Technical Lead, Cloud

Aiven; Finland; Hybrid; EUR 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity plan

Hybrid work policy

Equipment stipend

Professional development budget

Wellbeing program

Time off commitment

Country-specific benefits

Job summary

Aiven is seeking a Technical Lead, Cloud to own the technical execution of a new cloud product. This is a small, high-autonomy team with minimal hierarchy, translating vision into architecture, infrastructure and shipped product.

You will work closely with the VP Strategy to shape the long-term architecture, lead a capable engineering team, and drive high-impact features while maintaining a bias for delivery and quality. This pivotal role supports our European cloud initiative.

Qualifications

• Principal-level engineer with the ability to operate in an early product environment like a founder.
• Built and shipped complex infrastructure products such as cloud platforms, managed database services, or developer tooling.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical architecture for a new cloud product.
• Lead the engineering team (backend, frontend, design, architecture) with a bias for shipping and contribute code.
• Own the roadmap and delivery milestones.
• Plan and execute disciplined scoping and prioritisation to ship essential features.
• Collaborate with existing teams to align architecture.
• Ensure security, compliance and certification requirements from day one.

Skills

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Open-source technologies

Bare metal orchestration

European infrastructure providers

Job description

At Aiven, our vision is to help developers and builders bring their ideas to life with speed and simplicity by providing a data platform that makes open-source infrastructure easily accessible to everyone. We are now embarking on one of our most ambitious strategic bets to ensure open source thrives on European infrastructure.

The Role

We are looking for a Technical Lead, Cloud to own the technical execution of our new cloud product. This is a small, high-autonomy team with minimal hierarchy. You are the person who translates vision into architecture, infrastructure and shipped product. You will work directly alongside Aiven's VP Strategy, who owns the strategic direction and business outcomes. Together, you form the leadership pair that makes this thing real.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Architecture & Decision-Making

• Own the end-to-end technical architecture for a new cloud product built from the ground up
• Make the critical build, buy and partner decisions across every layer of the stack, aligning trade-offs with VP Strategy for bets that carry strategic or financial weight
• Design for the future from day one: the architecture must support a bold long-term vision that you are expected to shape and contribute to

Execution & Delivery

• Build a high-performance, no-ego team of exceptional engineers and product builders
• Lead the engineering team (backend, frontend, design, architecture) with a relentless bias for shipping while contributing code yourself
• Own the roadmap and delivery milestones
• Operate with disciplined scoping and ruthless prioritisation: launch with what matters, proxy what can wait, and never let perfection block progress
• Work with existing Aiven teams to ensure no misalignment emerges over shared architecture

Infrastructure & Operations

• Build abstraction layers that deliver a first-class cloud experience to developers and agents, regardless of the underlying infrastructure
• Ensure the platform meets rigorous security, compliance and certification requirements from day one
• Plan for infrastructure evolution as the product scales

Cross-functional Partnership

• Partner with go-to-market, policy and design leads to ensure the product narrative is technically credible and market-ready
• Engage directly with early design-partner customers to validate requirements and iterate on the MVP

What We're Looking For:

You are a principal-level engineer with the ability to operate in an early product environment like a founder. You have built and shipped complex infrastructure products like cloud platforms, managed database services or developer tooling. You know what it takes to go from a blank canvas to paying customers in a short timeline.

You have deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud infrastructure and open-source technologies. You have excellent taste and conviction on how modern cloud infrastructure should be built, and the technical seniority to turn that into simple narratives. Experience with bare metal orchestration, storage systems or European infrastructure providers is a strong plus.

You thrive in ambiguity and move fast without waiting for permission. You are a high-energy individual with proven evidence of high-agency problem solving.

Global Benefits:

Our global benefits are designed to help you thrive and grow, personally and professionally:

• Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
• Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
• Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities.
• Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.
• Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time)
• Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast.

Equal Opportunities:

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at [e-mail].

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