VP of Engineering

Title: VP of Engineering

Location: Germany

Working Model: Fully Remote

Employment: Full-time

Salary: circa €145,000 + Equity

Start Date: ASAP / 3-month notice period considered

Our client is an established Series A scale-up operating at the forefront of developer infrastructure and developer experience. They build high-performance tooling designed to simplify complex systems and empower modern software engineering teams.

Having already cultivated a high-calibre engineering organisation composed primarily of Senior, Staff, and Principal engineers, they are now seeking a Head of Engineering / VP of Engineering to lead and scale the function through its next phase of growth.

The Role

Reporting directly to executive leadership, the VP of Engineering will take operational ownership of a talented, highly senior engineering function. The team currently stands at 16 engineers, with plans to grow. You will directly line-manage 4 senior technical leaders while establishing the structures, processes, and leadership needed to scale the broader team from its current size up to 30–50 engineers.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineering Leadership: Line manage, mentor, and empower a team of engineers, providing strategic direction while fostering an autonomous, high-trust engineering culture.
• Scaling & Organisation Design: Lead the deliberate, sustainable expansion of the engineering function from ~18 towards 30+ heads, introducing light-touch governance and operational discipline without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Technical Credibility: Serve as a high-level technical sounding board and sparring partner for senior engineers across system architecture, developer infrastructure, and platform delivery. We are looking for experienced leaders who enjoy still being heavily involved in design & architecture and are genuinely drawn to complex technical problems.
• Delivery & Operational Excellence: Refine delivery workflows, unblock engineering bottlenecks, and ensure high-velocity execution across core engineering initiatives.

Essential Experience

• 8+ Years in Engineering: A strong, hands-on technical foundation with a proven transition into engineering management and executive-level leadership.
• Proven Scaling Track Record: Demonstrated success leading and scaling engineering teams within the 15–50 head range (specifically within high-growth startup or scale-up environments).
• Technical Depth: Deep technical expertise capable of commanding respect and driving alignment with Staff and Principal engineers.
• Refined Leadership & Communication: Exceptional communication skills with clear, battle-tested lessons learned from navigating previous organizational scaling challenges.

Desirable Experience

• Background in developer tooling, DevEx, platform engineering, or building products specifically for developer audiences.
• Familiarity or technical background with Golang (the role is fundamentally tech-agnostic, but Go experience is a plus).
• History of open-source contributions or experience maintaining public code repositories.

What Is Offered

• Fully remote working arrangement.
• Opportunity to lead an exceptionally strong, senior-heavy engineering team at a pivotal scaling stage.
• Equity

If this sounds like the right challenge, let's talk 😊