VP Of Engineering (Remote)

Phoenix Global Search; Greater London; Remote; GBP 175,000 - 217,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Remote-first

Performance bonus

Job summary

Phoenix Global Search seeks a VP of Engineering to shape the technical direction of a leading Java-based open-source data platform. You will oversee 40 engineers and 3 engineering managers, driving delivery and architecture with a focus on distributed systems and low-latency performance.

This remote-first role in the UK offers a base package up to £217k plus a 15% bonus and equity options. You should have hands-on technical depth, previous scale-up leadership, and a track record of shipping

Qualifications

• Technical leader with hands-on depth in distributed systems and JVM performance.
• Proven experience with Java open-source projects and conference talks.
• Strong track record of shipping big-scale systems in growth companies.

Responsibilities

• Define engineering strategy and execution for the platform.
• Manage 40 engineers and 3 engineering managers, ensuring delivery against plans.
• Own architecture decisions, performance, and reliability across services.
• Contribute to open-source communities and industry collaborations.

Skills

Distributed systems

Low-latency engineering

JVM performance

Stream processing

Storage & replication internals

Tools

Java

Job description

VP of Engineering: Java Open-Source Data Infrastructure

Package: £175k - £217k base + 15% bonus + options

Location: UK remote-first.

My client, a profitable, Series-D software company (circa 110 people, $40-45M ARR) behind one of the most widely-used open-source real-time data platforms in the world are looking for a VP of Engineering with a strong technical / Engineering background (ideally in Java).

The person will own the engineering direction and execution. It's the top engineering seat: 40 engineers, 3 engineering managers reporting in to you,

Person Specification:

You're an architect-leaning technical leader who can run a bigger organisation. Technical depth is your anchor you've never traded it for scope. You can still name the domain you're genuinely excellent at, unprompted, three levels deep: distributed systems, low-latency engineering, JVM performance, stream processing, or storage and replication internals.

You've probably written or contributed to Java open source, spoken at conferences, and within the last couple of years you've personally worked a hard technical problem, not just funded one.

You've also made the hard personnel calls: hired well, exited when needed, set direction that holds when you're not in the room.

You've shipped on a date against a plan and can say what you cut. And you've done it at a scale-up leading through growth, not administering a machine that already existed.

This is probably not you if: you were technical once but your last hands-on problem was five years ago; you've only ever operated inside large enterprises; or you're a pure architect who's never owned a headcount decision