it seems like it will be another process of wrapping my head around the documentation / forum responses. This might be an issue for another thread when I can look at it more closely.
The new issue aside, I am still unclear on when I would use the vanilla Management API as against Node Management API Client? If you have any thoughts / comments / links on the topic that would be great.
As always, my thanks for your considered responses.
Edit: regarding the error I encountered above, I found a community post here which suggested a machine-to-machine application needed to be established. Once I did this and updated the relevant environment variables the delete action via the Node Management API Client worked. I will take a look at why this is the case but for now it has advanced where I was at.