We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Director of Software Engineering to lead, scale, and actively shape a high-impact engineering team responsible for critical platform transformation and network monitoring capabilities.
In this role, you will take full end-to-end ownership of core engineering initiatives—driving our modern architecture strategy (.NET Core 9+, distributed systems, cross-platform performance), fostering AI-assisted development workflows, and leading high-performing software engineers. Crucially, this is a hands-on leadership role: you will remain directly engaged in the technical work, actively contributing to the product codebase, shaping system architecture, and co-authoring the strategic product roadmap alongside product management.
YOUR TASKS
Technical Strategy & Hands-on Contribution
- Active Technical Contribution: Contribute directly to the product codebase, core architecture design, and technical proof-of-concepts, leading by example in clean code and modern engineering practices.
- Roadmap & Product Co-Ownership: Partner closely with product management to define, refine, and execute the product and technical roadmap.
- AI & Modern Tooling: Validate and champion AI-assisted development workflows (evaluating tooling, prompt engineering, and code validation standards) within the team's daily coding workflow.
- Architecture & Standards: Ensure rigorous quality, security, and performance standards across high-throughput backend services while making pragmatic build-vs-buy decisions.
Initiative & Delivery Ownership
- Own end-to-end delivery of strategic engineering programs: scope, timeline, quality, and stakeholder alignment.
- Drive technical initiatives from current build phases through full production deployment.
- Establish robust governance frameworks, quality gates, and decision-making processes across teams.
- Navigate cross-functional dependencies, eliminate blockers, and manage scope deliberately to balance velocity with delivery discipline.
Team Leadership & Culture
- Build, scale, and mentor a world-class engineering organization comprising software architects, .NET developers, and domain specialists.
- Refine hiring strategies to recruit top-tier talent adept at modern programming practices and AI-assisted engineering.
- Foster a culture of technical experimentation balanced with operational discipline, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing.
Stakeholder Management
- Align engineering, product, and executive leadership on technical priorities, roadmap execution, and resource allocation.
- Translate complex technical architectural concepts into clear business value for executive stakeholders.
YOUR PROFILE
Must-Have Qualifications
- Experience: 15+ years of total software engineering experience, with 8+ years in engineering leadership positions (Director, Head of Engineering, or Senior Engineering Manager).
- Hands-on Leadership: Strong desire and ability to remain hands-on with code, system design, and technical problem-solving alongside people management.
- Delivery Track Record: Proven experience directing large-scale technical transformations, platform extractions, or complex system migration programs.
- Team Building: Demonstrated success in scaling engineering teams—hiring, coaching, performance management, and career development.
- Architectural Judgment: Deep technical background in compiled languages and distributed systems, with the ability to make sound architectural trade-offs under tight constraints and ambiguity.
- Business Acumen: Ability to connect technical roadmaps to business outcomes and communicate effectively with non-technical executive leadership.
Nice-to-Have Experience
- Background in legacy modernization, language/framework migrations, or large-scale refactoring.
- Hands-on familiarity with modern AI coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude).
- Experience or background in compiled/high-performance systems languages (e.g., Rust, C++, .NET/C#, or Delphi).
- Domain experience in B2B software, network/IoT monitoring systems, infrastructure tools, or time-series data platforms.
FACTS FOR YOU
- Many possibilities to further develop your individual skillset
- Innovative and creative work environment with plenty of room for new ideas
- A structured onboarding phase with experienced colleagues
- Flexible working hours and a family-friendly environment
- Permanent employment contract
- A great working atmosphere in an enthusiastic international team with flat hierarchies
- Paessler is a fast-growing midsized company that has been in the market for 20 years. The company is focused on long-term goals and is currently comprised of 400+ employees