Head of Engineering

The organisation

Lab Digital B.V. is a software engineering agency within the information technology and services industry. The company was founded in 2015 by Niels Smits and Pim Vernooij. Lab Digital is an expert in website development and application design. The company is located in Utrecht and currently has 70 FTE employees, of which 50 are permanent employees. Together they are involved in digital technology. Lab Digital specializes in high-end software development, open source and cloud-native technology and UX/Design.

Lab Digital has (international) collaborations with large companies in various branches. Think of Ahold, Danone, Frasers Group, Mars, Heineken and Glen Dimplex. In addition, it works closely with partners such as Commercetools, Amplience, Contentful, AWS and Azure. The company was also named third this year in Emerce's top 100 best e-business companies of 2021.

The company has grown strongly in recent years, with the focus always being on building a good culture. At Lab Digital, they see that large organizations are increasingly focusing on e-commerce through Direct to Consumer programs and want to realize stacks with modern technology in which cloud-native and composable architecture is an important spearhead. This is Lab Digital's core competency and Lab Digital is also seen internationally as an important player and director. Due to these developments, Lab Digital expects to continue to grow rapidly in the future.

The position

Due to this rapid growth, Lab Digital is looking for a Head of Engineering. This is a new position. For detailed information, please visit: www.labdigital.nl

Tasks & responsibilities

As Head of Engineering, you are primarily responsible for running (managing) the technical operation within Lab Digital. You take responsibility for the technically good delivery of new projects and existing projects, as well as the group of people that fall within it.
You are responsible for delivering the right technological solutions to their customers. In this, you always make the right architecture and you ensure that the projects they deliver are future-proof based on technology and quality is never lost sight of. You are responsible for running projects versus site reliability engineering/ops. You are also proactive in advancing their open source activities.

As far as project management is concerned, you take responsibility when taking on new customers and/or projects. You are ultimately responsible for the technical architecture, risk management, determining the scope and budget and the successful delivery of the project.

In addition, you take responsibility for the formation of new teams and ensure that they start in a good way for new projects. You ensure that project progress is clear at all times. Reporting on the technical and organizational status of the project is made to the Management Team.

In addition to your organizational skills, you also ensure that the people in the technical team are well supported, stimulated and directed. Personal growth is high on the agenda within Lab Digital and is woven into the culture. You make an important contribution by supporting team colleagues in the growth program that colleagues follow individually, but you are also an ambassador for the Lab Academy, a plenary structural way of transferring knowledge. You also increase customer satisfaction and (further) increase the happiness of the team members.

You are the point of contact for complaints and/or escalations and you come up with a good and practical solution. You are expected to manage the Engineer Managers on a daily basis and to further expand the technical team within Lab Digital. You create a strong engineering culture where collaboration between the different teams is important. Think of the maintainability of built solutions, the reusability and standardization of solutions (internal open source), security by design and data privacy by design.

Not only do you ensure a productive working atmosphere, but you also think about the billability of your technical colleagues, keeping the customer's wishes in mind.

Finally, you play a role in boosting recruitment activities with the aim of positioning the right (technical) people in the right place. Your people knowledge will come in handy here, as you will be involved in onboarding new technical talent and conducting performance appraisals. You help set up a trainee program for new technicians and you take the Lab Academy 'to the next level' by putting talent in the right place with an eye for growth and development, which benefits both the talents and Lab Digital.

The place in the organization
As Head of Engineering you are accountable to the VP Engineering, Michael van Tellingen and you work closely with the Commercial, Operations functions and Project Leaders.

Location
From February 1st 2022, Lab Digital will be located at a new location in Utrecht. Directly along the A2 and a 2-minute walk from the Utrecht Leidsche Rijn station, you will find the newly completed building 'Helix', where a spacious office of approximately 1250 m2 is currently being set up.

Candidate profile

Knowledge and experience

• Completed Bachelor and/or academic technical/technological education;
• Someone who has a proven affinity, insight and experience in technology, soft-ware engineering, software development or building apps. Preferably at an agency;
• A Technologist Turned Manager: Getting Started in Technology and Later progressed to management positions;
• Has proven management experience leading multiple teams;
• Someone who has experience with running projects (within budget);
• Experience with cloud native software engineering.

Personality: Competencies and Skills

• Is 'tech-savvy' and has a heart for technology/(cloud native) software; engineering;
• Has an organizational talent: enjoys building an organization and adding structure where necessary;
• Has a vision on leadership and knows when to apply different leadership styles;
• Has experience in managing multiple teams within technology;
• Has a passion for the growth of people and wants to get the most out of talent; even if it concerns people who are not 'super talented';
• Has a strategic, analytical and problem-solving mind and is able to come up with creative solutions;
• Is disciplined in fulfilling agreements and 'maintaining' them;
• Is decisive, able to make difficult decisions;
• Has excellent social and communication skills;
• Has a sense of humor;
• Is an internal connector.

The offer

• Working with the latest techniques in an innovative industry;
• Ample opportunity to develop yourself personally and professionally;
• The opportunity to make digital impact for customers through innovation and creativity;
• A place where a lot of attention is paid to people. A place where culture is the foundation of the organization and where there are opportunities in many respects. Lab Digital has been a great place to work for three years in a row, something that the company tries to further optimize every year;
• Good remuneration and competitive employment conditions.

Interested?

You can apply to this position by using the form below.

Procedure

• Interview with Boyden;
• After mutual agreement presentation to the client;
• Interviews with the client from week 1 of 2022;
• Complete discretion.