The posting
Job Location: hybrid in Bucharest
Recruitment process:
- HR discussion
- Tech interview
- Management interview
Our client ( a retail company) is building new Data & AI delivery unit in Romania.
We are looking for a technically strong and inspiring Lead Data & AI Engineering Manager to build and lead an initial team of approximately five to six specialists in Romania. Reporting directly to the GenAI & Agentic AI team in Germany, you will be the founding leader of our Romanian unit — combining disciplinary and professional people leadership with technical depth, business acumen and hands-on delivery.
Your responsibilities:
Build and lead the Romanian Data & AI unit
- Establish and develop a new Data & AI delivery team in Romania.
- Lead, coach and mentor a team of approximately five to six employees.
- Provide both disciplinary and professional leadership.
- Create a collaborative, inclusive and high-performing team culture.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, professional development and performance management.
- Act as the primary contact for technology, project and people-related topics in Romania.
- Enable team members to take ownership of projects and deliver results independently.
- Represent the Romanian unit at industry events, tech conferences and recruiting fairs in Bucharest
- and across Romania — actively positioning the company as a leading Data & AI employer in the market.
- Drive local employer branding initiatives to give the company a distinctive and visible presence in the Romanian tech and AI talent community.
Drive end-to-end project delivery
- Take responsibility for Data Engineering, GenAI and Agentic AI initiatives based on internal frameworks and standards.
- Lead projects from initial idea and requirements through architecture, implementation and production deployment.
- Ensure that projects are delivered with a high level of quality, transparency and accountability.
- Coordinate closely with the Data & AI organization in Hamburg.
- Gradually establish independent project ownership within the Romanian team.
- Take full operational responsibility for Data & AI solutions in production — including monitoring, maintenance, incident response and continuous improvement of deployed systems.
- Set priorities and ensure alignment with business objectives and the wider company Data & AI roadmap.
Shape our technology landscape
Data Engineering and modern data platforms
- Data Warehousing based on the company framework and standards
- Generative AI, Agentic AI and Large Language Model (LLM) applications
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), MCP server integrations and intelligent business applications
- Productionisation, monitoring and operational responsibility for AI solutions in production
Depending on your background and the needs of the team, you will contribute to and lead initiatives involving:
- Data Engineering and modern data platforms
- Data Warehousing based on the company framework and standards
- Generative AI and Agentic AI
- Large Language Models and LLM applications
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation and intelligent business applications
- MCP servers and integrations with internal systems and services
- Software factory process
- APIs, data products and scalable platform services
- Productionisation, monitoring and operation of AI solutions
- You will not only manage these topics — you will also actively contribute to their technical direction, implementation and operational support.
Your profile
Leadership and collaboration
- Several years (8 years) of experience leading technical teams, delivery teams or engineering
- organizations.
- Proven ability to build and develop a new team or organizational unit.
- Experience with professional and/or disciplinary leadership.
- Strong coaching and mentoring skills.
- Ability to communicate effectively with both technical experts and business stakeholders.
- Confidence in working across locations, cultures and organizational boundaries.
- A collaborative leadership style combined with decisiveness and accountability.
- Ability to translate strategic goals into clear priorities and actionable plans.
Technical expertise
You have a strong background in several of the following areas:
- Data Engineering
- Data Science
- Machine Learning
- Generative AI and Agentic AI
- Large Language Models and LLM-based applications
- Data Warehousing
- Cloud platforms, particularly Google Cloud Platform
- Open-source technologies
- Streaming and distributed data processing
- Data architecture and platform engineering
- Software engineering and modern development practices
- AI and data solution integration with business applications
- Production deployment, monitoring, security and operational responsibility
Experience with technologies such as Python, SQL, APIs, modern data platforms, containerization, orchestration, CI/CD and cloud-native services is highly desirable.
Experience with MCP servers, AI agents, RAG architectures or similar GenAI integration patterns is a must-have.
Business and delivery orientation
- You understand how Data and AI create measurable value for business functions.
- You are comfortable working with Marketing, Online, Customer Intelligence, IT and other corporate functions.
- You can connect technical decisions with business needs and customer value.
- You have experience delivering complex projects in an agile or otherwise structured environment.
- You are comfortable taking ownership in situations that are not yet fully defined.
- You combine strategic thinking with a hands-on mindset.
- You are willing to write code, review architectures, solve technical problems and support the team when needed.
- You are able to drive initiatives forward with energy, persistence and a clear sense of responsibility.
Communication
- Excellent English skills, both written and spoken.
- Strong communication skills with international and cross-functional teams.
- Ability to explain complex technical subjects clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
- German language skills are beneficial but not required.
What you can expect
- The opportunity to build a new Data & AI unit in Romania from the ground up.
- A key leadership role with significant influence on the future of the company's Data and AI capabilities.
- Close collaboration with an experienced and diverse Data & AI organization in Germany.
- The opportunity to work on strategic topics such as GenAI, Agentic AI, Data Engineering, Machine Learning and modern cloud platforms.
- A role combining people leadership, architecture, project responsibility and hands-on technology.
- An international working environment with colleagues from engineering, data, marketing, online IT and business teams.
- Access to established development guidelines, cloud infrastructure, technologies and engineering practices.
- The chance to establish scalable, reusable and business-oriented solutions for a well-known international company.
- The backing of a mature, experienced Data & AI organization in Hamburg with a proven track record of delivering complex projects — providing real support, established standards and a clear path forward from day one.
- The rare privilege of being the founding leader of the company's Romanian Data & AI capability — with the influence, visibility and lasting impact that this pioneering role carries.
Your impact
- As Lead Data & AI Engineering Manager in Romania, you will be one of the key drivers in establishing he company's Romanian Data & AI capability.
- You will connect people, technology and business. You will help transform strategic ideas into reliable products and services, empower your team to take ownership and create a strong bridge between Romania and Germany.
- If you are passionate about Data and AI, enjoy building teams and want to combine leadership with hands-on technical work, we would be happy to hear from you.
