Engineering Director-Ecosystem

ProtonMail; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading privacy-focused tech company in Greater London is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead a team of over 20 engineers. You will be responsible for driving technical strategy and ensuring high-quality product deliveries. The ideal candidate should have a proven track record in software engineering and management, as well as skills in fostering an inclusive workplace. Join a company that values innovation and community-driven principles in pursuit of online privacy.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Learning and development opportunities

Equity for shared success

Company events and team building activities

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, leading engineers.
• Demonstrable experience as a manager of managers.
• History of collaboration on technical and product strategy.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop engineers to drive success.
• Optimize hiring processes and organizational structure.
• Manage technical design discussions and platform enhancements.
• Drive improvements in DevSecOps and product quality.

Skills

Experience in software engineering

Managing engineers

Collaboration with engineering leaders

Empathy and collaboration skills

Growth-oriented mindset

Hands-on software engineering

DevOps and SRE initiatives

Experience with cryptography

Tools

PHP (Symfony)

Rust

Python

Swift

Kotlin

Typescript

React

Job description

A betterinternet, where privacy is the default, is possible. Building this better internet might seem daunting or even unthinkable, but at Proton, this is what we do every day.

Proton was founded in 2014 by a group of scientists who met at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Our first product, Proton Mail , is now the world’s largest encrypted email service. Subsequent Proton products, such as Proton VPN , Proton Calendar , and Proton Drive , give our users full control over how and with whom their data is shared.

Today, Proton makes privacy universally accessible. Journalists from outlets likeThe GuardianandThe New York Times, some of the world’s largest organizations, and people in more than 180 countries have signed up for over 70 million accounts. Our diverse and dynamic team is made up of more than 400 members representing over 40 different nationalities. While we are based in Geneva, Switzerland, we have offices in Zurich, Prague, London, Vilnius, Skopje, Taipei, and many more employees working remotely around the world.

Join one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies to help us solve challenging problems and build new products that will reach hundreds of millions of people. We want to create more than just one of the world’s most impactful tech companies; we want to create a new internet that serves the interests of all people. We need you, your voice, your ideas, and your ambition to make it happen.

Purpose of the role

Proton continues to grow rapidly as increasing numbers of people across the globe seek greater privacy controls of their information online. To accelerate our growth, we are seeking a Director of Engineering to drive engineering for our Ecosystem platform team, which creates the building blocks that all development teams at Proton leverage to deliver products at pace and at scale.

This role involves setting and executing technical strategy, managing a team of 20+ engineers, and working closely with your Senior Product Managers counterparts, to ensure high-velocity delivery of new products. As a key member of the engineering leadership team, you will shape the company’s technical strategy and contribute to Proton’s mission of creating a privacy-centric internet. The Ecosystem team collaborates with every other Product and Engineering team at Proton, requiring excellent communication skills, a business mindset, and a strong sense of empathy.

The Ecosystem roadmap is defined in agreement and alignment with the direction of the other Proton Products, therefore the ability to seek input, prioritize, and build iteratively a collaborative roadmap is crucial for this role.

What you will do

• Lead through others, and develop the next generation of engineering leaders at Proton
• Inspire, coach, and develop your teams
• Optimize your organizational structure, and continuously raise the bar on hiring
• Build strong relationships with senior leaders, and advance your long-term platform and engineering vision
• Lead technical design and platform discussions
• Drive continuous improvement in our DevSecOps practices, and improve lead times and time to market while maintaining exceptional standards of product quality
• Hold yourself and team accountable for timely delivery of scalable, quality-focus user experiences and features
• Develop efficient processes, and motivate your team to operate with high velocity, ownership, and accountability
• Contribute to Proton's technology and open source communities
• Foster an inclusive and diverse environment for your team to show up and give their best each day

Our Tech stack

• Applied cryptography (PGP, TLS, etc.)
• REST APIs
• Event architectures
• HTTP networking
• SQL, Redis
• PHP (Symfony), Rust, Python
• iOS, macOS (Swift)
• Android (Kotlin, Jetpack)
• Web (Typescript, React)

We are looking for

• Experience in software engineering in progressively complex roles
• Experience directly leading and managing engineers
• Demonstrable experience as a manager of managers
• A history of collaboration with senior leaders in engineering, product on developing technical and product strategy
• Greatempathyand collaboration skills, and even greater resilience
• A curious, passionate, and growth-oriented mindset
• Deep experience as a hands‑on software engineer creating well‑crafted, maintainable code
• Mobile‑first background (ideally former mobile developer)
• Practical experience leading DevOps and SRE initiatives and driving best practices
• Experience with cryptography preferred

Why should you join Proton?

• Be part of a movement - Proton is not just a product or service but a community‑driven movement united by a shared vision of online freedom. Our services are open source, audited, and supported by community contributions. We give back to our community by maintaining core encryption libraries and by supporting other organizations furthering the same goals as us. Proton is free, open source, neutral, independent, and community first, while remaining financially sustainable.
• Work with smart and dedicated people - Our team is diverse, collaborative, and tight‑knit with people coming from all walks of life, including many of the world’s top academic institutions and organizations, such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Cambridge, and ETH.
• Join a strong brand - Our encrypted email service – ProtonMail – has grown to be a staple of online security and privacy. Proton has been featured in multiple popular television and film productions, such as Mr. Robot, Knives Out, Sounds of Metal, and more.
• Grow with us - We’re one of Europe’s fastest‑growing startups, doubling in size every year. Our growth gives you limitless career and educational opportunities as well as the opportunity to work side‑by‑side with many world‑leading experts in their fields.
• Have your voice heard - We value your opinion and encourage you to speak up and share your ideas and thoughts. At Proton, no problem is someone else’s problem. We collectively strive to do the right thing and be the undisputed best in the world at everything we do.
• Benefits – these vary by location and type of contract but expect support on your vacation, parental leave, refreshment if working from the office, learning and development opportunities, equity for shared success, flexible working hours and remote work, company events and team building activities.

Proton does not accept unsolicited resumes from any sources other than directly from a candidate. Proton will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited offer, even in a situation when the relevant candidate is employed by Proton.