Plancraft is an AI-first cloud SaaS that digitizes and automates administrative workflows for small construction and craft businesses with voice-enabled quoting, invoicing, time tracking, and site documentation.
OUR PURPOSE AT PLANCRAFT Building the backbone of European trades together – with AI-first software. We’re not just building software – we’re on a mission to create space for contractors & tradespeople by equipping them with AI solutions that work the way they do: fast, practical, and AI-first. With Tier 1 Investors from Europe and the US, like Headline and Creandum as well as 30,000+ tradespeople as customer base, we’re scaling across Europe to turn scattered tradespeople into thriving communities. We believe in zero admin, not zero personality – and we build every feature with the people in mind who wear the boots, not the suits. We’re #stoked to shape the future, #together as a team, and #humble in our mission to support the builders of tomorrow. YOUR MISSION AT PLANCRAFT As an Engineering Manager (f/m/d), you remain deeply connected to the craft while helping engineers and teams perform at their best. You'll contribute hands-on to architecture, system design, and technical decision-making while supporting engineers through coaching, feedback, and professional growth. Working closely with Engineering Leadership, Engineers, Product, and Design, you'll help shape how software is built at plancraft. You will drive technical excellence, improve engineering practices, and create an environment where talented engineers can do the best work of their careers. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building software, solving complex technical challenges, and developing people — without stepping away from engineering. You'll influence both technical direction and team effectiveness, helping us scale our product, our systems, and our engineering organization sustainably. We're looking for an experienced Engineering Manager who combines strong technical judgment with proven people leadership. You have successfully led engineering teams for several years while staying close to the technology, and know how to create an environment where both engineers and software can thrive. You'll balance technical excellence with people development, helping us build high-performing teams and scalable software alike. Your Responsibilities - Contribute hands-on at a strong Senior/Staff technical level, staying close to the code, supporting architecture and system design decisions, and helping teams solve complex technical challenges. - Drive technical excellence across teams by improving engineering standards, development practices, code quality, reliability, and developer experience. - Lead cross-team technical initiatives that improve how we build software, from architecture evolution and developer tooling to AI-assisted engineering workflows. - Partner with engineers on technical decision-making, providing mentorship, context, and guidance while fostering ownership and autonomy. - Develop and support engineers through coaching, feedback, career development conversations, and regular 1:1s. - Build strong, high-performing teams by creating clarity, removing obstacles, and enabling effective collaboration. - Lead hiring efforts end-to-end, helping identify and attract exceptional engineering talent. - Strengthen collaboration between Engineering, Product, and Design, ensuring teams move quickly while maintaining a high quality bar. - Contribute to the evolution of engineering at plancraft by improving systems, processes, and organisational effectiveness. - Help shape how modern AI-enabled software engineering is practiced at plancraft, leveraging tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot to improve developer productivity and software quality. - Lead through competence, empathy, and action — as a builder who manages, not a manager who occasionally builds. YOUR PROFILE Must-haves - Strong technical skills at Senior/Staff level, with the ability to contribute hands-on, review complex code, and support architectural decisions. - Extensive experience in modern TypeScript development, including scalable patterns, clean-code principles, and software architecture best practices. - Experience across both frontend and backend environments, enabling you to understand trade-offs and contribute meaningfully to discussions around system design, performance, and reliability. You can have a focus, but we need you to understand the interfaces between both worlds. - Several years of experience as an Engineering Manager with disciplinary people leadership responsibilities, including coaching, performance management, hiring, and developing engineers. - Strong communication skills and the ability to facilitate discussions, provide constructive feedback, practice radical candor, and align stakeholders around decisions. - Experience working in modern cloud environments (GCP or similar) and the ability to contribute to architectural planning and scaling discussions. - Experience adopting and driving AI-enabled software engineering practices (e.g. Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) to improve developer productivity and software quality. - Strong ownership mindset and the ability to navigate ambiguity, drive initiatives, and translate organisational goals into engineering outcomes. - English at C1/C2 working proficiency. Nice-to-haves - Experience building and shipping AI-enabled product capabilities or AI-native customer-facing features (e.g. LLM-powered experiences, AI assistants, intelligent workflows) into production. - German language skills. WHY PLANCRAFT? - Team Spirit: We’re driven by passion, commitment, and a shared mission. Team spirit matters to us — and we make it visible: with three major team events per year, two casual monthly formats at our Hamburg HQ, and a strong recognition culture where we regularly celebrate both the big and small wins together. - Ownership: You’re encouraged to take ownership from day one. In a flat hierarchy and high-trust environment, you’re empowered to make meaningful decisions and drive real impact. -