Join the Base10 family

Open opportunities with founders believing purpose is key
to profits and companies solving problems for the 99%

Senior Director of Engineering, EU

Handshake

Handshake

Sales & Business Development
Berlin, Germany
Posted on Friday, November 17, 2023

Everyone is welcome at Handshake. We know diverse teams build better products and we are committed to creating an inclusive culture built on a foundation of respect for all individuals. We strongly encourage candidates from non-traditional backgrounds, historically marginalized or underrepresented groups to apply.

Your Impact:

Handshake is hiring a Senior Director of Engineering in Europe reporting directly to Handshake’s CTO.

In this role, you will be overseeing the Europe Engineering arm of Handshake. As we plan to bring our mission of democratizing opportunity to Europe, you will oversee all product development related to our European expansion as well as certain portions of our global product development team. Not only will you be a key leader in driving Handshake’s mission in Germany, France, and the UK, but you will also be responsible for scaling our European Engineering team.

You will also have opportunities to:

  • Work on complex technical challenges and enable millions of job seekers to connect with employers through Handshake’s platform.

  • Oversee a 20+ engineering organization by defining its culture, processes, and operating model, while heavily influencing the broader global Engineering culture.

Your Role:

  • Directly manage a team of Engineering Managers by defining their career development plans, setting specific goals, and motivating them to achieve results as part of their growth.

  • Manage a 20+ person engineering organization by empowering your leaders to build effective, high-functioning teams.

  • Hire a diverse group of managers and engineers in Handshake’s rapidly growing environment while structurally evolving the European Engineering team.

  • Partner closely with key leaders across Handshake, including Design, Product Management, and Customer Success, to define the strategy for success in Europe.

  • Provide guidance and coaching in technical decisions, working with Engineering leaders to define and prioritize an engineering roadmap against product priorities.

  • Represent the European Engineering team’s needs at the Engineering leadership level while helping to roll out processes and programs across all of Engineering as we scale.

  • Lead with empathy as you help us nurture a culture of growth, inclusion, and belonging.

Your Experience:

  • Experience in managing other managers.

  • Proven track record of being able to lead multi-team Engineering organizations by leading and influencing the leaders that report to you.

  • Experience leading within multinational teams

  • Understanding of how to build strong, diverse teams.

  • Background in software engineering and experience building complex, scalable web applications.

  • Ability to understand the team’s overall technical challenges and architecture while quickly being able to understand technical details when problem-solving with the team.

  • Work deeply with your R&D partners (Product, Design, and global Engineering leaders) and cross-functionally with European Go-to-Market leaders.

  • Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.

  • Strong people management skills, focusing on empowering leaders and pushing your teams to strive for excellence.

  • Ability to provide strategic direction to Product, Engineering, and Design to shape the evolution of the product.

  • Passion for helping teams and individuals grow, and a desire to build an inclusive culture and diverse team.

Bonus Areas of Expertise:

  • Experience in the recruitment software industry, multi-marketplace products, or general enterprise software

  • Experience with any of the following technologies:

    • Ruby on Rails

    • Elasticsearch

    • React

    • Typescript

For cash compensation, we set standard ranges for all U.S.-based roles based on function, level, and geographic location, benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. In order to be compliant with local legislation, as well as to provide greater transparency to candidates, we share salary ranges on all job postings regardless of desired hiring location. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including geographic location as well as candidate experience and expertise, and may vary from the amounts listed above.

About us

Handshake is the #1 place to launch a career with no connections, experience, or luck required. The platform connects up-and-coming talent with 750,000+ employers - from Fortune 500 companies like Google, Nike, and Target to thousands of public school districts, healthcare systems, and nonprofits. In 2022 we announced our $200M Series F funding round. This Series F fundraise and valuation of $3.5B will fuel Handshake’s next phase of growth and propel our mission to help more people start, restart, and jumpstart their careers.

When it comes to our workforce strategy, we’ve thought deeply about how work-life should look here at Handshake. With our Hub-Based Remote Working strategy, employees can enjoy the flexibility of remote work, whilst ensuring collaboration and team experiences in a shared space remains possible. Handshake is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver, New York, London, and Berlin and teammates working globally.

Check out our careers site to find a hub near you!

What we offer

Benefits below apply to employees in full-time positions.

At Handshake, we'll give you the tools to feel healthy, happy and secure.

  • 💰 Equity and ownership in a fast-growing company.
  • 🍼 16 Weeks of paid parental leave for birth giving parents & 10 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birth giving parents.
  • 💝 Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision policies including LGTBQ+ Coverage. We also provide resources for Mental Health Assistance, Employee Assistance Programs and counseling support.
  • 💻 Handshake offers $500/£360 home office stipend for you to spend during your first 3 months to create a productive and comfortable workspace at home.
  • 📚 Generous learning & development opportunities and an annual $2,000/£1,500 stipend for you to grow your skills and career.

(US Handshakers)

  • 🏦 401k Match: Handshake offers a dollar-for-dollar match on 1% of deferred salary, up to a maximum of $1,200 per year.
  • 🏝 All full-time US-based Handshakers are eligible for our flexible time off policy to get out and see the world. In addition, we offer 8 standardized holidays, and 2 additional days of flexible holiday time off. Lastly, we have a Winter #ShakeBreak, a one-week period of Collective Time Off.

(UK Handshakers)

  • 🏦 Pension Scheme: Handshake will provide you with a workplace pension, where you will make contributions based on 5% of your salary. Handshake will pay the equivalent of 3% towards your pension plan, subject to qualifying earnings limits.
  • 🏝 Up to 25 days of vacation to encourage people to reset, recharge, and refresh, in addition to 8 bank holidays throughout the year.

For roles based in Berlin and Romania: Please ask your recruiter about region specific benefits.

Looking for more? Explore our mission, values and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.