The team:

Celonis Labs is a dynamic and independent research and development unit within Celonis, focused on pioneering groundbreaking business models. We operate with the agility and freedom of a startup, fostering rapid innovation cycles and clean slates. This unique environment empowers us to explore new technologies and experiment with cutting-edge solutions, offering the exciting opportunity to build from scratch and shape the future of business.

We are seeking a Head of Engineering for our Celonis Labs team.

The role:

As Head of Labs Engineering, you’ll be responsible for leading, developing and growing the team of Innovation Engineers. You are responsible for fostering a collaborative culture and enabling your team to be curious engineers capable of delivering fast paced PoCs, prototypes and entire business solutions. You will work closely with your counterparts in Product Management and Architecture as well as other engineering teams within Celonis.

You’ll be managing the careers of the team members and their performance, and actively fostering successful group dynamics to help the team accomplish their mission. Managers at this level are primarily focused on leading and developing high-performing teams, demonstrating strong people management and leadership capabilities. While a solid understanding of technical concepts is important, the emphasis for this role is on effective team management, fostering collaboration, and driving the team’s mission forward. Technical decisions are often delegated to senior engineers, while the manager ensures alignment with overall objectives and facilitates the success of the team

You ensure that your team has a manageable level of technical complexity and that they are working collaboratively with adjacent teams. You also jointly define goals/OKRs with other stakeholders, contributing to larger strategic efforts.

Our team thrives on clear communication and collaborative effort. You will be responsible for defining and dividing responsibilities among the engineering team members, ensuring a cohesive and efficient workflow. We are dedicated to setting realistic expectations and providing transparent updates to stakeholders, fostering a culture of accountability and shared success.

The mission:

The Head of Engineering at Celonis Labs leads a team in transforming innovative concepts into actionable prototypes and scalable solutions. They collaborate on validating new business models and joint ventures, ensuring technical feasibility and alignment with strategic goals. By driving the implementation process, they bridge innovation and execution, delivering impactful results for Celonis and its partners.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the Engineers of Celonis Labs to successfully deliver their mission
• Bridge the gap between Engineers and Senior Leadership ensuring mutual understanding of objectives and expectations
• Manage the performance of engineers and support their career development 
• Build and maintain an engineering culture of trust, ownership, and collaboration within your team
• Encourage and nurture an innovative mindset among engineers to ensure they stay up to date with the latest technologies
• Own and drive the process of hiring new engineers and growing the career of existing team members
• Collaborate with Product Managers, Architects and other leads on goals and strategies around people, technology, and processes
• Advocate for the (whole) team; provide upward and outward visibility of the team and their work
• Actively promote team collaboration and solve the impediments of the team quickly
• Ensure that necessary decisions are taken and aligned within the engineering team as well as with relevant stakeholders
• Readiness to roll up your sleeves to help your team

The qualifications you need:

• Proven leadership experience for software engineering roles in an innovation/accelerator (startup-like) environment
• Strong technical credibility and a broad understanding of the SDLC in Cloud/SaaS environments
• Experience navigating projects through the stages of an Innovation framework (in Celonis Labs, projects go through the stages of ideation, exploration, conceptualization, validation and beta launch)
• Being up-to-date with emerging technologies and trends
• Demonstrated strong product mindset
• Proven strong people and communication skills
• Ability to evangelize the projects and ideas of Celonis Labs

Ways to stand out:

• Strong understanding of one or multiple of the Business Domains that Celonis operates in (e.g. Order Management, Procurement, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable)
• Hands-on experience as a software engineer
• Previous experience with our base tech stack: Node.js (Typescript), Terraform (IaC), Containers, Kubernetes, AWS, GitHub/Actions