Engineering Manager (m/w/d) – Core Team

About This Opportunity

We are representing a confidential energy-tech organization based in Hamburg that is building software infrastructure for renewable energy operations. Our talent team is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead their Core Team—a technically deep group responsible for the operator portal that powers their clients' day-to-day business operations.

This is not a typical management role. You will begin as a hands-on developer for approximately six months, building features end-to-end, conducting code reviews, and learning the product domain from the inside. Only after establishing credibility and understanding the codebase will you transition into leading the team. This approach ensures you can lead effectively based on real operational knowledge rather than theory.

Responsibilities

During Your First Six Months (As a Developer):

• Work as a full-stack engineer in the Core Team without special status—building features, reviewing code, handling deployments, and supporting production issues
• Learn the energy-sector business domain from metering concepts through billing processes
• Understand the technical history and architecture of the codebase, including legacy challenges
• Build trust with team members by working alongside them as a peer

After Transition to Leadership:

• Lead the Core Team with full people responsibility: hiring, onboarding, one-on-ones, development planning, and performance feedback
• Own delivery outcomes—collaborate with Product to prioritize by economic value and regulatory requirements, plan realistically, and ensure committed work ships on time
• Translate business requirements into technical decisions, distinguishing between market-driven needs, individual client requests, and misunderstandings
• Maintain technical quality without becoming a bottleneck—facilitate architecture discussions, enforce testing and review standards, create space for refactoring
• Serve as the interface between Product, Support, and other engineering teams; resolve conflicts before they impact sprint delivery
• Surface problems early with proposed solutions rather than late with excuses
• Design processes that serve the team and eliminate those that don't

What We're Looking For

• Multiple years of experience as a software engineer building production web applications—you can work productively in Django and React or ramp up within weeks
• Previous experience leading an engineering team as an Engineering Manager, Team Lead, or similar role with direct people management responsibility
• Ability to evaluate data models and facilitate architecture discussions without dominating them
• Genuine interest in writing code again (or continuing to do so) before taking on leadership—you view this as an advantage, not a detour
• Experience in the energy sector, ideally in metering operations, billing, market communication, or tenant electricity models—you know terms like metering concepts, market location operators, or OBIS codes from practical work, not just Wikipedia
• Business acumen: you think from the operator's business model perspective, not just features—you can explain which requirements secure revenue, reduce risk, or are merely nice-to-have
• Comfort giving and receiving direct feedback
• Ability to say no to stakeholders and your own team when necessary, with clear reasoning
• Comfort working in a startup environment where structures are still forming and you help shape them
• German language proficiency at C1 level minimum, as the business domain, client communication, and much of internal communication occur in German

Technical Environment: Python with Django and Django Ninja (backend), React with TypeScript (frontend), PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB, Kubernetes deployment via GitOps with ArgoCD. AI coding assistants are part of the standard workflow.

How We Work With You

When you apply through Get A Job.ai, our recruiting team will review your profile and conduct an initial screening conversation. If there's a strong match, we will submit your candidacy to our client for consideration. Please do not attempt to contact the employer directly—all communication flows through our team to ensure a professional, coordinated process.

The role is hybrid in Hamburg, requiring 1-2 days per week in the office with the remainder remote. This is a full-time employment opportunity.

Pay

Compensation details will be discussed during the screening process based on your experience level and the client's budget framework.

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