Lead Architect – Engineering Practices, AI Enablement

Role Overview

• Your mission is to build pragmatic architecture governance for our products, raise engineering effectiveness across teams, and actively introduce and support modern AI-supported development practices into our software organization.
• This role is not about abstract enterprise architecture. It is about creating standards, ways of working and guardrails that teams actually use in day-to-day delivery.
• You lead primarily through influence rather than hierarchy: by creating clarity, defining standards, facilitating alignment and enabling teams to succeed.
• In this role, you work closely with our COO and act as a key sparring partner for Product and Engineering Leads.
• Three major areas will define your impact: Architecture Governance (Product & Software Architecture), Practice Management (Engineering Effectiveness), Security & Compliance by Design.
• Design and operate a pragmatic governance model (e.g., Architecture Council, Design/Architecture Reviews, ADR/RFC processes).
• Define and maintain architecture principles, standards, and guardrails (patterns, integration standards, NFRs).
• Establish clear boundaries within which teams can make autonomous decisions (decision rights), while ensuring structured escalation and resolution of cross-cutting topics.
• Guide target architectures and modernization paths (legacy/monolith to modular or service-based architectures, strangler pattern, stabilization and decoupling).
• Create architectural transparency through clear communication and visualization, enabling Product, Engineering, and Operations to speak the same language (C4 models and ADRs instead of “PowerPoint archaeology”).
• Drive engineering effectiveness in practice: improve release discipline, review quality, rollback capability, observability standards, post-mortem quality, and developer experience across teams.
• Introduce AI-supported and agentic development capabilities into engineering teams in a pragmatic, secure and measurable way.
• Embed security and compliance considerations directly into architecture and delivery standards (e.g., OSS/license hygiene, SBOM approaches, audit requirements in software delivery).

Requirements

• Several years of experience (5+ years) in Software or Solution Architecture within complex, distributed systems (experience in cloud, hosting, internet-scale or IoT environments is a plus)
• Proven ability to drive impact without formal authority — leading laterally, moderating trade-offs, preparing decisions, and managing stakeholders effectively
• Experience in establishing and operating architecture governance frameworks (reviews, ADRs, standards, decision processes) — pragmatic and outcome-focused rather than bureaucratic
• Strong communication skills: you can explain architecture in a way that enables teams to implement it and allows Product and Business stakeholders to understand it
• Deep understanding of non-functional requirements (reliability, security, performance, cost) and the ability to operationalize them through standards, reviews, and measurable criteria
• You have already helped development teams adopt modern AI-supported or agentic coding practices in a real delivery environment.
• You have improved how engineering teams work in practice, not only through governance, but through measurable changes in delivery quality, release reliability, testing, observability, and/or developer experience.
• Excellent English skills and professional fluency in German.

Tech Stack

• Cloud
• Distributed Systems
• IoT

Benefits

• Work the way that fits your life – Remote or hybrid with flexible hours for a healthy work-life balance and the same technical equipment at home as in the office
• Experience real freedom – Workation across the EU and in our summer office in Mallorca
• Stay active and healthy – Access to EGYM Wellpass and thousands of fitness and wellness facilities
• Enjoy exclusive perks – Attractive discounts on many products and services through our corporate benefits program
• Recharge your energy – 30 days of vacation plus additional days off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve
• Give back – An extra day off to get involved in social activities through our Volunteer Day
• Make an impact – Take ownership and bring your ideas to life with real creative freedom
• Keep growing – Individual professional and personal development opportunities in an innovative tech environment
• Feel comfortable where you work – Modern, conveniently located offices across our European locations
• Be part of a diverse team – Work in an international environment shaped by diversity
• Create lasting memories – Company events and team activities you won’t forget