Engineering Manager – Software Engineering (m/f/d)

About Us

We are a fast-growing, product-led fintech scale-up building modern payment infrastructure. As we continue to evolve, we are looking for an Engineering Manager to lead a core software engineering team and play a key role in shaping the future of our technology organization.

The Role

This is a hands-on engineering leadership position focused on driving delivery, supporting developers, and raising engineering standards across the team. You will lead a team of engineers, ensuring high-quality delivery while staying close to the codebase, architecture, and technical direction. You will act as a bridge between leadership and engineering, helping shape how the company builds and scales its products moving forward.

What You’ll Do

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of software engineers (backend-focused)
• Drive delivery, execution, and engineering quality across the team
• Work closely with developers through code reviews, technical discussions, and coaching
• Stay close to the codebase and actively engage with the tech stack (Node.js environment)
• Support architectural decisions and challenge technical approaches where needed
• Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, and senior stakeholders
• Help build a modern, high-performance engineering culture
• Take ownership of team outcomes and drive continuous improvement
• Support hiring, onboarding, and team growth as the organization scales

What We’re Looking For

Must-Have

• Proven experience leading software engineering teams
• Recent hands-on experience with JavaScript / Node.js in production environments
• Ability to work closely with developers through technical guidance and collaboration
• Strong software engineering background (not purely infrastructure or operations-focused)
• Ownership mindset with the ability to drive delivery and improvement directly
• Experience working in fast-paced environments such as scale-ups, SaaS, or consulting/delivery organizations
• Willingness to work in a hybrid setup with regular on-site presence in Cologne

Nice to Have

• Experience in fintech or other regulated industries
• Background in SaaS or product-led businesses
• Experience scaling engineering teams and processes
• German language skills

What Sets You Apart

• You lead by example and stay close to the technology
• You enjoy supporting and developing engineers day-to-day
• You challenge ideas constructively and bring a pragmatic mindset
• You thrive in fast-moving, evolving environments
• You care about delivery, impact, and team accountability

This role is ideal for someone who wants to combine technical depth, people leadership, and real impact while helping shape the future direction of a growing engineering organization.