Protecting one billion people from cyber threats? If you find this proposition more exciting than scary, come on board and grow with us.
Whalebone is a global company working on user-centric cybersecurity products for telcos, ISPs, enterprises, public institutions, and governments that provide millions of everyday internet users unyielding protection from malware, phishing schemes, ransomware, and other malicious digital attacks without the need for them to download anything. Whalebone is headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic.
At this point, Whalebone has 400+ customers in the telecom business around the globe. With around 160 team members of multiple nationalities, Whalebone ranked 22nd in Deloitte's list of fastest-growing companies in Central Europe.
We are looking for a Head of R&D to take ownership of delivery, technical direction, and operational excellence of a product domain. You will lead mature engineering teams and make sure their work is aligned with business objectives, product strategy, and customer needs.
Why this role
This is a role where technical leadership, delivery, and people leadership come together. You'll make sure our technology is aligned with product and customer expectations, shape how our engineering teams work in the landscape where AI changes our habits day to day, and make sure R&D is well aligned with other teams across Whalebone. Real ownership, with a direct impact on products that protect millions of users worldwide.
What will you do
- Shape the organization and technology to make sure we can fulfill customer expectations in value, reliability, speed of development and security.
- Make sure that Engineering Leads partner with Product Managers to prioritize epics, releases, and long-term technical investments, balancing new features with technical debt and platform improvements.
- Drive predictable and efficient delivery across engineering teams, including sprint planning, execution, release management, and incident management.
- Lead, mentor, and develop Engineering Leads and technical leads through regular performance reviews, coaching, and career development planning.
- Lead R&D improvement initiatives focused on automation, platform reliability, delivery acceleration, cost optimization, and the evolution of our engineering standards and organizational structure. Make sure that our team is on the top of AI transformation.
- Become a reliable part of company Leadership and actively contribute to company strategy and major decisions.
Expectations for first six months
- Successfully take over leadership of the engineering and technical leads. Map out the strengths, maturity level, ownership, and knowledge gaps within the teams.
- Review the current delivery process, engineering KPIs, and release workflow.
- Identify bottlenecks and friction points in delivery and operations.
- Take ownership of the technical roadmap and agree on priorities with Product.
- Set a clear professional growth plan for the team and make sure whole team is getting honest and clear feedback on their performance and behavior.
What we are looking for
- At least several years in engineering leadership or people management, with a track record of leading multiple teams and driving organizational changes.
- Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle, modern software architecture, cloud technologies, and scalable systems.
- Experience driving roadmap execution and managing engineering KPIs and delivery metrics.
- You know how to grow strong teams, lead organizational and process change, and align stakeholders across Product, Operations, and Leadership.
How we measure the success
You will design, monitor and improve the metrics that show how well our R&D delivers, such as:
- Team maturity
- Epic cycle time and epic scope stability
- Sprint completion rate
- Contribution to the product roadmap
- Lead time for change
- Incident resolution time and customer bug fix time
- Delivery predictability and release consistency
Why would you like to work with us?
- Meaningful job helping the company scale and shape a brand-new role
- 20+5 vacation days, a rewarding financial package, performance bonuses, and the option to choose ESOP as a benefit
- Office-based company culture with home office options, up to 4 sick days annually based on your selected working setup, and up to two weeks of Work From Anywhere each year
- You will be supported to learn, grow, and gain new experiences with us
- Regular events & teambuildings – grill, enjoy pub quizzes, or have breakfast with us
- Your opinion will matter to us – discuss your ideas and feedback directly with the CEO or CTO if you feel they should hear them
- Mobile phone tariff available for friends and family members
- Access to the ALZA special benefits program
- Multisport Card available through the company program
- 15% discount on all coffee products on the Coffeespot e-shop
- Access to wellbeing support through Hedepy
Position details
- Team: Engineering
- Work setup: Onsite
- Location: Jezuitská 14/13, Brno, Czech Republic
- Job type: Full-time
