Job Description

Posted 10 months ago

Building a world class tech organization needs world class tech leaders. Our development
directors are a core ingredient of our success. They are responsible for a business domain
(“area”) of the company, supervising all technical aspects of the value delivery, both in terms
of new products as well as existing products.
As a Development Director, you will work closely with your Product counterpart to define and
implement a healthy and progressive technology (and product) strategy that delivers and
reinforces our position as the innovation leader in online travel. You will also drive impact
through the Engineering Managers and Lead Engineers who report to you by promoting
sound engineering practices, driving work on technical strategy and roadmaps, regularly
assessing the technical state of teams, advocating for standard methodologies broadly, and
providing focused mentoring to teams. You will help ensure that our solutions are scalable,
balanced, architecturally sound, and that technical debt is both incurred consciously and
repaid in a reasonable time.

In the People area your ambition is to build a best-in-class tech team by finding,
retaining and growing awesome eDOers and making sure they can execute
productively.
○ We want to build the premier tech organisation in Europe, and you will
support this ambition by designing, evolving and growing the development
organisation in your area, in terms of skills, culture, mix, structure etc.
○ Grow your next level of the team by finding, retaining and growing awesome
Engineering managers and Lead Engineers. Guide them to create high
performance teams.
○ Working with your direct reports, you will build a sound talent pipeline and
have the right mix of eDOers in terms of technologies and seniority levels
(across the crews)
○ Ensure the appropriate staffing levels for the area, managing external
providers relationships and budget as appropriate
○ You understand how developers work and manage retention, engagement
and productivity by building an awesome place to work,
○ Bring energy, engagement, motivation to the area by being a role model for
culture and values

In the Domain area, the Development Director is responsible for the strategic
alignment, target setting, initiative management for the entire area, and also aligning
with other areas to deliver on the company vision and area initiatives.
○ Through your understanding of both technology as well as business, you will
help us create a market-leading area strategy that is aligned with the overall
company strategy and ambition about reinventing travel.
○ Take our strategy and translate it into inspiring and engaging OKRs for the
teams in the area, in collaboration with Product Director
○ Collaborate with Product and other stakeholders to define the roadmap of
how to deliver the OKRs of the areas and to ensure the delivery of total
business value out of the area
○ Drive your area to high performance and take the accountability for overall
results in terms of functionality, timelines and quality
○ Have the right mix of enabling performance and staying on top of strategic
initiatives, enabling your people to shine and to deliver while making our
ambitions come true.
○ Collaborate across areas to define priorities, align roadmaps, coordinate
larger initiatives and remove obstacles.
○ Decide the right mix of building/ outsourcing/ partnering for the technology
solutions that are required to deliver the business value in the area

In the Technology area, your ambition is to build solutions are scalable, balanced,
architecturally sound, balancing time to market with just the right level of technical
debt.
○ Accountable of the overall technical strategy of the area, and the selection the
technical priorities for each year, in collaboration with Architecture and
Product
○ You will take these priorities and build a roadmap that is balancing both the
business needs and the technical priorities, incurring just the right level of
technical debt and balancing short term and mid term needs.
○ Together with the wider team, you will build an engaging overall tech vision,
strategy and execution

Capabilities needed
● Very good understanding of overall software development and delivery processes
both on the technical side as well as from an agile perspective.
● Very good understanding of the impact of team dynamics, culture, engagement to the
overall performance of the engineers, pods and area, linked with the capability to
actively shape and optimize these.
● Solid, broad, understanding of all technical aspects, reaching into adjacent areas.
(T-shaped)
● Synthesizing complex situations, providing transparency, making decisions and
facilitating conversations.
● Providing structure to execution and driving important deliverables with appropriate
toolings.
● Bringing positive energy to the execution, relentlessly bringing the best of all eDOers
out and stimulating high performance.