Senior Director of Engineering

We are partnering with a fast-growing global technology company that is building a Center of Excellence (COE) for Engineering in Warsaw, Poland, and we are looking for a Senior Director of Engineering / Site Leader to lead this strategic hub. This is a high-impact engineering leadership role combining deep technical leadership, organizational strategy, people development, and site ownership.

As the most Senior Sngineering Leader in Warsaw, you will help shape the future of the local engineering organization, from talent strategy and organizational design to engineering excellence, delivery, culture, and long-term growth.
You will act as both the Engineering Leader and Operational Leader of the Warsaw site, working closely with global Engineering, Product, Data, Security, Design, and executive leadership.

Employment Type: UoP
Location: Warsaw / Remote

What you will do:

 Site Leadership & Strategy

• Act as the senior engineering leader and operational lead for the Warsaw site.
• Help define and execute the long-term strategy for the Warsaw Engineering Center of Excellence.
• Partner with global Engineering and Executive Leadership on organizational development and site strategy.
• Help scale the Warsaw organization thoughtfully through hiring plans, organizational design, and capability development.
• Establish strong operational rhythms across engineering teams, including planning, delivery reviews, performance measurement, and organizational health.
• Represent the Warsaw engineering organization internally and strengthen its presence within the local technology market.
• Help define what a high-performing engineering organization in Warsaw should look like.

Engineering Leadership & Delivery

• Provide strong technical leadership across multiple engineering teams building complex, scalable SaaS and platform-based systems.
• Ensure engineering teams consistently deliver high-quality, reliable, scalable, and maintainable software.
• Establish and promote consistent engineering practices, development workflows, and delivery standards.
• Drive improvements in engineering execution, operational excellence, and delivery predictability.
• Champion modern engineering practices and developer productivity.
• Explore and promote the effective use of AI-assisted development, internal tooling, and platform capabilities to improve engineering workflows.
• Help solve complex technical and organizational challenges with a pragmatic, business-oriented approach.

Talent, Culture & Organization

• Build, attract, develop, and retain a high-performing engineering organization in Warsaw.
• Define and maintain a strong engineering culture based on ownership, collaboration, trust, and continuous improvement.
• Mentor and develop Engineering Managers, senior engineers, and future engineering leaders.
• Strengthen leadership capabilities across the organization.
• Create an environment where engineers can grow, take ownership, and perform at their best.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition and leadership teams on hiring strategy and organizational growth.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Product, Design, Data, Security, and Engineering leadership across multiple regions.
• Ensure the Warsaw organization remains aligned with global engineering priorities and business objectives.
• Build strong relationships with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Help bridge local engineering execution with global product and business strategy.

Metrics, Performance & Operational Excellence

• Define and monitor engineering metrics around:Delivery and executionSoftware qualityEngineering productivityReliability and operational effectivenessTeam engagement and organizational health
  • Delivery and execution
  • Software quality
  • Engineering productivity
  • Reliability and operational effectiveness
  • Team engagement and organizational health
• Provide clear visibility into engineering performance, progress, risks, and organizational needs.
• Use data and measurable outcomes to identify areas for improvement and drive organizational change.

Requirements:

Technical & Engineering Leadership

• Strong engineering background with significant technical depth, you are an engineering leader first and foremost.
• Proven experience leading multiple engineering teams, rather than a single small team.
• Experience building and operating complex software products, platforms, or enterprise SaaS systems.
• Strong understanding of software engineering practices, architecture, scalability, reliability, maintainability, and operational excellence.
• Ability to engage in meaningful technical discussions with senior engineers and architects while operating at an executive/strategic level.

Organizational Leadership

• Proven track record of scaling engineering organizations while maintaining quality, delivery standards, and healthy culture.
• Experience working with Engineering Managers and senior technical leaders.
• Strong understanding of organizational design, engineering processes, and delivery models.
• Demonstrated ability to improve engineering execution and operational effectiveness.

Industry Experience

Experience in one or more of the following environments:

• SaaS
• MarTech
• AdTech
• Enterprise software
• Platform technology
• Other modern, high-scale technology products

Leadership & Communication

• Strong people leadership and talent development skills.
• A genuine interest in building strong engineering teams and developing future leaders.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to work effectively with both technical and business stakeholders.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Comfortable operating in a global, distributed organization.
• Strategic thinker who can also get close enough to the details to understand and solve complex problems.

Developer Productivity & Modern Engineering

• Understanding of modern software development practices and engineering productivity.
• Interest in the impact of AI and developer tooling on engineering organizations.
• Ability to identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency through tooling, automation, platforms, and modern development approaches.

Nice to have:

• Previous experience building or scaling an Engineering Center of Excellence or engineering site.
• Experience as a Site Leader, Engineering Site Director, VP/Senior Director of Engineering, or similar senior engineering leadership position.
• Experience working within large distributed/global engineering organizations.
• Previous leadership experience in Poland or Central & Eastern Europe.
• Experience establishing a new engineering hub or significantly scaling an existing one.
• Exposure to developer platforms, internal engineering tooling, or AI-assisted development workflows.
• Experience working with enterprise SaaS or products operating at significant scale.

What you can expect:

• Work with talented, collaborative, and international engineering teams.
• Strong learning and professional development opportunities.
• 26 days of vacation, plus floating and set holidays.
• Wellness allowance.
• Paid parental leave.
• Medical, life, and business travel insurance.
• Stock options / equity participation.
• Home-office and internet/phone allowances.
• Professional development and tuition reimbursement.
• Mental wellness support.
• Additional company-funded perks and meal opportunities.
• A flexible working model combining remote and in-person collaboration.