Engineering Manager - AI Solutions (f/m/d)

Purpose of Position

AI Solutions Team

In the AI & Smart Platform vertical, you will spearhead the evolution of our product: transitioning from a functional tool to an intelligent platform and proactive partner. You will lead the development of GenAI-driven solutions and the scaling of our intelligent interface(AVA), redefining human-machine interaction. Your challenge will be to position our technology at the frontier of innovation, making Artificial Intelligence the primary engine of value and efficiency for our users.

Key Tasks

Goal

• Create autonomous, high-performing teams that possess strong commercial and security awareness.
• Foster a safe, zero-apathy environment where decisions are delegated to the lowest appropriate level, ensuring they are made effectively and communicated transparently.
• Act as a strategic arbitrator: It is not the EM’s role to make every technical decision, but to ensure they are aligned with the business Why and documented.
• Accountable for the predictable technical delivery, operational health, and commercial viability of the teams' outputs.
• Lead across multiple teams and streams of delivery, managing the full software lifecycle from recruitment and onboarding to long-term platform evolution.

Technical

• Provides technical oversight and challenge; ensures all designs adhere to domain standards without acting as the primary author.
• Enforces a high bar of Engineering Excellence; mandates a think-on-paper culture using ADRs and architectural diagrams before implementation begins.
• Accountable for the full operational lifecycle; establishes on-call rotations, mandates high-fidelity playbooks, and drives rigorous root-cause analysis for all incidents.
• Demands data-informed decision-making; implements observability and monitoring to close visibility gaps and resolve complex technical problems.
• Directly responsible for successful engineering onboarding and the proactive management of individual performance standards.
• Represents the teams’ technical interests internally and externally, acting as a technical arbitrator for cross-team dependencies.

Management

• Acts as a buffer against interruptions and manages context-switching; prioritizes and creates focus for engineers to maintain high-velocity flow while aligning with strategic milestones.
• Drives stakeholder engagement and work sequencing; leads planning in collaboration with engineers to establish rigorous, achievable milestones.
• Maintains a healthy shipping cadence; balances short-term delivery with long-term platform health, treating technical debt as a managed financial instrument.
• Accountable for commercial and financial viability; collaborates with Product and P&T Ops to balance Capex requirements with operational cost efficiency (FinOps).
• Serves as a proactive incident manager; ensures rapid escalation, clear communication on progress, and directional alignment with domain goals.
• Directly responsible for the development of people; sets meaningful growth milestones, leads career progression conversations, and aligns individual success with team outcomes.
• Ensures organizational clarity; communicates company changes effectively, ensures team buy-in, and actively seeks peer/manager feedback on critical decisions.

Leadership

• Directly accountable for organizational and individual growth; advocates for engineers in promotion cycles and mentors the next generation of technical leadership.
• Mandates a Security First and data-informed culture; enforces the tracking of DORA metrics, DX Objectives, and proactive vulnerability remediation (Snyk, OWASP).
• Strategically constructs autonomous, high-leverage squads; ensures teams possess the specialized depth (Security, Architecture, FinOps) required to own the full software lifecycle.
• Aggressively removes blockers and accelerates decision-making; enforces a culture of radical ownership and end-to-end accountability.
• Owns the talent lifecycle; sources top-tier talent, integrates engineers into the hiring process, and executes proactive retention strategies to mitigate flight risks.
• Establishes high-trust partnerships with cross-functional peers (Product, UX, InfoSec);secures strategic alignment and resolves interpersonal conflicts to maintain a safe, inclusive environment.

Skills & Expertise

Required:

• Proven track record (5+ years) of leading engineering teams in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Deep Software Engineering background; while we favor JavaScript and Java on AWS, we are language-agnostic when choosing our managers. We value your ability to solve complex problems over your familiarity with a specific language.
• Strong Cloud Native mindset; comprehensive understanding of cloud architecture principles(AWS, GCP, or Azure), distributed systems, and serverless/containerized environments. We use AWS on our systems.
• Experience with High-Velocity SDLC; you have lived and breathed CI/CD, automated testing, and have moved teams toward DORA-measured excellence.

Nice to have:

• AI/ML Lifecycle Management: Experience leading teams that integrate AI/ML models(specifically GenAI/LLMs) into production-grade consumer products.
• Prototyping to Production: Proven ability to manage the high uncertainty and rapid iteration cycles inherent in AI-driven feature development.
• Intelligent UX Design: Experience building "agentic" or "proactive" interfaces where the system anticipates user needs rather than just reacting to inputs.

Our Offer

• Flexi-Week and Work-Life Balance: We prioritise your mental health and wellbeing, offering you a flexible four-day Flexi-Week at full pay and with no reduction to your annual holiday allowance. We also offer a variety of different paid special leaves.
• Remote Working Allowance: You will receive a monthly allowance to cover part of your running costs. In addition, we will support you in setting up your remote workspace appropriately.
• Flexi-Office: We offer an international culture and flexibility through our Flexi-Office and hybrid/remote work possibilities to work across Awin regions
• Meal Vouchers: You will be supported with a certain net sum to spend it on a variety of lunches.
• Health & Wellbeing: The insurance covers several types of health, vision and / or dental treatments for you and for up to one additional family member.
• Remote Working Furniture Package: After 3 months of employment, you will be eligible for a furniture package, which should enable you to set up a proper workplace at your remote working location
• Appreciation: Thank and reward colleagues by sending them a voucher through our peer-to-peer program.

Established in 2000, Awin is proud of our dynamic, social and inclusive culture.

Like all businesses, we’ve had to adapt and nurture our culture in a virtual environment. Our virtual ‘Life @ Awin’ hub brings our colleagues from across the globe together for various social activities.

Diversity & Inclusion are paramount to us, and we proudly pursue and hire diverse team members. We champion uniqueness and authenticity; this is who we are at our core. Our network of affiliate partnerships are diverse and transparent, as are the employees powering our vision to build the world’s leading open partner ecosystem. We welcome all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. If you need support at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.

Awin is part of the Axel Springer group. Learn more at axelspringer.com/en/, and explore the Axel Springer Essentials here: axelspringer.com/en/inside/the-essentials-what-we-have-adapted-and-why  

Apply now to begin the next stage of your career at a progressive company that supports both your professional and personal development.

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