Team Lead (Founding Leader) — AI IDE & Agentic Developer Tooling / Developer Experience / IDE Platform

European Tech Recruit; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

European Tech Recruit is seeking a seasoned leader to head a founding research team in Amsterdam, shaping the AI-native DevEco IDE and related developer tooling. You will collaborate with HQ to define technical direction, prototype frontier tools, and drive external partnerships with universities, startups, and industry experts.

You will hire and mentor senior experts, monitor rapid advancements in IDE environments and agentic coding systems, and translate research insights into strategic

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on experience in IDE development and related developer-tools.
• Demonstrated leadership including hiring, mentoring, and steering technical direction.
• Strong understanding of developer experience and practical tooling.
• Ability to translate research into clear strategic insights for product leadership.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead a founding research team in Amsterdam and define technical direction.
• Prototype frontier developer tools and support strategic product decisions with HQ.
• Hires, mentors, and sets culture and quality standards for the team.
• Track global developments in IDEs and agentic tooling; drive partnerships.

Skills

IDE development

Team leadership

DX / DevEx

English communication

Strategic insights

Job description

Team Lead (Founding Leader) — AI IDE & Agentic Developer Tooling / Developer Experience / IDE Platform

Join a technology organisation developing next-generation AI-native developer tooling and IDE platforms for the emerging HarmonyOS ecosystem. Working at the intersection of developer experience, software engineering infrastructure, and artificial intelligence, the team is creating systems designed to transform how human developers and AI agents collaborate within modern development environments.

This senior-level leadership role offers the opportunity to define and deliver the technical vision for an AI-native DevEco IDE. The position combines IDE platform architecture, agentic coding harnesses, context engineering, compiler toolchains, and AI-driven developer workflows.

Role Overview

You will take ownership of leading a founding research team in Amsterdam, defining technical direction, prototyping frontier developer tools, and supporting strategic product decisions alongside headquarters.

Your responsibilities will cover the full research and leadership lifecycle, including hiring and mentoring senior experts, tracking global developments in agentic tooling, building external industry and academic partnerships, and driving technology scouting for the HarmonyOS developer ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the technical vision for an AI-native IDE and next-generation developer experience for DevEco.
• Hire, mentor, and lead a core team of senior experts, setting technical direction, culture, and quality standards.
• Track and evaluate rapid developments in IDEs, developer tools, and agentic coding systems (e.g., Claude, Cursor, Trae, Google Antigravity).
• Develop proof-of-concept prototypes, harnesses, and interactive demos to present to the DevEco IDE product organization.
• Produce strategic technology scouting reports to guide leadership decisions on future product investments.
• Build relationships and research collaborations with universities, research institutes, startups, and industry experts in the developer-tools space.
• Bridge local research insights and global product needs, working closely with international stakeholders and headquarters engineering teams.

Required Experience

• Proven hands-on experience in IDE development, developer-tools development, and agentic harness engineering.
• Demonstrated team leadership experience, including hiring, mentoring, and taking accountability for technical direction and delivery.
• Strong understanding of developer experience (DX / DevEx) and the core principles of effective, practical developer tooling.
• Ability to translate complex technical research into clear strategic insights for product and executive teams.
• Strong written and spoken English communication skills.
• Based in or willing to relocate to Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Preferred: Familiarity with modern IDE platform architecture (e.g., IntelliJ Platform, PSI, LSP), compiler toolchains, or build systems.
• Preferred: Practical experience integrating LLMs or coding agents into developer workflows (context engineering, agent orchestration, verification).
• Preferred: An existing network or connection within the developer-tools research, startup, or open-source community.

This is an opportunity to tackle frontier challenges at the intersection of developer environments, software infrastructure, and agentic AI. You will play a pivotal role in shaping a platform intended to support the next generation of application developers.