Head of Engineering (Platform)

Koda Tech; Luik; Sur place; EUR 120 000 - 180 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Koda Tech in Belgium is seeking a leadership figure to own the internal developer platform that engineers build and ship daily, treated as a genuine internal product. The role spans the Internal Developer Platform, the shared frontend platform and the reliability practice, uniting three teams and an adopted platform under one coherent layer.

You will raise maturity, grow talent, and push progress against strategy and objectives.

Qualifications

• Experience leading engineers through managers and multiple teams.
• Hands-on track record evolving an internal developer platform and tooling as a product.
• Background in software engineering and architecture; not a pure infra leader.
• Proven ability to hire, shape and grow Engineering Managers.
• Clear, open communication across cross-functional teams.

Responsabilités

• Lead, develop and grow Engineering Managers and teams.
• Evolve the internal developer platform and tooling as an internal product.
• Create a coherent platform layer across Developer Experience, Channel and Reliability Operations.
• Set platform direction while staying close to technical work.
• Define interfaces with infrastructure and product peers and drive value.

Connaissances

Leadership at scale

Platform engineering

Engineering management

Reliability mindset

AI in platforms

Communication

Description du poste

This is a new leadership role owning the platform that engineers build and ship on every day, run as a genuine internal product.

The scope includes the Internal Developer Platform, the shared frontend platform and the reliability practice beneath them.

The role brings together three existing teams and an already-adopted platform, with the accountability to shape these into one coherent layer. The successful candidate will raise the maturity and talent density of the teams, build out the parts that are not yet in place and keep the platform progressing against its strategy and objectives.

Key Relationships

• VP of Platform Engineering: works closely on turning vision into strategy for this layer. This is a strategy-to-execution role, not a heads-down delivery position.
• Platform Product Manager: partners on product direction and the value map, keeping team output aligned to what is needed.
• Principal Architects: collaborates on technical direction and coherence across layers, setting direction with the architecture function rather than in isolation.
• Fellow Heads of Engineering: especially the peer Head owning the Infrastructure Composition Layer, co-owning interfaces between the two layers and aligning engineering practice across product engineering areas.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and grow Engineering Managers and teams, including hiring, shaping and developing leadership capability.
• Evolve the internal developer platform and developer tooling as an internal product through incremental, value-led approaches.
• Create a coherent platform layer across Developer Experience, Channel and Reliability Operations.
• Set credible platform, software architecture and reliability direction while remaining close enough to the technical work.
• Define and manage clear interfaces with infrastructure and product engineering peers.
• Drive adoption and outcomes for the platform, focusing on value delivered to engineers and the organisation.
• Frame new practices and tools, including AI, in a practical way that creates real value and engages engineers.
• Create strong communication habits across teams so context, reasoning and decisions are understood.

Required Experience

• Experience leading engineers through managers, typically 2+ managers and teams totalling approximately 15+ engineers.
• Deep, current and hands-close experience evolving an internal developer platform, developer tooling, CI/CD and selfserve capabilities as a product.
• Software engineering and architecture background. The role is deliberately not positioned as an infrastructure or systems leadership role.
• Proven ability to build and grow teams, including hiring, shaping and developing Engineering Managers.
• Strong reliability mindset, treating reliability as a default rather than a bolt-on.
• Ability to introduce practices and tools where they create tangible value, including AI where relevant.
• Clear, open communication style that keeps context and reasoning flowing across teams.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a technical engineering leader who can operate at strategy-to-execution level, lead through managers, build teams and shape an internal developer platform into a coherent product-led capability. They should be close enough to the craft to set credible direction, but senior enough to lead through others and align cross-functional stakeholders.

Interested in learning more?