Founding Engineer

Volta Software; Paris; Sur place; EUR 140 000 - 210 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Volta Software in Paris seeks a hands-on technical leader to own the engineering direction for the French market. You will lead the France team from day one, code alongside the squad, and shape product strategy as the organization scales.

Starting with Connect integrations, you’ll design and build Python‑based services connecting Volta to client systems, own the lifecycle from spec to go‑live, and later expand to broader product areas while growing the local engineering function.

Qualifications

• 5+ years building backend systems in Python for production‑critical workloads and hands‑on today.
• Experience integrating enterprise systems (ERP, WMS, PIM, EDI or similar) with limited sandboxing.
• Product engineering experience beyond integrations or pipelines.
• Strong SQL skills across PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server or Oracle.
• Solid system design and distributed systems knowledge with scalable patterns.
• Real client exposure and ability to run technical discussions with enterprise customers.
• Some leadership history and ability to mentor others.
• Willingness to contribute across product and influence roadmap in France.
• Fluent French and English with strong technical communication.
• High autonomy reporting to CTO and balancing presales, delivery and hiring.

Responsabilités

• Lead engineering in France from day one and still ship code.
• Design and build Python integrations connecting Volta to client systems, owning lifecycle from spec to go‑live.
• Represent Volta technically in presales conversations and with client CTOs on architecture, data flows and security.
• Own customer relationships as the technical counterpart through go‑live and beyond.
• Shape product direction for the French market and determine what to build.
• Grow and lead the local engineering team, defining how the team works in France.

Connaissances

Python

Enterprise integration

Product engineering

SQL

Distributed systems

Client exposure

Leadership

Product thinking

Bilingual

Autonomy

Description du poste

You'll be Volta's technical leader in Paris. You'll be the technical voice of the company, run the tech kickoff, build the first integrations yourself, and then hire and grow the FDE squad that comes after you. You report directly to the CTO, based in Italy. Think of it as the CTO role, localised to the French market: hands‑on at the start, product-shaping as it scales.

Key responsibilities

• Lead engineering in France, hands‑on from day one — a leadership role where the leader still ships code
• Start with Connect: design and build the Python integrations connecting Volta to client systems, owning the full lifecycle from spec to go‑live
• Be Volta's technical voice in France — join presales conversations to explain our architecture, data flows, and security/compliance posture to client CTOs, IT and security teams; run technical kickoffs
• Own the customer relationship as the technical counterpart, from first call through go‑live and beyond
• Go wide on the product once Connect is under control — real say in what we build for the French market, and the license to build it yourself
• Grow the team — hire, onboard and lead the engineers who follow; define how the team works in France

Must have:

• 5+ years building backend systems in modern Python for production‑critical workloads, and still hands‑on today — not someone who's moved into pure management
• Experience integrating enterprise systems you didn't own and couldn't change (ERP, WMS, PIM, EDI, or other legacy enterprise systems) — missing sandboxes, weak documentation, a vendor between you and the API
• Product engineering experience, not just integrations or pipelines — you've built core or user‑facing product too
• Strong SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, or Oracle) and comfort with messy, real‑world data
• Strong system design and distributed systems knowledge — you can design components and backend patterns that scale without scaling the team linearly, and defend those choices to a client's architects
• Real client exposure — you've run technical conversations with enterprise customers, not just internal stakeholders, and can run a kickoff or handle a security questionnaire in French
• Some leadership history — led a small team, a squad, or been the technical anchor others were hired around; wants to build and lead a team while still writing code
• Appetite to contribute across the product, not just integrations — opinions about where Volta should go in France, and the drive to go build them
• Fluent French and English, with excellent technical communication in both
• High autonomy and ownership — comfortable reporting to a CTO based in another country, escalating early rather than absorbing problems silently, and juggling presales, delivery, and hiring without dropping delivery

Nice to have:

• Experience in a Tech or startup environment
• ERP integration experience specifically
• Familiarity with wholesale, distribution, or order management environments
• Consulting or enterprise integration background
• Experience as a first hire in a country, or in an office remote from HQHas hired and onboarded engineers before
• A builder mentality — defaults to shipping over delegating, and thrives on the adaptability a fast‑moving startup demands

Screen

Chief of Staff (30 min, French): scope, seniority, motivation for a founding in‑country role

Founder & Customer Success

Ideally in person in the Paris office; a conversation with the Founder and the Customer Success team you'll work with daily (two calls if in person isn't possible)