Requirements

Backend and distributed systems expertise: A strong track record architecting and delivering complex backend systems in production, ideally where correctness and reliability were non-negotiable.
Systems-level thinking: The ability to see how separate services and teams fit into one coherent whole, and to design the contracts between them.
Architectural judgement with a bias for simplicity: Strong instincts for choosing the most reliable and efficient solution rather than the most elaborate one, especially in a domain where the rules differ by market.
Hands-on delivery: Comfort staying close to the code and contributing significant production work while also setting direction for others.
Cross-team technical leadership: Demonstrated ability to anchor long-running initiatives spanning multiple teams, from direction-setting through to a shipped, dependable result.
Operational excellence: Strong instincts for CI/CD, observability, and keeping critical services reliable in production.
Coaching and influence: A history of raising standards and supporting the growth of the engineers around you.

What You'll Be Doing

Set technical direction: Define the architecture and patterns for the absence management systems, covering accruals, entitlements, and complex real-world cases, setting standards that other teams adopt rather than mandate.
Solve the hardest problems simply: Find the simplest robust solution to complex domain and regulatory challenges, writing meaningful amounts of production code yourself where it matters most.
Drive complex initiatives end to end: Lead long-running technical efforts that span team boundaries, taking accountability for delivery and quality the whole way through.
Model regulatory complexity cleanly: Tackle rules that vary significantly by market and company, from mandatory tracking in Germany and Spain to differing break, overtime, and entitlement logic, and design architecture that hides that complexity rather than spreading it.
Keep money-critical data trustworthy: Ensure absence data feeds accurately into pay calculations, treating correctness, reliability, and explainability as the bar across the systems you shape.
Raise operational excellence: Set the standard for how services are deployed, observed, and maintained, keeping critical flows dependable at scale and deliberately reducing complexity.
Coach and elevate engineers: Mentor senior engineers through design feedback, pairing on hard problems, and the example you set, raising the technical bar across the team and beyond.