Key Skills

Job Description

You have led engineering teams in organisations where roles overlap, mandates are shared and priorities compete, and you still delivered. You fit the framework to the organisation, not the other way round. If that sounds like you, read on. About the role. We are looking for an experienced engineering leader to lead 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 works mainly in Python/Django and React/TypeScript, with some FastAPI services. You will build products together with leading Subject Matter Experts and a dedicated design team. Around 30% of the Pod’s work is for clients, alongside experienced consultants in a Big 4 environment. You will have the room, and the responsibility, to shape how the Pod works and make it one of the strongest teams in the organisation. What you will do. Delivery and accountability Own the delivery, quality and predictability of all work in the Pod, including every project led by a Pod member. Project management stays light and practical. Balance the Pod’s capacity between internal product work and client projects, and agree scope, staffing and expectations with engagement leads and engineering management. Spot risks, dependencies and conflicting priorities early, and resolve them with the right stakeholders. Shape and continuously improve the Pod’s way of working, using Scrum where it helps and adapting it where our context needs something else. Product and stakeholders Work with the Product Owner and design team to turn the expertise of non-technical SMEs into clear priorities and workable increments. Connect domain experts, designers and engineers so that needs, design and build line up. Act as the Pod’s main contact for SMEs, design, product management, leadership and client teams, and report clearly and briefly to senior stakeholders. Technical leadership Be the senior engineer and technical conscience of the Pod: architecture, code quality, testing, security, CI/CD and maintainability. Set and uphold engineering standards across the Django back end and React/TypeScript front end, and stay hands-on enough to review designs and code with credibility. Help guide the architecture of the FastAPI services part of the team builds and runs. Make sound technical trade-offs and explain them to non-technical decision-makers. People and culture Coach engineers on technical skills and on behaviour: ownership, communication, feedback, and working with SMEs and consultants. 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 fully includes colleagues in our near-shoring centres. What you bring. 10+ years of software engineering experience, with strong Python/Django and React/TypeScript skills. You are senior to most of the team and still credible in the code. 3+ years leading engineering teams of 8 or more in an Agile/Scrum setting, with a track record of adapting the framework to real conditions. Experience being accountable for several projects at once, including planning, budgets and status reporting. Experience delivering when product ownership is spread across several parties, such as domain experts, Product Owners and design teams. Experience leading distributed teams, ideally with near-shore or offshore engineers. Experience working with senior consultants or advisers in a professional services firm, ideally Big 4, and splitting a team between internal and client work. The ability to coach people on both technical and non-technical behaviour, and to lead engineers who are stronger than you in specific areas. You lead through trust, clarity and judgement, not hierarchy. Calm, mature leadership. You do not need to be the best engineer in the room to lead it. Excellent English. Nice to have. Experience with FastAPI or other modern async Python frameworks. Dutch Language Life at Sytac Unlimited Growth Days: Paid days off for your professional development! The Best Gear: Pick a private laptop (<€4,000) with 50% paid by us. Invest in You: A €2,400 annual growth budget for training and conferences. Win Together: Referral bonuses from €3,000–€5,000 for bringing talent to the team! Future Proof: We contribute 3.75% to your pension.

Core Responsibilities

Lead a 9–13-person engineering Pod, accountable for delivery, quality, capacity planning, and coordination across internal product work and client projects. Provide hands-on technical leadership, partner with product, design, subject matter experts, and clients, and coach engineers while building an inclusive team culture.

Requirements

Requires 10+ years of software engineering experience, strong Python/Django and React/TypeScript skills, and at least 3 years leading teams of 8 or more in Agile/Scrum environments. Candidates should have experience managing multiple projects and distributed teams, balancing client and internal work, and communicating effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders; excellent English is required.

Benefits

• Paid professional development days
• Private laptop with 50% of the cost covered, up to €4,000
• Annual training and conference budget of €2,400
• Referral bonuses of €3,000–€5,000
• Employer pension contribution of 3.75%