Head Of Engineering

Pennylane is building the financial OS (Operating System) for European SMEs. A single source of truth for financial data, used on one side by entrepreneurs to run their business (invoicing and getting paid, paying suppliers and expense management, piloting cash and profitability) and on the other side by their accountant for bookkeeping and fiscal declarations.

 

Saving time to all entrepreneurs and accountants, helping them to make the right decisions and enabling 3rd parties to offer added-value personalised financial services.

 

We’ve launched in France and will expand to other markets in Continental Europe in the coming years. Our commercial website is thus in French only but the code is obviously documented in English and our tech team speaks English.

 

We’re product-led, growing fast, backed by strong investors and are starting to hire software engineers anywhere in Europe, to join our experienced remote-first engineering team.

👪 CONTEXT & ROLE

We're looking for our next Head of Engineering. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of people, product, and operational excellence. As Head of Engineering, you will report directly to a co-founder and take ownership of how multiple engineering groups operate, deliver, and grow together.

You won't be a remote coordinator. You'll be in the details where it matters: unblocking teams, making trade-offs explicit, raising the bar on engineering practices, and building the org systems that let great engineers do their best work.

This role sits between what the market calls a Director of Engineering and a VP Engineering, with a strong operational bias and a high degree of autonomy.

🎯YOUR MISSIONS

ORGANISATIONAL LEADERSHIP & PRODUCT PARTNERSHIP

• Partner with Head of Product (or General Manager) to align on strategy, roadmap priorities, and make trade-offs explicit and well-understood across the organisation

• Define clear collaboration points between Engineering, Product, and Design: ownership maps, escalation paths, decision cadence

• Onboard and set up senior engineering leaders for success, with clear interfaces and expectations

MULTI-TEAM EXECUTION

• Be accountable for Tech outcomes across several teams that together deliver a coherent product or business area: quality, delivery, reliability, and team health

• Clarify ownership boundaries between squads, resolve gaps and overlaps quickly, and ensure cross-squad work is staffed and sequenced end-to-end

• Create the conditions for teams to execute autonomously while staying aligned with company priorities

• Anticipate org scaling needs (new teams, scope changes, leadership coverage) and drive the changes needed in partnership with HR and Tech leadership

ENGINEERING OPERATING SYSTEMS

• Own and continuously improve the engineering-wide operating cadence: delivery rhythms, staffing processes, performance and career frameworks, decision-making hygiene

• Raise the bar on engineering practices: delivery predictability, quality, reliability, and communication

• Keep the technical bar high and ensure architectural decisions support long-term scaling

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL BRIDGE

• Act as the main engineering counterpart to business stakeholders on company-wide initiatives

• Work closely with the Data team on both technical and organisational topics

• Drive structural improvements in how Tech operates, in partnership with HR and other Tech leaders (e.g. clarifying roles, evolving rituals, aligning people processes to scaling needs)

ENGINEERING CULTURE

• Improve how decisions are made, respected, revisited, and communicated across the Tech department

• Hold Engineering Managers accountable for delivery while preserving maximum autonomy for Senior Engineering Managers

• Foster a learning mindset, knowledge sharing, and open communication

• Contribute to Tech advocacy internally and externally (conferences, content, community)

• Help build a strong Tech Leadership community at Pennylane

✨ WHY THIS ROLE, WHY NOW

• Direct line to a co-founder: real influence on how the Engineering organisation is built, not just managed

• Greenfield scope: the organisation systems, rituals, and team structures are still being shaped; you'll have a genuine hand in building them

• A team that cares: our engineers are thoughtful, opinionated, and invested in doing things well

• Scale that matters: we're growing fast across France and Europe, which means real organisation complexity and real stakes

🥇 YOU’RE THE RIGHT CANDIDATE IF YOU..

• Have significant experience leading multiple engineering teams through managers of managers, ideally in a high-growth B2B SaaS or fintech environment

• Have a track record of improving how engineering organisations operate, not just managing within them

• Have a strong product and business sense: you understand roadmap trade-offs and can have credible conversations with Product, Design, and business stakeholders

• Are operationally sharp: you can zoom in on execution issues and zoom out to org design in the same week

• Are a people leader who builds trust with senior ICs and EMs alike, and who holds a high bar on both delivery and culture

• Are comfortable with ambiguity and capable of operating with a high degree of autonomy

• Are fluent in English (working language of our Engineering team); French is a plus

 

WHAT DO WE DO TO MAKE YOUR WORK LIFE EASIER

🏢 You'll be able to work remotely from anywhere in Europe, as long as your contract allows you to

💵 You’ll have a compensation package

📈 You'll get company shares to enjoy a piece of the success story you're building with us

🏡 You’ll have a budget to turn your home into a more comfortable workspace, as well as a monthly allowance to work from a coworking space whenever you feel like it

⛹️Through our partner Gymlib, you’ll have access to 8000 fitness spaces in Europe and more than 300 activities related to wellness

🇬🇧 You’ll have access to Busuu https://www.busuu.com/fr/p/start-learning?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=FR_FR_Web_Brand_E&utm_group=FR_FR_Web_Brand_E&utm_term=busuu&gclid=CjwKCAjw682TBhATEiwA9crl34OqnbJDliinEXFZNqOcb6391KXrgq4ZDDwEiwMdtTdtuVULvuF7HhoCgZEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds to perfect your english or your french

💻 You’ll get the latest Apple equipment

🎉 You’ll be part of a vibrant social community : we do lots of sports together (Foot, running, climbing...), we love to hang out and have a drink together (thursday afterwork drinks on our rooftop is a usual thing. Twice-a-year we do company seminars, last time we went on a trip to Centerparcs and it was fabulous !)

 

AND.. IF YOU'RE BASED IN FRANCE :

🏢 You’ll be able to work fully from your home or any co-working space in France, or from our wonderful office in the center of Paris

🏝You’ll get between 6 to 13 additional days off (to the 25 standard ones) to rest and do what you love each year

🍜 You’ll have lunch credits (Swile card) to buy your favorite food every day

🏥 You’ll have a great healthcare cover (Alan Blue) to take care of yourself and your family

 

We're working on providing those last advantages to our people based outside of France as well, but it can be quite more complex depending on different countries.

 

🤝 HIRING PROCESS

 

1. Screening with a Talent Acquisition Manager (30 min)

2. Who interview with The CTO (1H)

3. System design Interview with 2 people from the engineering/data department (1H15)

4. Product discussion with a Head of Product and Senior Design Manager (1H)

5. Final round with one member from the Tech Leadership + one HRBP (1H)

We make sure we move fast ; you can expect the recruitment process with us to last between 15 and 25 days in total.

 

We have tried to give you as much details as we could about the purpose, missions and environment of this role; it is now up to you to tell us if you think this is a position in which you could a) have fun and b) bring value to our company.

If you’re hesitating, we encourage you to apply anyway: worst case scenario, you might lose a few minutes, and in the best case, it will be the start of a meaningful and long-lasting collaboration.

 

We also want to emphasise that we fully embrace diversity and that we’re doing our best to create a safe and inclusive environment. We are committed to providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of gender, sexual orientation, origin, disabilities, or any other traits that make you who you are. If anything, diversity makes us a more fun place to work at.

To end with a humble illustration of our commitment, we’ve recently signed the Pacte Parité https://lafrenchtech.com/fr/pacte-parite/ to set concrete goals in building a better and more inclusive workplace in the years to come.

   

Encouraging diversity in all its forms, Pennylane strives to offer an inclusive, caring and fulfilling work environment in our offices and remotely. We provide equal opportunities and consideration regardless of background, origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation or handicap.

   

🇫🇷 Données personnelles

Pennylane traite vos données pour gérer votre candidature et évaluer votre adéquation au poste. Si votre candidature n’aboutit pas, vos données peuvent être conservées 2 ans à compter de notre dernier échange ou de la clôture du recrutement afin de constituer & gérer un vivier de candidats. Vous pouvez vous opposer à tout moment et demander la suppression de vos données en écrivant à : dpo@pennylane.com. dpo@pennylane.com Notre data policy https://www.pennylane.com/fr/vos-donnees-personnelles-recrutement

🇬🇧 Personal Data

Pennylane processes your data to manage your application and assess your suitability for the position. If your application is unsuccessful, your data may be retained for 2 years from our last exchange or the closing of the recruitment process, in order to build and manage a candidate pool. You may object at any time and request the deletion of your data by writing to dpo@pennylane.com. Learn more https://www.pennylane.com/fr/vos-donnees-personnelles-recrutement

🇩🇪 Personenbezogene Daten

Pennylane verarbeitet Ihre Daten, um Ihre Bewerbung zu bearbeiten und Ihre Eignung für die Stelle zu beurteilen. Sollte Ihre Bewerbung nicht erfolgreich sein, können Ihre Daten bis zu 2 Jahre ab unserem letzten Austausch oder dem Abschluss des Rekrutierungsverfahrens gespeichert werden, um einen Kandidatenpool aufzubauen und zu verwalten. Sie können jederzeit Widerspruch einlegen und die Löschung Ihrer Daten beantragen, indem Sie an dpo@pennylane.com schreiben. Mehr erfahren https://www.pennylane.com/fr/vos-donnees-personnelles-recrutement