Head of Engineering
Pipekit · Serbia
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $225,000 / year
- Serbia
Job highlights
- Lead a small, talented engineering team to achieve product-market fit.
- Own engineering execution, quality, and reliability.
- Drive hiring, onboarding, and team growth strategy.
- Collaborate with Product to shape priorities and execution.
- Manage open-source strategy and community engagement.
About the role
Head of Engineering at Pipekit
Pipekit is seeking a Head of Engineering to lead our engineering team, focusing on people management and execution. The primary goal is to transform a talented, small team into a highly effective, low-friction execution engine that achieves product-market fit and scales rapidly.
About Pipekit
Pipekit is developing the foundational software infrastructure for modern data and AI systems. We are the primary maintainers of the open-source Argo Workflows project, advancing Kubernetes-native workflow computing by enhancing the performance, scalability, and reliability of distributed systems. We collaborate with major Argo users, including Bloomberg, Intuit, CrowdStrike, and Centrica Energy, leveraging these relationships to improve our upstream runtime and develop our proprietary enterprise control plane. Join us in pushing the boundaries of Kubernetes-native infrastructure.
Responsibilities
- Engineering Productivity, Processes, and Execution Strategy: Own delivery, quality, reliability, and focus across services and product engineering. Translate company priorities into clear plans, milestones, and shipped outcomes. Balance speed and pragmatism in a pre-PMF environment. Design lightweight execution systems to accelerate team shipping with reduced coordination overhead. Manage stakeholder relationships for the Engineering function, interacting with the Management Team, Product, and Go-to-Market teams.
- Engineering Org Growth Strategy: Full ownership of hiring, onboarding, performance management, feedback loops, and standards. Conduct 1:1s, address issues proactively, and prevent management/culture debt. Establish and enforce operating norms for communication, accountability, and professionalism. Design the organization and teams for future growth, not just current state. Own interview loops, leveling, offers, and closing strategies. Build a team optimized for ownership and customer impact, avoiding bureaucracy.
- Collaboration with Product: Partner closely with the Product Manager and Founders to translate priorities into executable plans. Provide clear input on feasibility, trade-offs, and sequencing. Push back on scope, timelines, or priorities that pose execution risks. Actively shape priorities by contributing an engineering perspective, ensuring engineering ownership beyond just ticket execution.
- Open Source Strategy: Collaborate with Founders to continually refine Pipekit’s open-source strategy. Own the stewardship and execution of our open-source strategy (what, when, how). Develop strong relationships with key stakeholders and partners. Serve as a senior technical voice externally in community, partner, and key user interactions.
Key Skills/Competency
- Head of Engineering
- Engineering Leadership
- People Management
- Execution Strategy
- Product Engineering
- Open Source
- Kubernetes
- Distributed Systems
- Hiring
- Startup Environment
Skills & topics
- Head of Engineering
- Engineering Leadership
- People Management
- Execution Strategy
- Product Engineering
- Open Source
- Argo Workflows
- Kubernetes
- Distributed Systems
- Startup Leadership
- Hiring
- Onboarding
- Performance Management
- Technical Strategy
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight leadership experience, startup success, and open-source contributions, aligning them with Pipekit's needs for engineering productivity and org growth.
- Showcase technical depth: Emphasize your experience with Kubernetes, distributed systems, and building scalable infrastructure, demonstrating credibility with strong engineers.
- Articulate your vision: Prepare to discuss your approach to building high-performing teams, managing in ambiguity, and driving execution in a pre-PMF environment.
- Demonstrate collaboration: Be ready to share examples of how you partnered with product and other functions to deliver outcomes and shape strategy.
- Engage with the community: If applicable, highlight your experience with open-source projects and community engagement, showing alignment with Pipekit's open-source strategy.
Technical preparation
Deepen Kubernetes and distributed systems knowledge.,Review Argo Workflows architecture and contributions.,Prepare to discuss system design challenges.,Practice explaining complex technical concepts.
Behavioral questions
Describe building a high-performing startup team.,How do you handle ambiguity and evolving priorities?,Share an experience of difficult people management decisions.,Explain your approach to open-source strategy.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the time zone requirement for the Head of Engineering role at Pipekit?
- The Head of Engineering role at Pipekit requires candidates to be available between Eastern Time USA and Central European Time to ensure effective collaboration across different regions.
- What does Pipekit build and what is its relation to Argo Workflows?
- Pipekit builds the software infrastructure for modern data and AI systems. They are the primary maintainers of the open-source Argo Workflows project, focusing on Kubernetes-native workflow computing.
- What are the key responsibilities of the Head of Engineering at Pipekit?
- The Head of Engineering is responsible for engineering productivity, process, and execution strategy, as well as the growth strategy of the engineering organization, and collaborating on open-source strategy.
- What kind of leader is Pipekit looking for in a Head of Engineering?
- Pipekit seeks a senior engineering leader with experience building high-performing startup teams, strong technical credibility, excellent people management skills, comfort with ambiguity, and experience with open-source products.
- How does Pipekit measure success for its Head of Engineering in the first 90 days?
- Success in the first 90 days includes consistent team delivery against goals, clear ownership with fewer escalations, lightweight planning processes, established quality standards, a calibrated hiring process, and trusted engineering execution by the founders.
- What is Pipekit's approach to open-source strategy?
- Pipekit actively engages in its open-source strategy, with the Head of Engineering owning stewardship and execution, fostering relationships with stakeholders, and acting as a senior technical voice externally.
- What kind of work environment can a Head of Engineering expect at Pipekit?
- The environment is early-stage and pre-Product-Market Fit, characterized by evolving priorities, a need for pragmatic decision-making, and a focus on building a low-friction execution engine rather than adding excessive process.
- What are the salary expectations for the Head of Engineering position?
- The compensation range for the Head of Engineering role at Pipekit is $175,000 to $275,000 annually.