As a fast-growing startup that has already made an impact within less than a year in the market, we are building a talented team to scale our operations and drive our vision forward 🌟 💼 About The Role As Head of Engineering at Murphy, your mission is to build and lead a high-performing engineering organization that delivers Murphy’s product and platform roadmap at startup speed while raising the bar on scalability, quality, security, and operational excellence in a regulated (banking) environment.

You will own the engineering organization end-to-end: org design, leadership development, hiring, delivery performance, and platform maturity. You will establish a delivery operating system that makes execution predictable across squads, and you will drive a prioritized Tech Backlog Portfolio spanning AI platform foundations (agents/runtime performance, latency/cost discipline), QA and test automation, infrastructure/reliability and observability, and developer experience.

You will partner closely with the CTO on technical strategy and architectural direction, and work deeply with Product and AI to shape scope, sequencing, and outcomes. As we scale from ~15 to 40+ engineers across multiple squads, you will provide multidisciplinary leadership across distributed architectures, infra/reliability, and AI systems, translating bank-grade expectations into pragmatic engineering controls and evidence without stalling product delivery—while building a culture of ownership, feedback, and engineering excellence.

📝 Responsibilities

• Lead, grow, and coach an engineering organization scaling from ~15 to 40+ engineers across multiple squads; develop engineering managers and tech leads.
• Define org design, team topology, and service ownership boundaries; ensure clear accountability and effective cross-squad collaboration.
• Establish and run a delivery operating system that drives predictable outcomes (planning cadence, scope discipline, definition of done, release rhythm).
• Own execution of product and platform roadmaps; manage dependencies, risks, and tradeoffs to deliver high-quality outcomes on time.
• Drive a prioritized Tech Backlog Portfolio across AI platform, QA/test automation, infrastructure/reliability and observability, and developer experience, with clear owners and measurable impact.
• Partner with the CTO on technical strategy and architectural direction in a microservices, event-driven environment; mature the platform without disrupting delivery.
• Partner with Product to shape scope, sequencing, and measurable outcomes; translate business priorities into executable plans and resourcing.
• Raise engineering quality and operational excellence (testing strategy, CI reliability, release confidence, incident response, observability, on-call health).
• Embed security-by-default and compliance-by-design practices suitable for regulated customers (banks): auditability, access controls, data handling, SDLC controls, change management, incident readiness.

📚 Requirements

• 5+ years in software engineering roles, including 8+ years in engineering leadership (EM/Head/Director level), ideally in fast-growing startups/scale-ups.
• Proven experience scaling and leading high-performing engineering teams through multi-squad growth (e.g., scaling an org from ~10 to 50+ engineers, or equivalent complexity).
• Track record managing managers and/or multiple teams, including org design, hiring, performance management, and leadership development.
• Strong technical judgment across backend architecture and distributed systems; experience operating microservices and event-driven systems (Kafka or equivalent).
• Credible depth across infrastructure/reliability (observability, incident management, CI/CD) and engineering quality practices (testing, release engineering).
• Experience building or operating AI-enabled products (LLMs/agents) with real tradeoffs (latency, cost, evaluation/quality, reliability).
• Demonstrated ability to implement a delivery operating system that improves predictability and throughput without sacrificing quality.
• Experience operating in security-sensitive or regulated contexts; capable of translating requirements into pragmatic controls and evidence.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management; can align Engineering, Product, and AI and translate technical work into business impact.
• Comfortable working in a hybrid environment and leading distributed collaboration effectively.

🤖 Our stack (If is needed)

• Frontend: Next.js, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript.
• Backend: Node.js, TypeScript, Python, Microservices
• Infrastructure: Kafka, PostgreSQL, AWS, Terraform.

🤝 What We Offer 💰 Salary : €100k–€150k gross/year

📈 Stock options : Because we all build Murphy together – you'll own a piece of what we’re creating.

🧩 Impact : Be part of our startup journey from day one, playing a key role in our growth and building something meaningful from the ground up.

📚 Learning : Continuous development through trainings, knowledge-sharing, and exposure to other top-tier startups in our ecosystem.

🍱 Healthy meals : No more boring tupperware – enjoy daily meals with Nora Foods . We cover 50% of each order!

💳 Cobee card : Flexible compensation for transport and restaurants , so you can make the most of your net salary.

🚴‍♂️ Ride into work: Forget traffic jams – hop on your Panot e-bike and cruise to the office! We cover 50% of your subscription.

🛜 Hybrid & Flexible : Our default setup is hybrid – 3 days a week at our office in Poblenou, surrounded by a thriving tech scene, and 2 days of remote work. But if there’s one thing that defines us, it’s flexibility: we trust you to organize your time and space in the way that helps you do your best work.

📚 Our Process We believe that hiring is a two-way street: while we get to know you, you also deserve the chance to understand who we are, how we work, and what makes Murphy AI special. Here’s what you can expect:

1️⃣ First Interview – Getting to Know You A conversation with a future teammate who’s excited to find a new colleague. We’ll talk about your story, what drives you, and what you’re looking for next—no trick questions, just a genuine exchange.

2️⃣ Second Interview – Deep Dive You’ll meet the Hiring Manager and potentially another team member. This is a more technical discussion where we explore your skills in detail, walk through real scenarios, and answer any questions you might have about the role.

3️⃣ Tech Assessment or Business Case A practical exercise to see how you approach challenges similar to those you’d tackle at Murphy. You’ll have time to reflect and showcase your thinking—no rush, no surprises.

4️⃣ Coffee at the Office with the Founders Finally, you’ll join us in our Barcelona office for a relaxed coffee with the founders and the Hiring Manager. It’s the perfect opportunity to experience our culture firsthand and meet more of the team who could soon be your colleagues.

👉 To learn more about how we hire and what to expect at every step, feel free to explore our Hiring Guide!

👉 We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where everyone, regardless of background, identity, or experience, feels valued and empowered to thrive. We believe that different perspectives drive innovation and success, and we actively foster an environment where all voices are heard and respected.