Engineering Talent and Operations Lead

at  Blinkist

Blinkist connects people with powerful ideas from leading authors and experts to broaden perspectives, gain knowledge, and spark understanding in all areas of their life, both personal and professional.
Used by over 28 million people worldwide, Blinkist distills the key ideas from the most relevant, impactful books and podcasts. These can be read or listened to in 15-minute summaries, that we call Blinks.
Together with Go1, our parent brand, who gives organizations and their employees access to the largest curated e-learning library on the planet, we’re on a mission to reach one billion learners as we unlock positive potential through a love of learning. ✨

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If we’ve captured your interest and you want to take part in changing the world through the power of ideas – apply now and tell us what got you excited about this opportunity.
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WHY THIS ROLE IS PERFECT FOR YOU

Are you a seasoned engineering leader who’s ready to make a meaningful impact without the traditional managerial constraints? We are looking for someone who wants to step away from direct line management and focus their talents as a high-impact, expert / senior individual contributor. This role is perfect if you’re not aiming to become a CTO but want to leverage your expertise to drive business outcomes and support engineering excellence. You will act as the right-hand person to the CTO, with an emphasis on creating value without being restricted by management hierarchy.
This role is ideal for someone who loves operational challenges, enjoys solving complex problems, and is interested in contributing directly rather than managing a team. If you want to be a trusted advisor to the CTO and the developers, understanding their technical challenges without needing to be hands-on coding, this role will provide exactly that opportunity.

Apply if you’re someone who:

• Takes ownership and doesn’t get bogged down by traditional role boundaries, focusing on what needs to be done.
• Is driven by accountability for Engineering as a whole.
• Has empathy, excellent communication skills, and a genuine interest in team success.
• Enjoys working in a dynamic environment where proactive problem-solving is encouraged and valued.
• Believes in the power of constructive feedback to foster personal and team growth.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Talent Strategy and Acquisition: Partner with the CTO on talent strategy, focusing on growth, engagement, and talent density. Lead efforts in identifying talent gaps, work closely with recruiters, and actively participate in hiring processes, including interviews and onboarding, to ensure we bring in top talent. Provide commercially sound suggestions for team composition, identify talent, and establish a mentoring system to facilitate mentoring opportunities that help developers grow their careers and impact.
• People Operations & Culture: Be the primary point of contact for all people-related needs within the engineering team. Establish at least one direct conversation with each engineer once a month to maintain strong connections and understand their progress and challenges. Help run performance and development cycles that are scalable and impactful.
• Operational Enablement: Facilitate regular tactical meetings with Technical Leads and the CTO to discuss progress, challenges, and next steps, ensuring discussions are focused on business priorities. Attend all team dailies and retros on a rotating basis to stay in touch with the teams and ensure they’re progressing. Help drive initiatives to improve team efficiency, align capabilities with business needs, and ensure that operational tasks are handled effectively.
• Hands-On Problem Solving: Identify and address issues within teams proactively, removing obstacles that impede productivity and ensuring that solutions align with business objectives. Support Technical Leads in managing operational issues and resolving tensions within their teams.
• Strategy Alignment: Support the CTO with financial reporting, budgets, and ensuring progress on the engineering strategy. Maintain a clear overview of team contributions and ensure alignment with broader business goals.