director engineer London, England
Job description
Can you help us change the world?
Yes, you read that correctly. It sounds grand, but we've got big ideas at Mews. We're transforming the world of hospitality, re-imagining the industry with a best-in-class cloud-based property management solution for hotels, hostels, apartments, and so much more.
We're on the lookout for ambitious, tenacious and passionate people who want to join the next generation of innovators and disrupt the hospitality industry with us. Sound good so far? Keep reading and tumble down the Mews rabbit hole...
About the role
First things first: you want to know what you're actually applying for. It's impossible to capture every nuance of a role – especially at a rapidly growing company like Mews – but if we had to distil it down to a job description (which we do because this is a job description), it would be this:
We are seeking an experienced leader with a passion for, and track record of, building high performing teams that build a world class Platform Infrastructure to power Mews.
Reporting directly to the VP of Platform Engineering you will be responsible for the reliability, security, quality and scaling of our Platform to meet the growing demand and rapid growth of our product and commercial growth. You will be a strategic thinking and believe that success is achieved by building an environment where your teams can do their best work and foster a culture of curiosity and continuous learning. You are able to motivate and inspire your teams through enabling autonomy, mastery and purpose and help them grow by striking the balance between challenging and supporting them. You are excited by the endeavour of great management and leadership and be a continuous learning, have high self-awareness and lead with empathy and humility.
We believe in the concept of "Platform as a Product" and are seeking a Director of Engineering with a similar mindset and experience. You will believe in treating Product Teams as a customer and see your role as enabling them to be successful. Focussing on delivering value and impact by enabling Product Teams to self-serve, optimize flow of the delivery of value and reduce toil. You will be data-informed in your approach and have experience in driving improvements with both qualitative and quantitative insights with an awareness of DORA metrics (and ideally SPACE framework).
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in software development, cloud computing, and infrastructure management.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the development and maintenance of a reliable and scalable platform infrastructure that meets the needs of our business.
- Manage, coach and mentor your managers to help them grow and create an environment for them to flourish. Ensure high-quality deliverables and ongoing professional development.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement platform engineering strategies that align with business goals and priorities.
- Overseeing the roadmap execution and ensuring successful delivery.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with technology vendors and service providers to ensure that the platform infrastructure meets our business needs.
- Establish a high-security posture with a "zero trust" approach where security is seen as an enabler and drive a "shift-left" approach to discover risks early in the pipeline.
- Ensure compliance with security and regulatory requirements related to platform infrastructure.
- Develop and manage the platform engineering budget, including tracking expenses and identifying cost optimization opportunities.
- Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and industry trends related to platform engineering.
Requirements:
- Proven track record of building and managing high-performing engineering teams and managing managers.
- Strong understanding of cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, etc.) and related technologies (Docker, Kubernetes, etc.).
- Good understanding of all aspects of the software development life cycle as well as agile principles and methodologies.
- Experience with observability practices and tooling, incident management processes and driving operational excellence.
- Product mindset and an understanding of product management principles applied to Engineering teams.
- Experience with infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform, Pulumi, CI/CD tooling etc.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.
- Understanding of security and compliance requirements related to platform infrastructure.
- A passion for learning, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement
What's in it for you?
Did you know that Mews has been voted the Best Place to Work in Hotel Tech for 2 years running? You do now. Most of that is down to our inspiring team, but part of it is because of some pretty amazing perks. As well as awesome colleagues and stimulating work, you'll get:
- Participation in Company shares program
- Best-in-class Parental Leave Policy. At Mews, the primary caregiver gets 6 months fully paid parental leave, the secondary caregiver gets 2 months fully paid. (No matter your location, can be used during the 1st year of your newborn, covers birthing, adoption and surrogate, applies if you're employed for at least 1 year at Mews)
- Flexible Benefits via the ThanksBen platform (pay for things like your Netflix, Spotify or other streaming services, for instance)
- Unlimited paid holiday (no, this is not a typo)
- Wellness Wednesday's (where every last Wednesday of the month, the whole company enjoys a paid day off to attend to your own well-being)
- Remote/flexible working (we're 100% hybrid-proof, but we cannot hire from anywhere in the world unfortunately, so feel free to reach out and check with us!)
- Monthly working from home allowance and a monthly healthcare insurance allowance (we want you to be happy & healthy)
- Regular team events and socials
Who is Mews?
We want to get to know you, so it's only fair we tell you a little bit about ourselves first. Mews has been transforming hospitality since 2012. What began in a single hotel in Prague now powers thousands of hotels around the world, as they pursue their mission to develop transformational solutions for brands and create remarkable experiences for guests.
Since the beginning, Mews embraced being different. Mews is not simply a property management system, but a connected hospitality cloud with products across the hotel ecosystem and more integrations than anyone else.
From global hospitality brands to independent properties, hoteliers join Mews because they recognize the power of innovation. They understand that they can benefit from hotel tech that drives efficiency, maximizes revenue, and improves guest happiness.
Mews serves over 3,000 properties across more than 70 countries around the globe and works with a huge number of hotel tech partners to provide hoteliers with an unbeatable connectivity – no other solution offers as many integrations.
At the 2020 HotelTechAwards, Mews was voted Best PMS by industry peers. Mews was also a Best PMS Finalist in 2021 and 2022, as well as being named Best Place to Work in Hotel Tech in the same years. Mews ranked 24th in the FT 1000 fastest growing European companies in 2021.
Life at Mews
That's what we do, but what about who we are? Mews' culture is special and difficult to capture in words, which makes writing this tricky. You'll experience the freedom to be yourself and the ability to watch your ideas come to life. You'll have an open line of communication and an open invitation to after-work drinks, be they virtual or in-person. Sometimes the work can be challenging and there can be a lot of it, but you'll always be able to rely on those around you.
Yes, we're ambitious and we move fast, but we know the value of fun and taking a breather. Every month we have a Wellness Wednesday, a day off that you can use to boost your health, whether that's a long lie-in, a trip to the gym, or anything in between. We have slack channels for almost every interest imaginable, and an all-company meeting every Friday gives you the chance to ask any question to our leadership team.
Oh, and we love our pets ❤️. To get more of an idea what life at Mews is like (and to see dozens of cute cats, dogs, and hamsters), check out our Instagram . We're guided by our five key values; if you see yourself in them, it's time to get in touch.
✊ Everyone is welcome at Mews
To reimagine the art of hospitality, we need teams who represent our global and diverse customers and users. Our differences make Mews, so we welcome people of all backgrounds and identities to work with us. Embracing different perspectives, trying new things and feeling safe to bring your authentic self to work. If this sounds like you and you're ready to join a global, innovative, and exciting community, we'd love to hear from you!
One very important note….don't hold back! Even if you think you don't meet 100% of the criteria listed in this job role, we still encourage you to apply. We believe that everyone should have equal access to opportunities and want to ensure we provide an inclusive experience, so do let us know if there is anything else we can do to support your application process. We can't wait to hear from you!
