Head of Software Development

Company Overview

The technological foundation of our company is crucial for growth, efficiency, scalability, and the continuous evolution of our digital business model. Our system landscape relies on proprietary tools, internal systems, automations, interfaces, and Shopware 6, which collectively support core business processes in e-commerce, marketplace operations, product data management, purchasing, logistics, customer service, marketing, controlling, and management.

Job Summary: Head of Development

To ensure operational performance and strategically advance our software engineering capabilities, we are seeking an experienced leader as Head of Development. This role holds overall responsibility for the development department, leading the existing team, fostering employee and process development, and establishing the technical foundation for the company's international scaling.

What Awaits You

Leadership and Team Building

• Provide technical and disciplinary leadership to the development team.
• Drive the further development, coaching, and expansion of the team.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and communication structures.
• Promote an independent and quality-oriented work approach.

Management, Prioritization, and Budget Responsibility

• Oversee the planning, prioritization, and management of all development activities.
• Conduct resource, capacity, and budget planning.
• Manage the budget for the development department.
• Coordinate requirements and roadmaps with specialist departments and management.
• Manage external service providers and development partners.

Overall Technical Responsibility

• Assume responsibility for the architecture, quality, and ongoing development of the software landscape.
• Lead the further development of internal applications based on Symfony and Shopware 6.
• Ensure stable, scalable, and secure system and integration architectures.
• Evaluate technical requirements, risks, and architectural decisions.
• Maintain a practical technical leadership approach.
• Serve as a technical sparring partner for developers, the Head of IT, and specialist departments.
• Provide support for complex technical decisions.
• Translate functional requirements into sustainable technical solutions.
• Participate in architecture reviews and technical concept development.

Processes, Tools, and Quality Assurance

• Optimize development, testing, deployment, and release processes.
• Introduce and further develop quality standards, code reviews, and documentation.
• Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation.
• Establish standards for code reviews, testing, error analysis, and quality assurance.
• Ensure transparency, predictability, and effective knowledge management.

International Team Building and Collaboration with External Partners

• Build, manage, and develop international development resources, particularly in countries like Vietnam.
• Evaluate suitable models for international collaboration, such as offshore, nearshore, or external development structures.
• Select, integrate, and manage external or international development partners.
• Establish onboarding, documentation, and review processes for international development resources.
• Ensure international teams can work productively without compromising quality, security, or data protection.
• Manage communication and operations in both German and English.

Data Protection, Data Storage, and Secure Development Environments

• Take responsibility for secure development and test environments.
• Implement data protection-compliant development processes and authorization concepts.
• Ensure data protection, information security, and controlled data access.

E-commerce and Business Responsibility

• Collaborate closely with e-commerce, purchasing, logistics, marketing, and other specialist departments.
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of the requirements of an international e-commerce retailer with high system and process dependency.
• Identify automation and digitalization potential.
• Align technical decisions with business value, scalability, and company goals.

What You Bring

Technical Requirements

• Several years of experience in software development, ideally within an e-commerce environment.
• Several years of experience leading development teams, ideally with disciplinary responsibility.
• Experience in a Head of Development, Engineering Manager, Team Lead Development, Lead Developer with leadership responsibility, or comparable role.
• Experience leading distributed or remote teams.
• Profound knowledge of PHP and Symfony.
• Experience with Shopware 6 or comparable e-commerce platforms.
• Excellent understanding of modern software architectures, data models, interfaces, APIs, web technologies, and databases.
• Experience with development, testing, release, and deployment processes.
• Understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, monitoring, logging, and technical quality assurance.
• Experience in prioritizing, managing, and implementing technical projects.
• Experience with budget planning, resource management, or service provider management is desirable.
• Experience with international, distributed, or external development teams is desirable.
• Knowledge of technical data protection measures, data masking, pseudonymization, anonymization, or synthetic test data is desirable.
• Very good German and English language skills.

Personal Requirements

• Clear leadership strength with binding, appreciative, and solution-oriented communication.
• High level of personal responsibility and entrepreneurial thinking.
• Strong ability to prioritize in a dynamic e-commerce environment.
• Technical judgment and the ability to pragmatically evaluate complex issues.
• Ability to present technical topics clearly to management and specialist departments.
• Structured, analytical, and quality-conscious work approach.
• Decisiveness and a strong sense of responsibility.
• Profound understanding of team building, employee development, and sustainable organizational development.
• Ability to effectively lead, develop, and manage teams remotely.
• Intercultural communication skills and confidence in collaborating with international teams.
• Awareness of data protection, information security, and responsible handling of company and customer data.
• Hands-on mentality without the need to continuously perform operational development tasks.

Why DEUBA

At DEUBA, you will find a dynamic and international environment where you can truly make a difference. We offer you:

• A responsible leadership position with direct influence on the technological future of an internationally successful e-commerce company.
• Responsibility for building, leading, and developing a modern development team, including international development structures.
• High flexibility through predominantly remote work with a few planned on-site appointments per year.
• Active participation in shaping architecture, technologies, processes, and strategic IT decisions.
• Exciting technical challenges involving Symfony, Shopware 6, system integrations, and scalable e-commerce platforms.
• Close collaboration with the Head of IT, management, and specialist departments to implement innovative solutions with measurable business impact.
• Budget responsibility and influence over technological investments and the future system landscape.
• A dynamic, growth-oriented environment with short decision-making paths and high implementation speed.
• Ample room for initiative, personal development, and the implementation of your own ideas.
• Attractive additional benefits such as employee events, bicycle leasing, and other perks.

Role Details

• Department: IT / Software Development
• Work Model: Predominantly remote with 1-3 on-site appointments per year
• Reports to: Head of IT
• Leadership Responsibility: Yes, disciplinary and technical
• Team Size: Currently 3 developers, with further expansion planned
• Budget Responsibility: Yes
• Languages: German and English
• Area of Activity: IT and Software Development
• Career Level: Executive
• Working Hours: Full-time
• Locations: Zum Wiesenhof 84, 66663 Merzig, Germany
• Home office: Available