Introduction
- 40 hours per week
- Start: ASAP
- 12 months initial contract
- Extension is possible
- Location: Amsterdam
- Hybrid working
- ZZP/Freelance is not allowed
- Candidates MUST live in Netherlands at this moment
- Dutch speaking is preferred B1 is acceptable
Organization
Lead Software Engineering (Python/Django/React/Typescript)
Function
About the role
We are looking for a seasoned engineering leader to take charge of one of our product development Pods for a fixed period. The Pod has 9 to 13 engineers, including colleagues in our near-shoring centres, and is built mainly on Python/Django and React/TypeScript, with some FastAPI services alongside. It builds products with leading Subject Matter Experts and a dedicated design team, and part of its work is for clients alongside experienced consultants in a Big 4 environment.
This role is for someone who has led teams in the real world, not by the textbook. You know that good delivery comes from fitting the framework to the organisation, not the other way round. You are comfortable owning results where roles overlap, mandates are shared and priorities compete. You will have the room, and the responsibility, to shape how the Pod works and to make it one of the strongest teams in the organisation.
Requirements
Delivery and accountability
Own the delivery, quality and predictability of everything that runs in your Pod. That includes every project led by a Pod member: you are accountable for the result, while project management itself stays light and practical.
Split the Pod’s capacity between internal product work and client projects (about 30%). Agree scope, staffing and expectations with client project engagement leads and engineering team management.
Spot delivery risks, dependencies and conflicting priorities early, and settle them with the right stakeholders.
Shape and keep improving the Pod’s way of working, using Scrum where it helps and adapting it where our context calls for that.
Product and stakeholders
Work in a setting where product knowledge sits mainly with SMEs outside the team. Together with the Product Owner and the design team, turn their expertise into clear priorities and workable increments.
Act as the bridge between domain experts who are not technical, designers and engineers, so that needs, design and build connect smoothly.
Be the Pod’s main point of contact for SMEs, the design team, product management, leadership and client teams. Report clearly and briefly to senior stakeholders.
Technical leadership
Act as the senior engineer and technical conscience of the Pod: architecture, code quality, testing, security, CI/CD and maintainability.
Set and uphold engineering standards across our core Django back end and React/TypeScript front end, and stay hands-on enough to review designs and code with credibility. You will also help guide the architecture of the FastAPI services that part of the team builds and runs.
Make sound technical trade-offs and explain them to non-technical decision-makers.
People and coaching
Coach engineers on technical skills and on behaviour: ownership, communication, feedback, and working with SMEs and consultants.
Comfortable being accountable for several projects at once, including planning, budgets and status reporting. Mature, calm leadership. You do not need to be the best engineer in the room to lead it.
Take part in hiring, onboarding and performance and development conversations.
Build an open, safe team culture that fits the direct, consensus-minded Dutch workplace and integrates team members in our near-shoring centers.
What we are looking for
At least 10 years of software engineering experience, with strong experience in Python and Django plus React/TypeScript, and a track record of leading engineering teams. You are senior to most of the team and still credible in the code.
Nice to have: experience with FastAPI or other modern async Python frameworks.
At least 3 years leading engineering teams of 8 or more people in an Agile/Scrum setting, with a track record of adapting the framework to real conditions.
Experience delivering with product ownership spread across several parties, for example domain experts, Product Owners and design or UX teams, and still getting clear priorities and steady delivery.
Experience leading distributed teams, ideally including near-shore or offshore engineers.
Experience working with senior consultants or advisers in a professional services firm, ideally Big 4, and comfortable splitting a team between internal and client work.
Proven ability to coach engineers on technical and non-technical behaviour, and to lead people who are stronger than you in specific areas. You lead through trust, clarity and judgement, not hierarchy.
Excellent English. Dutch is a strong plus.
- DM for rates and terms