Language and location

Fluent English and Spanish is a must. Based in Barcelona, not a remote role. Comfortable with occasional travel.

Engineering leadership foundation

- 12+ years in software engineering.
- 5+ years leading multi-team B2B SaaS organisations.
- Has owned delivery, architecture, security and operations as a single line.

AI-native delivery, demonstrably

Has led a credible shift to AI-led delivery, with evidence:

- Agentic workflows across the SDLC: code from specs, test creation, PR review, deployment.
- Codified playbooks the team follows.
- A productivity shift proven against whatever metrics the organisation uses.
- Understands the J-curve (productivity drops before it rises) and has coached teams through it.
- Reinvests the gain into discovery and new bets, not just features.
- Moving toward Spec-Driven Development, where evals gate the work, not code review.
- Has experimented beyond current practice (autonomous workflows, multi-agent systems)



and can say what held and what broke.

Authentic, people-centric leader

Earns trust across diverse teams. Leads change with empathy, not push. Has navigated real change (restructures, M&A;, capability shifts) while keeping engagement and retention high. Reflective and self-aware about their own gaps. See the dedicated section below.

Operates in brownfield reality

Our team is a not greenfield startup. 15-30 engineers in maintenance mode, acquired-company history, limited spec discipline, no architect yet, and rudimentary telemetry. The person can lead transformation from this reality, not a clean sheet. They know Pilot Purgatory as a named risk (95% of AI initiatives stall before production) and counter it with time-boxed pilots, clear production criteria and reinvest plans from day one.

📌 Vice President of Engineering (Barcelona)
🏢 ZEREN
📍 Barcelona