Director, Data Engineering

sennder is a European digital freight forwarder looking for a Director, Data Engineering to join our Data Platform area. The role is based out of either the Berlin or Barcelona office (flexible hybrid home/office combo covid permitting) and will report to the CTO. Do you want to help us shape the future of the logistics industry?
 
We value humility and we're as interested in your character as we are in your talent. Please apply, even if you feel you only meet part of our listed criteria. Diversity drives innovation and we offer an international and friendly work environment with an energetic company culture. Just be yourself and maybe you’ll bring something valuable to the role we didn't initially think of.
 
sennder is Europe’s leading digital freight forwarder at the intersection of where technology meets logistics. Through our proprietary transportation operating system, built by our in-house tech teams, we not only connect shippers to our fleet of thousands of trucks, but also improve how they move products in sustainable, cost-efficient, and transparent ways - making the logistics industry fit for the future. In a traditional industry, we’re growing and moving fast to digitally automate all road logistics processes. You can be part of one of Europe’s latest growth stories as we fast-forward road logistics into digitalization.

At the spear-tip of this digitalization and automation is our Data Engineering, Data Platform and ML  capabilities, which aim to provide the business with data-driven tools to support their processes and decisions, be it in the form of raw data from our data warehouse, a fully supported Salesforce-suite, reports and analysis or predictive models and recommendation systems. We are now looking for a Director, Data Engineering to lead and significantly advance these capabilities to help us realize our company objectives. You will define, evangelize and deliver our Data strategy and roadmap, foster innovation and enable our multi-disciplinary teams to deliver on our mission.

Autonomy is embraced throughout the whole tech org, we look for leaders who can inspire and phrase the mission for their teams to build, grow and guide. You foster collaboration, inspire by example and thrive in a fast-paced environment whilst providing technical vision and strategy to help teams execute to the best potential. 

 
In this role you will
  • Proactively formulate and implement the vision and strategy for data and analytics at sennder 
  • Be an evangelist for the data strategy in order to gain genuine buy-in from across the organisation
  • Lead, retain and grow a highly talented data engineering and ML team
  • Partner with cross-functional teams of Engineers, Product Managers, Business Solution Leads, Analysts, and other areas to understand their data needs and deliver on them
  • Work closely with Directors of Engineering to foster a culture of collaboration across Technology
  • Establish the processes needed to achieve operational excellence in data quality, system reliability and enabling rapid experimentation and data-informed decisions
  • Drive the design, build and launch of data platform capabilities, data systems & tools and data models
  • Define and manage SLA’s for all data sets and processes running in production
  • Take ownership of improving data engineering and machine learning capability within the team
  • Support employees in their career development and personal growth
  • Apply pragmatic solutions, find the right tradeoffs and seek to reduce complexity to help teams deliver and increase leverage for the organization.  
  • Advocate and advance modern, agile software development practices and help develop and evangelize great engineering and organizational practices. 
  • Create a vibrant and productive data engineering culture underpinned by collaboration and inclusion. 
  • Lead by example inline with the company values to ensure people can fulfill their potential and actively manage performance. 
 
Preferably you are
  • 10+ years experience in more than one of Analytics, BI, Data Warehousing and Machine Learning
  • Data architecture experience 
  • Strong people leadership and experience managing managers
  • Experience working collaboratively with Engineering, Product Management and Commercial stakeholders 
  • Strong communication and influencing skills. You can communicate big ideas to varied audiences, 
  • You know how to lead on data strategy and how to enable the long term business strategy through data 
  • Experience initiating and driving large scale strategic initiatives
  • Be a promoter of a data-driven approach to engineering, focused on delivering meaningful end-user improvements and value aligned with the business objectives.
  • Experience building a world-class engineering team by hiring, nurturing, and retaining the best talent
 
We expect you to
  • Be passionate about doing great work, and pragmatic about getting things done.
  • To be able to communicate clearly and effectively. Explaining technical concepts to non technical stakeholders is something that you enjoy doing.
  • Proactively provide solutions for complex business problems, enabling insights that can empower better decision-making.
  • Help define and share best practices of data product management across the organization.
  • Be a decent human being. Be willing to help other people and share your expertise.
  • Have a superb communication skills in English.
 
What you can expect
  • A fast-growing company, transitioning from startup to scale-up, where your work will make an impact on our growth and lead to several career opportunities.
  • An international team of 900+ people with 65+ nationalities spread across 7 country offices with English as our company language.
  • A quarterly feedback and review process for personal development. We also use “Objectives and Key Results” for company goals.
  • A structured promotion process, providing everyone with fair and transparent career growth.
  • Learning and development opportunities on the job and through conversations with your manager.
  • Various opportunities to connect with colleagues, formally and informally, digitally or in person (when allowed), through regular team events, company get-togethers, and partnership events with other companies and local organizers.
  • When in office: unlimited snacks, drinks, and fruits.
  • Compliance with COVID-19 restrictions when required with remote interviews, onboarding, and working.
 
At sennder, we want to maximize the individual’s potential for all employees and reinforce an inclusive culture and environment of continuous learning that empowers people to succeed as a team. In addition to humility, we value commitment, team spirit, respect, and kindness to build trusted relationships across teams. Learn more on our career site. 
 
Get to know us, our culture, green business, funding history, and more on our blog here.
 
Please send your application in English and help us reduce negative unconscious bias by leaving out your picture, age, address, and other unnecessary information in your CV. We only want to know the merits on which you’d be great for this role.
If you have any questions or problems please reach out to us ta@sennder.com. We do not accept applications via email.