Head of Software Engineering

Job description

In partnership with OANDA (one of the world's leading online trading platforms), we're looking for an experienced engineering leader to take ownership of OANDA's software engineering organisation at a pivotal moment in our growth - someone who can raise the bar on engineering excellence while maintaining the speed and agility our product teams need to compete. This is a senior leadership role reporting to the CTO, working in close partnership with the heads of product, infrastructure, data, and security. You'll be responsible for the overall health, productivity, and direction of an ~80-person engineering department spanning multiple product areas. WHAT YOU'LL DO? - Own the end-to-end performance of the software engineering function - Build and sustain a culture of empowered, accountable teams - Set a clear engineering strategy aligned to the company's product and commercial direction, and communicate it credibly at all levels - Work hybrid with 3 days a week in our Prague office. Travel to build relationships with engineering teams and stakeholders in-person further afield. - Define and uphold engineering standards across architecture, code quality, testing, observability, and incident response. - Own the AI-first product development lifecycle end-to-end - Establish clear metrics for delivery throughput, quality, and operational health. - Invest in developer experience and productivity - Partner with Risk, Legal, and Compliance - Represent engineering to regulators, auditors, and internal governance committees. - Build the audit trails, controls, and accountability structures - Champion the client perspective within engineering - Manage the software engineering budget, vendor relationships, and build-vs-buy decisions - Work closely with product leadership to ensure engineering capacity and roadmap are well-aligned, and that technical constraints and opportunities are surfaced early in planning. - Build trusted relationships with stakeholders across the business WHAT DO YOU BRING TO THE TABLE? - 10+ years in software engineering, with at least 5 years in engineering leadership roles that included managing other managers. - A track record of building high-performing engineering organisations - Strong instincts for when to push autonomy down and when to provide direction; - Deep enough architecture and systems fundamentals to earn the genuine respect of senior engineers. - Experience owning complex, high-availability, distributed systems in production. - Familiarity with modern engineering practices - Experience in a regulated financial services environment (ideally fintech, trading, or payments). - Practical knowledge of operating under regulatory frameworks covering retail customers. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills. - Comfortable presenting to regulators, auditors, and board-level audiences. - You've built strong cross-functional relationships and know how to lead through influence. WHY JOIN THE FTMO TEAM? - We are a Czech fintech that, since 2015, has grown from an idea into a global project. 🚀 - 300+ amazing teammates. We’re a great team who learn from each other every day.🤜🤛 - How do we work? We focus on meaningful work and open communication, while only adopting processes that make our lives easier. - Prague, Národní třída. Enjoy our modern offices at the Quadrio shopping center, offering beautiful views and excellent accessibility. - What if I don’t trade? No worries. We’ll show you what our product is all about and introduce you to the basics of trading. - Free fruit, snacks, and coffee are always within reach in the office. - How do we promote strong relationships and well-being? Company cottage, team building events, and running club. - Flexible hybrid model. We prefer collaborating in person to keep the team spirit high, but we offer the flexibility you need to stay balanced. *The benefits mentioned above apply to FTMO on-site employees in our Prague office.