Director of Engineering

About Zencoder

Join us at Zencoder, where our mission is to advance human knowledge through innovative AI solutions. We're transforming the landscape of software development by empowering developers with AI coding agents embedded into their workflow that help create high-quality software and accelerate product delivery. By empowering developers to code smarter, faster, and with greater impact we bridge the gap between imagination and implementation, helping organizations ship impactful software products faster.

Our product is an extension for JetBrains and VSCode that assists developers not only in generating code but also in iterative refining and repairing it through embedded AI agents. This approach goes beyond the basic code snippet suggestions. By deeply analyzing developers’ repositories and employing robust software engineering principles, Zencoder's agents enhance code quality and project alignment, freeing developers to concentrate more on innovation and creative problem-solving.

The Opportunity

We're seeking a Director of Engineering to define and execute Zencoder's engineering strategy, scale the engineering team, and cultivate a strong engineering culture.

Our ideal candidate will have a solid technical background, a passion for AI, and a successful history of building and scaling healthy organizations with high team engagement, a strong focus on innovation, and a compelling employer brand. In this role, you’ll guide technical decisions, drive priorities, and lead a team of exceptional engineers in a fast-paced setting.

This is a rare opportunity to join an early-stage startup led by the founder of a unicorn company and help scale it into a thriving, innovative business. You’ll be a part of the team that ships AI products, shaping the future of software development and unlocking the creative potential of brilliant minds.

This is a full-time, fully remote role based in Europe.

Key Responsibilities

• Scale up engineering teams rapidly, ensuring effective leadership and growth.
• Define and execute the engineering strategy in alignment with the product roadmap, ensuring coherent decision-making across teams.
• Champion delivery focus and general operational and execution excellence.
• Lead the adoption of best practices in system design, release management, reliability, and scalability. 
• Cultivate strong relationships with key customers, understand their needs and pain points, and take ownership of problems when they arise.
• Design and implement processes and the management structure that enable the team to scale efficiently while maintaining startup agility.
• Lead the recruitment, onboarding, and development of a top-notch engineering team, defining roles, conducting interviews, and making critical hiring decisions to grow the team.
• Foster a strong culture in engineering through knowledge-sharing practices, hackathons, and technical workshops to promote innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Essential Qualifications

• Strong technical background with extensive experience as a software engineer building complex solutions and a deep understanding of modern engineering practices.
• Demonstrated experience in recruiting, building, scaling, structuring, and leading technical engineering teams in a startup and scaleup environment.
• Proven track record of delivering complex “deep tech” products with a high degree of ambiguity and tight deadlines.
• Scale in the product: delivered solutions that had millions of users.
• Scale in the team: have experience running 100+ engineer organizations.
• Scale in recruiting: have experience growing teams by dozens of engineers a year.
• Excellent English communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with diverse international teams and stakeholders.
• Ability to move fast in a dynamic environment with strong ownership.
• Firm grasp of GenAI technologies, real-world experience integrating AI technologies into innovative products, driving the development of cutting-edge solutions.

Why Join For Good AI?

• Impact: Gen AI will change how companies develop software in the next two years. Be at the frontier of that AI work, building a category-leading product in a huge market. You will have an everyday opportunity to innovate.
• Growth potential: Thrive in a high-growth AI startup combining personal and career growth.
• High Talent Density: Collaborate daily with our experienced AI engineers, software engineers, and founder, Andrew Filev.
• Equity: Align your success with ours by participating in our equity plan.
• Flexibility: We hire globally, prioritizing talent over location. Work where you’re most productive and comfortable.

Zencoder is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.