Software Engineering Manager

Together, SIDN and CIRA* are developing the Hello Registry Platform**: a modern, secure and scalable platform that registry operators around the world can use to manage their top-level domains (TLDs).

Like the idea of building the next generation of registry software for use by domain registries the world over? At Hello Registry, you’ll get the opportunity not only to progress the development of an innovative platform, but also to shape an international engineering organisation that will support the internet infrastructure of the future.

The challenge

How do you build a single, strong engineering organisation whose members are distributed across two different countries, teams and organisations? That’s the challenge you’ll be taking on as Hello Registry’s Software Engineering Manager. In partnership with CIRA, SIDN is developing the Hello Registry Platform: a modern, scalable platform for use by registry operators around the world.

And, as the platform grows, we’re developing the organisation behind it. Our aim is to establish a strong, international engineering organisation, within which teams collaborate productively and responsibilities are clearly defined, designed for future upscaling.

_{(*)CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) is the organisation behind the .ca domain (**) Hello Registry is a partnership between .ca registry CIRA and .nl registry SIDN, who have joined forces to develop a next-generation domain registration system. Our activities are based in both Canada and the Netherlands.}

As our Software Engineering Manager, you’ll head up SIDN’s software-engineering team, collaborating closely with the engineering teams at CIRA. You’ll be responsible for continuing to develop the technical organisation within SIDN, and you’ll make an important contribution to shaping the joint engineering organisation. You’ll work closely with Product Management and its technical counterparts at CIRA. You’ll direct the technical strategy and roadmap, establish a structure and ensure that teams, processes and technologies are fully aligned. Your leadership will promote unity, enabling you to translate strategy into action. You’ll foster the development of staff, you’ll build strong teams, and you’ll create an environment in which engineers can perform to the best of their ability within an international setting. You'll report to the Hello Registry Manager.

Responsibilities

Technical leadership

• Directing the technical strategy and roadmap.

• Assuring quality, security and reliability.

• Promoting engineering excellence.

Organisational development

• Setting up a scalable engineering organisation.

• Developing teams, roles and capabilities.

• Supporting international growth.

Collaborating with CIRA

• Helping to build an effective virtual engineering organisation that respects the individual identities of the two organisations.

• Developing governance systems and shared working methods.

• Reinforcing knowledge-sharing and collaboration.

People and team leadership

• Leading a team of roughly 10 engineers and continuing to develop the engineering team.

• Attracting, developing and retaining talent.

• Helping to build a strong team culture that promotes ownership and skill.

• Ensuring a well-balanced team in which experience, innovation and continuity are combined.

Delivery and execution

• Translating the roadmap into a predictable and successful outcome.

• Promoting quality, progress and the continuous improvement of processes and cooperative activities.

• Promptly identifying and resolving technical and organisation problems.

You’re an experienced engineering manager who is energised by building teams and organisations. You have the ability to inspire and impart structure to a complex environment, and you have experience of software development within a professional SaaS engineering organisation.

You have strong analytical skills, and you’re comfortable communicating with people at all levels of an organisation and working in an international setting where collaboration is essential.

You'll also have:

• Graduate-level working and reasoning ability.

• At least 8 years' experience in software engineering.

• At least 5 years' experience in a software engineering management role.

• Experience overseeing multidisciplinary engineering teams.

• Experience of organisational development and programmes of change.

• Experience with Agile working, DevOps and modern software development methods.

• Experience of cloud-native software development and SaaS platforms.

• Experience of international collaboration within distributed engineering teams is strongly preferred.

• Excellent communication skills in both Dutch and English.

Your leadership style

• You’re a coaching leader who imparts confidence and promotes ownership.

• You’re visible, accessible and decisive.

• You understand when to give people space and when to provide guidance.

• You calm complex situations and you’re able to unite disparate interests to devise shared solutions.

• You combine strategic insight with a pragmatic approach and you always keep both people and results in mind.

Success in this role

After roughly 12 months:

• SIDN will have a clearly defined tech organisation for Hello Registry.

• An effective joint SIDN-CIRA virtual engineering organisation will be in place.

• Clear trans-organisational governance, collaboration and decision-making arrangements will be in place.

• The two organisations’ engineering teams will have shared processes and standards.

• A multi-year roadmap will be in place, and its predictable realisation will be in progress.

• The required new engineers will have been recruited and settled in.

• The SIDN engineering team will operate as a motivated, professional, result-focused unit.

• Collaboration with CIRA will be demonstrably stronger and there will be a single trans-organisational engineering community.

For us, it's all about balance. Balance between hard work and relaxation, between performance and reward, between your ambitions and ours, between an inspiring office environment and the convenience of working from home, and of course between professional and private life. As well as utilising the latest, proven internet technologies, we also work with modern IT systems for easy collaboration, remotely, physically and in hybrid forms. We also make sure that our people have well-equipped home workstations, plus access to an office space with everything they need to get together, collaborate and inspire each another.

If you want to go running or visit granny during office hours, we're okay with that. And if you fancy a workation, that can be arranged. As long as you live up to your professional responsibilities, we'll work out between us exactly how and when you do your work. And we're not fans of annual performance appraisal. What really matters is year-round personal development and results. Where you take the lead. It’s a philosophy that our personnel really like: Effectory designated us a Worldclass Workplace for 2025-2026. Recognition for our passion and outstanding employment practices.

Pay and other benefits

What’s in it for you? First, ample opportunity for growth and skills development. After all, you'll be helping us take our IT set-up in a whole new direction. On-the-job growth will go hand-in-hand with training-based personal development -- for which we have a generous budget! There's an attractive benefits package as well:

• Gross monthly salary of up to €7,750, depending on experience

• Holiday pay of 8 per cent, plus a thirteenth salary payment

• A variable collective bonus of up to 4 per cent

• An attractive extra bonus if you introduce us to a new colleague

• A basic holiday allowance of 25 days, plus scope for building up to 13 days' occasional leave entitlement, if you work full time

• A pension with ABP

• A business rail card if you come to work by public transport

• Travel allowance up to the maximum tax-exempt amount

• Plus a taxable allowance of €0.10 per kilometre in addition to the maximum tax-exempt amount for business travel

• A PluralSight licence and the opportunity to acquire other certificates

• A daily home working allowance for every day that you work from home

• A complete, healthy home workstation

• €55 a month (net) for your home broadband

• €25 a month (gross) contribution to your health insurance

• Additional parenthood leave on full pay

• An optional cycle lease scheme, where SIDN covers 50 per cent of the lease cost, up to a maximum of €60 (gross) per month

• €500 a year to donate to a good cause of your choice

• Your own .nl domain name and hosting package

• Ample education and training opportunities

• Professional coaching and budget coaching

• A relocation allowance if taking the job means moving house

Everything above is for a full-time role (40-hour week).

The selection procedure includes screening, which involves obtaining a Certificate of Good Behaviour (similar to a criminal record check), and a assessment, performing reference and integrity checks.