Director of Engineering

We're currently in a growth phase and looking for people who can join us as soon as possible.

**Who are we?**

Kittl isn't just another design platform; we're here to transform the way creators work. Since day one, our mission has been clear: make designing easy and intuitive and present a real competitor to cumbersome professional-grade tools. Kittl has already attracted over 2 million users and facilitated the creation of more than 10 million designs.

Our growth relies on two things: our talented team and our relentless focus on execution. Our diverse crew of 50+ from 19+ countries drives our global impact. As we expand, we're searching for smart minds who love crafting great products, rethinking norms, and simplifying complexity. Join one of the hottest start-ups in graphic design and enjoy a very open, transparent, and performance-driven company culture with a fast and agile development cycle.

**Your role at Kittl**

As the Director of Engineering, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the engineering organisation. Up until now, our CTO single-handedly managed the whole engineering org, but as we scale, we need to adapt. You will take over approximately 10 direct reports (depends on when you’ll join) who are split between 3 different cross functional teams.

You will stay close to your teams and help them with managing delivery, scoping, coaching them on how to work better in a cross functional team. You’ll also partner closely with Product and Marketing teams to manage engineering capacity and delivery.

**What you’ll do**
- Support the CTO in developing and communicating a clear engineering vision and strategy aligned with the company's overall goals
- Lead and inspire a high-performing engineering team, providing guidance, mentorship, and development opportunities
- Recruit and retain top engineering talent, fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional growth
- Partner closely with the recruiting team to build a lean and effective engineering hiring machine
- Act as a key liaison between the engineering team and executive leadership, providing regular updates on progress and addressing concerns
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and integration of engineering efforts with other business functions, especially Product and Marketing
- Oversee the end-to-end product development lifecycle, from ideation to deployment, ensuring timely and high-quality deliverables
- Drive innovation by staying up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices, and incorporate them into our development processes

**What you’ll need**
- Minimum 3 years of experience of managing software engineering teams and at least 8 years of professional engineering experience
- Track record of successfully building and scaling engineering teams, and delivering complex projects in a fast-paced environment
- Strong technical background with expertise in software development, architecture, and systems design
- Proficiency in programming languages (ideally TypeScript in React/node.js stack) and familiarity with modern development frameworks
- Exceptional leadership and team management skills, with strong experience hiring engineering talent
- Ability to think strategically and align technical decisions with business goals
- Experience working with B2C SaaS products is a nice to have

**Benefits**
- Urban Sports Club membership discount
- Mobility benefit: monthly public transport (BVG) ticket fully covered by the company
- German language courses subsidised by the company
- 30 vacation days per year for all employees
- An allowance of 10 weeks per year of fully remote work from anywhere in the world, as long as you maintain core working hours (12pm to 5pm CET)
- We have a hybrid setup with office and work-from-home days so that we can foster a nice culture and in-person collaboration when needed
- Core working hours are 12pm to 5pm CET, with the rest of your working time being flexible so you can work in a style that suits you best (early riser or a night owl)
- You'll be working with a truly product-led company with PM's, engineers and designers at the heart of the company
- Regular team events and offsites
- At Kittl, we embrace diversity and value every team member's unique background, identity, and experience. We're all about respect, honesty, and inclusivity. Together, we create a safe and supportive work environment where everyone thrives. Join us on this exciting journey of making our company and product even better_