Vice President of Software Engineering

Head of Engineering (f/m/x) Hamburg · Onsite Leadership Role Lead the leaders. Scale the system. Own the standard.

We’re partnering with a fast-scaling Hamburg-based tech company operating high-traffic, distributed systems in a competitive global consumer environment.

The engineering organisation is strong — mid to senior level talent, backend-heavy, performance-driven.

Now it needs a leader above the Engineering Managers. Someone who can scale the organisation, raise the technical bar, and take ownership of execution while the CTO focuses on long-term strategy.

Your Mission You will:

Own engineering delivery, quality, and performance standards.

Drive organisational clarity, structure, and accountability.

Act as the bridge between CTO strategy and engineering execution.

What You’ll Own Engineering Leadership at Scale

Manage and develop Engineering Managers.

Standardise performance management and feedback culture.

Shape org design as the team scales from 14 to 20+ engineers.

Ensure hiring quality remains high.

You multiply impact through leaders.

Technical Excellence

Set architectural direction across backend-heavy, distributed systems.

Ensure systems scale reliably under high load.

Maintain credibility with senior engineers and EMs.

Step into complex technical discussions when needed.

You don’t need to code daily — but you must understand the system deeply. Hands‑on mindset. High technical bar.

Delivery & Operational Performance

Own velocity, predictability, and execution quality.

Improve cross‑team collaboration (Product, Data, BI, Design).

Ensure reliability across AWS/Kubernetes infrastructure.

Bring structure to a fast‑moving, competitive environment.

Technical Environment

Python (FastAPI), growing Golang services

Distributed systems at scale

Who This Is For

Former strong engineers who scaled into leadership.

Leaders who have managed Engineering Managers before.

People comfortable operating at system and organisational level.

High‑agency operators who prefer ownership over hierarchy.

Leaders who raise standards without killing autonomy.

Why This Role Is Interesting

Mature engineering team — no juniors.

Real production scale.

Strong ownership culture.

Direct impact on org structure and technical direction.

Opportunity to take over part of the CTO’s operational load.

You’re not inheriting chaos. You’re scaling something that already performs.

If you want to build an engineering organisation that competes at the top — not just maintain one — this is your role.

#J-18808-Ljbffr