Head of Engineering – Forma Design Apps

Autodesk, Inc.; Oslo; Hybrid; NOK 1,500,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Autodesk in Oslo is seeking a Head of Engineering for Forma Design Apps to lead the engineering organization behind customer-facing experiences—where designers, architects, and developers explore possibilities, build designs, and analyze impact. You will guide teams to innovate responsibly and grow talent across squads in a hybrid setting.

You will collaborate with Product and Design to translate strategy into shipped outcomes, balance speed with long-term health, and foster a culture of

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years of hands-on development.
• Engineering leadership across multiple teams, including Engineering Managers or senior leaders.
• Track record delivering customer-facing software products, ideally cloud-based web apps.
• Strong technical judgment and architecture insights for integrations, quality, and performance.
• Experience partnering with Product and Design to build high-quality user experiences.
• Ability to operate autonomously, make decisions in ambiguity, and balance delivery with long-term health.
• Excellent communication and collaboration across disciplines and seniority, with professional English.

Responsibilities

• Lead and Grow the Engineering Organization across Forma Design Apps.
• Coach, develop Engineering Managers, and build healthy, high-performing teams.
• Shape structure, staffing, and talent allocation as Forma scales.
• Foster trust, ownership, continuous learning, and strong engineering leadership.
• Drive delivery across multiple squads and ship customer-facing design applications.
• Partner with Product and Design to translate strategy into outcomes.
• Promote experimentation, user feedback, and thoughtful trade-offs between speed and quality.
• Strengthen practices around reliability, performance, observability, security, and DX.

Skills

Engineering leadership

People development

Cloud-based design apps

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Job Requisition ID # 26WD96999 Position Overview Oslo: Hybrid Are you an engineering leader who is passionate about developing people, building great products, and using technology to solve meaningful real-world problems? Join Autodesk Forma and help shape the next generation of cloud-based design applications for architects, planners, and developers. As Head of Engineering – Forma Design Apps, you'll lead the engineering organization behind the customer-facing experiences where our users explore possibilities, develop designs, analyze their impact, and make decisions about future buildings, neighborhoods, and cities. This is a leadership role with real influence and autonomy. You'll coach and empower Engineering Managers, strengthen how teams work together, and help create an environment where talented people can grow, take ownership, and do their best work. You'll also stay connected to technology, bringing engineering experience and judgment to engage with teams, understanding complex challenges, and helping them make thoughtful decisions. At Autodesk Forma, we work in small, empowered teams where engineers, designers, and product managers share ownership of customer outcomes. We value curiosity, collaboration, experimentation, and learning from our users. You'll join an international environment where different perspectives are valued and where you can influence how we work as Forma continues to evolve. Our mission is ambitious: help design better cities. Forma helps architects, planners, and developers explore smarter and more sustainable solutions early in the design process — when decisions can have the greatest impact on the people who will live and work in the places they create. If you're excited by the opportunity to grow people, influence technology, and build products with meaningful impact, we'd love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Lead and Grow the Engineering Organization
• Lead, coach, and develop Engineering Managers, helping them build healthy, empowered, high-performing teams
• Shape the engineering organization as we grow, including team structure, staffing, hiring, and allocation of talent across squads
• Build an environment of trust, ownership, continuous learning, and strong engineering leadership
• Identify capability needs and turn them into hiring, development, or organizational actions
• Drive Product & Engineering Excellence
• Lead engineering delivery across multiple squads building customer-facing Forma design applications
• Partner closely with Product and Design to turn product strategy and customer needs into shipped outcomes
• Enable teams to experiment, learn from users, and move quickly while making thoughtful trade-offs between speed, quality, and long-term sustainability
• Strengthen engineering practices across reliability, performance, scalability, observability, security, and developer experience
• Stay Close to the Technology
• Partner with the Software Architect and Tech Leads on technical direction, risks, and cross-team dependencies
• Bring the technical depth to engage meaningfully in engineering discussions, ask the right questions, and help teams navigate complex decisions
• Ensure technical debt and long-term system health are deliberately balanced with product delivery
• Encourage thoughtful adoption of emerging technologies, including AI, across our products and engineering practices
• Lead Across Forma & Autodesk
• Strengthen collaboration across Engineering, Product, and Design
• Partner with Forma Design Tools and other Autodesk teams on shared capabilities and integrations
• Help teams maintain speed, experimentation, and ownership as Forma continues to grow within Autodesk

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years of previous hands‑on experience as a software developer
• Engineering leadership experience across multiple teams, including experience managing and developing Engineering Managers or senior engineering leaders
• Track record of building and delivering customer-facing software products, ideally cloud‑based web applications
• Strong technical judgment and the credibility to engage with engineers on architecture, integrations, quality, performance, and technical trade‑offs
• Experience working closely with Product and Design to build high‑quality user experiences
• Experience hiring, coaching, and developing engineering talent and building effective teams
• Ability to operate with autonomy, make decisions in ambiguity, and balance product delivery with long‑term engineering health
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across disciplines and seniority levels
• Professional English proficiency

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience taking new software products from idea to market and evolving them through customer feedback and experimentation
• Experience in a startup, scale‑up, or fast‑moving product technology environment, combined with experience navigating organizational complexity
• Experience with rich, interactive, or performance‑sensitive web applications
• Experience with 3D, graphics, WebGL/WebGPU, geospatial technology, simulation, CAD, BIM, or design software
• Experience with AI‑assisted development or AI‑enabled customer experiences
• Experience using product analytics, user testing, or experimentation to inform product development
• Knowledge of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) is helpful but not required
• Experience working across international, cross-functional product organizations

We know great candidates don't always match every qualification listed. If the mission excites you and you believe your experience can help us build great teams and products, we'd love to hear from you. Learn More About Autodesk Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made. We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk – it’s at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world. When you’re an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!

Salary Transparency

Salary is one part of Autodesk’s competitive compensation package. Offers are based on the candidate’s experience and geographic location. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Belonging

We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/global-belonging

In‑Person Onboarding and Identity Verification

This role may require in‑person onboarding and/or in‑person ID verification.

Are you an existing contractor or consultant with Autodesk? Please search for open jobs and apply internally (not on this external site).