Lead Engineer

Location: Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium

Department: Engineering

Workplace: hybrid

Employment Type: full

Description

About Us

We're November Five. We’re makers. Doers, designers, strategists. Different backgrounds, one mindset. We say what we mean and do what we say. Passion walks in the door; expertise evolves over time.

‍Feedback is direct. We’re hard on the work but soft on the people behind it. As craftsmen and women across our core capabilities, our passion transcends our expertise, and the roles we assume are fluid. United in our drive to defy limits and move beyond, we collaborate deeply, always on the lookout for more allies.

About the Role

I'm looking for an experienced engineering lead to join me in elevating our engineering organization at November Five. As Head of Engineering, I'm focused on building a high-performing team culture built on quality, collaboration, and continuous improvement. I need strong leaders alongside me to make that happen.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll be in the trenches with your team, writing code, reviewing pull requests, and solving technical challenges, while also developing people and driving team performance. You'll split your time between technical contribution and leadership, not choose between them. This isn't a traditional engineering manager position where you step away from the keyboard.

You'll have direct impact at the company level, working closely with me to develop engineers, implement best practices, and create the conditions for engineering excellence. This isn't about maintaining steady-state operations. It's about leading a team through meaningful growth and evolution.

If you're energized by balancing hands-on technical work with developing engineers, building team capability, and creating a culture where candid feedback and accountability drive results, let's talk.

What You'll Do

• Lead and manage a team of 5-8 engineers, providing technical direction and career development
• Balance hands-on technical contribution with people leadership and team development
• Partner with me, Head of Engineering, to implement and drive engineering transformation initiatives
• Help define the engineering roadmap, including how we leverage AI to enhance our products and processes
• Foster a culture of candid feedback, accountability, and continuous learning within your team
• Collaborate with product and other engineering leads to deliver high-quality solutions
• Establish and reinforce engineering standards, best practices, and processes
• Coach team members to elevate their technical skills and professional capabilities
• Participate in hiring and building out the engineering organization

Requirements

What We're Looking For

• Experience working in an agency or consulting environment, you understand client delivery, shifting priorities, and managing multiple projects simultaneously
• 7+ years of software engineering experience with proven technical depth
• 2+ years of direct people management experience leading engineering teams
• Track record of improving team performance and developing engineering talent
• Strong communication skills and the ability to give and receive candid feedback
• Experience balancing technical contribution with people management responsibilities
• Comfortable working hybrid in Antwerp, Belgium

Our Technical Environment

Our engineering team builds across mobile and web platforms, working with native mobile technologies (Swift, Kotlin, KMP), React, React Native, and several backend technologies. While we value leadership ability and technical adaptability over specific stack expertise, you should be comfortable building credibility with teams across these different platforms and technologies.

Benefits

What We Offer

• Opportunity for significant company-level impact in a transforming organization
• Autonomy to shape team culture and engineering practices
• Hybrid work arrangement with meaningful in-person collaboration
• Competitive compensation package

Why November Five?

• Because the work matters. And so do our people.
• Ship real products for brands like Coca-Cola, Le Pain Quotidien & Telenet.
• Work in a high-standard, fast-paced, no-BS team.
• Launch work that actually lands, no endless cycles, just real impact.
• Enjoy full trust, a fully optimized benefits package with options for a mobility budget or company car, smartphone budget, mobile subscription, MacBook, pension plan, hospitalization insurance, net expenses, meal vouchers, 12 additional holidays & shared rewards
• Work from a stunning Antwerp HQ