Head of Engineering - Airthings for Business

Job description

Join Airthings, a global tech company on a mission to empower people to breathe better. About Airthings Founded in 2008, Airthings is a global tech company creating world-class air quality and radon monitors for people and businesses. Led by an international team of experienced scientists, engineers, developers and visionaries, Airthings is on a mission to ensure people around the world take control of their air quality through simple, sustainable and accessible technology solutions. We make radon and air quality solutions an essential and universal element for every building or home. Headquartered in Oslo, we are a Norwegian tech company with a global footprint serving customers all over the world. We are looking for a Head of Engineering to own and set the direction for our technical team inside the Airthings for Business unit at our Oslo headquarter. Job Summary The role carries dual accountability: the technical health of the team's systems (robustness, performance, security, quality) and the growth, wellbeing, and performance of the people on the team. Reporting to the CPTO, you will lead a single engineering team and partner closely with the counterpart Product Manager and Designer for your domain. The Head of Engineering owns the delivery, technical quality, and people leadership of their R&D team. They set and uphold the technical direction for their team's domain, are accountable for the robustness, performance, scalability and security of what the team builds, and are responsible for hiring, developing, and retaining a healthy, high-performing engineering team. Helping team members succeed and move fast is as important to the role as the technical hands on work they must do as a “playing coach”. They translate product and company strategy into technical plans the team can execute, and they represent their team's realities upward in the organisation. Airthings for Business is a business unit within Airthings, serving an international customer base that includes some of the world's biggest brands. Its technical team builds the software behind these products and owns the entire B2B product experience. The team also works closely with the wider Airthings R&D organisation to deliver the hardware and cloud services the unit depends on. Our Airthings for Business product and technology stack includes: Customer facing: Web dashboard, installation app, integrations (such as API, MCP, Webhooks, MQTT Publisher) Functionality for installation, fleet management, user management, sensor data analytics, reporting, alerts and status summaries Backoffice tooling Integration and adoption of AI to further advance the customer experience Key Responsibilities General: Lead the engineering team for Airthings for Business and own the technology stack and technical direction for the unit. Own the relationship between Airthings for Business and the Airthings R&D team and ensure good communication and collaboration between the two. Be the technical representative of Airthings for Business internally and externally Be part of the Airthings for Business leadership team and the Airthings R&D leadership team. Technical: The Head of Engineering is accountable for the technical health of everything the team owns. This includes: Set and communicate a clear technical vision for the team's domain, aligned with the broader R&D architecture. Own outcomes for a full team and domain, taking responsibility for end-to-end success. Own key architectural and prioritisation decisions with limited oversight, defending your choices and escalating the right things at the right time. Ensure decisions are documented, understood, and revisited when circumstances change. Manage technical debt deliberately: make it visible, prioritise it against feature work, and prevent it from compounding silently. Own the reliability of the team's systems and products; define what "good" looks like for quality in the domain and hold the team to it. Establish and maintain engineering practices appropriate to the domain (code review, testing strategy, CI/CD, release management, design/hardware reviews). Contribute to R&D-wide standards and cross-team initiatives, actively improving engineering across the organization. Ensure failures are detected, understood, and learned from. Set key performance expectations for the team's products (yield, responsiveness, resource use, efficiency, scale and more as relevant to the domain) and ensure they are measured. Ensure the team designs with performance and cost in mind and addresses regressions before they reach customers. Responsible for security and data privacy integrity. Ensure the team follows secure-by-design practices for its domain. Ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations (e.g. GDPR, and product/industry certifications applicable to the team) in partnership with other relevant parts of the organisation. Ensure the team can respond promptly to vulnerabilities and security incidents in its area. Own the team's ability to deliver predictably and with speed: drive planning, estimation, prioritisation, and remove blockers. Balance short-term delivery requirements against long-term technical health and operational work so the team stays productive over time. People / Personnel The Head of Engineering is directly responsible for the people on the team and the environment they work in. This includes: Own hiring for the team: define needs, run a high-quality and inclusive interview process, and make strong hire/no-hire decisions. Build a team with the right mix of skills, seniority, and diversity. Own onboarding so new engineers become effective and feel welcome quickly. Coach and develop engineers across the entire seniority range, ensuring continuous growth. Set clear expectations and give regular, direct, actionable feedback, both recognition and constructive. Follow and implement Airthings process for performance reviews and people development. Create a psychologically safe, inclusive environment where people can raise concerns, disagree, and take smart risks. Requirements Domain qualifications: Strong background in cloud applications, scalable data platforms, SaaS engineering and B2B services Experience with enterprise requirements: access control, integrations/APIs, SLAs, tenders and security/compliance expectations. Ability to balance enterprise customers' need for stability with ongoing delivery. Technical Strong engineering background with demonstrated depth relevant to the team's domain. Sound judgement on architecture, quality, performance, and security trade-offs. Credible enough technically to guide and be respected by experienced engineers. Leadership Track record of leading engineers — including hiring, developing, and managing performance (formal management experience or clear equivalent). Ability to set direction, delegate, and get results through a team rather than through personal output. Strong communication: can be clear and honest with engineers, peers, and senior leadership alike. Commitment to inclusive leadership and building diverse teams. General Comfortable balancing competing priorities and making decisions with incomplete information. Customer- and outcome-oriented; connects engineering work to user and business value. Aligned with Airthings' mission and values. Perks & Benefits Competitive pay and benefits, including pension and insurance A place where work-life balance is highly valued An inclusive and safe work environment where diversity is embraced Opportunities for continued growth and learning City center location, right by Slottsparken Social events & fun – We work hard and play hard with regular social activities Our culture We believe that team building and cross-collaboration are essential for our long-term growth and high performance. To support this, we encourage open discussions among our employees. Our flat structure ensures that every voice is heard, regardless of position. We are a multicultural team of intellectually curious and creative thinkers, driven to grow and make a significant impact. We value excellent communication and collaboration, and we share a strong interest in health, science, and technology Our values are Dare , Love and Focus ! What's next? Hopefully you have now been inspired to apply for this exciting role and you can apply directly via the apply button. Application deadline: Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until the role is filled.