Engineering Manager – Data Platform

Position Overview: This is a vacancy for a hybrid role with regular visits to our HQ in Tutzing, Germany or Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender identity. As we continue to scale and consolidate our Data Platform, we are seeking an experienced Engineering Manager (m/f/x) to join our Product & Engineering department. In this role, you will own delivery across the full stack, from Java-based networking infrastructure and integration services, to Angular-powered user interfaces. You will be as comfortable talking about Netty pipelines and load balancing strategies as you are reviewing a component architecture or coaching an engineer through a performance conversation. We are a team that believes AI is a genuine engineering accelerant, not a gimmick. And we want our Engineering Manager to model that mindset and help their team develop it. Ready to make an impact? You’ll get to take ownership of: Leading, mentoring, and developing a mixed team of backend and frontend engineers, supporting career growth, performance management, and technical skill development. Owning end-to-end delivery for your team's domain: planning, prioritisation, quality, and timeliness of releases, working closely with Product Management. Setting and maintaining a high bar for engineering quality: driving code reviews, architectural decisions, and technical standards across both the backend (Java, networking) and frontend (TypeScript, Angular) layers. Collaborating with Product Managers and senior leadership to align roadmap priorities with real customer and business value, and to push back when needed. Staying technically close enough to the codebase to credibly challenge your engineers on design decisions, investigate complexity, and represent the domain in cross-functional discussions, without being in the weeds on a daily basis. Shaping how AI is used within your team - not just as an autocomplete tool, but as a genuine lever for automating workflows, accelerating problem-solving, and improving the quality and throughput of engineering work. Facilitating agile practices and ensuring smooth, predictable delivery processes across the team. What will you learn during your apprenticeship?: We’d love to meet someone with: 7+ years in software development, with at least 3+ years in an engineering leadership role managing product-focused engineering teams. A strong backend engineering background, ideally in Java, with sufficient depth to challenge technical decisions, review designs, and engage meaningfully with your engineers on topics like networking, concurrency, integration protocols, and system architecture. Enough frontend awareness (TypeScript, Angular or comparable) to understand the full picture and support your frontend engineers effectively, even if backend is your natural home. Familiarity with the networking and integration space: HTTP/REST, asynchronous messaging (Kafka, AMQP, MQTT), and data integration protocols (AS2, EDI, GraphQL) - the kind of problems Lobster's platform is built to solve. A genuine, hands-on attitude toward AI-augmented engineering: you use AI tools to increase your own effectiveness and actively encourage and coach your team to do the same. Proven stakeholder management skills - able to navigate between engineering, product, design and senior leadership, and to translate technical complexity into business language without losing precision. Solid people management experience: coaching, goal setting, performance management including underperformance, and developing engineers at multiple seniority levels. Strong project management skills, with experience in Agile/Scrum environments and a pragmatic approach to process. Fluent in English; German or Dutch language skills are a plus. We’d love to hear from you: You can look forward to: Opportunity to work flexibly from home Modern offices in Germany and the Netherlands A personal Learning & Development budget Up to 30 days of remote work per year from any EU country Company Pension plan 30 vacation days a year 2 additional paid days off on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve Location-specific benefits packages (your recruiter will be happy to provide more details during your first chat) Company-sponsored business travel For this role, we are open to working with specialists based in Germany or the Netherlands . Whether you prefer working on-site at our offices in Tutzing , Amsterdam , or remotely from a location within one of these countries, we’re happy to accommodate your preferred working style. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply! Lobster is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where empathy and respect guide our interactions.