Head of Software Engineering
About the job
- 2–4 years of experience as an engineering manager, including experience leading, mentoring, and coordinating others’ work, such as as a team lead.
- Strong hands-on experience with PHP/Symfony or a comparable modern web framework, and relational databases such as MySQL.
- Interest in people leadership, including motivating a team, unblocking people, and creating an effective day-to-day working environment.
- Ability to break down work, sequence priorities, and keep a small team focused.
- Ability to work cross-functionally with non-technical stakeholders in operations, sales, and marketing, communicate trade-offs, and push back constructively.
- Experience with modern infrastructure practices, including Kubernetes, GitOps, and containerization.
- Pragmatic, get-it-done attitude and eagerness to grow into a broader leadership role.
- Lead the engineering team day to day by running planning, unblocking work, and keeping delivery on track across an estate of approximately 40 services.
- Motivate and coach the team, support hiring, and help structure day-to-day workflows as the team grows, working closely with the CTO on team decisions.
- Prioritize AI investments and drive adoption of AI-powered workflows across engineering to increase development velocity, software quality, and code robustness.
- Prioritize and sequence projects, turn requests from operations, sales, and marketing into an executable plan, and communicate trade-offs when timelines or scope need to change.
- Contribute hands-on to the codebase by taking on projects and features within the architecture and standards set by the CTO.
- Serve as the first point of contact for day-to-day engineering questions from the business, escalating architecture, infrastructure, or system-design decisions to the CTO.
- Track progress, surface risks early, and report delivery status to the CTO and stakeholders.
About the company
Shapeways provides on-demand digital manufacturing services, offering 3D printing, CNC machining, and sheet metal fabrication through an online platform. Customers upload their designs, select materials and processes, and Shapeways handles production, quality control, and fulfillment. The company also offers design services in partnership with CADmore to help customers optimize their ideas for manufacturing. Shapeways differentiates itself by providing a wide range of manufacturing options under one digital platform, enabling automation and fast turnaround for individual designers, small businesses, and enterprises alike. Its goal is to make high-quality manufacturing accessible to a broad audience while reducing the need for customers to invest in their own equipment and expertise.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Founded
2007
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- June 2025 lease in Eindhoven secured a new facility through 2026 relocation.
- Self-service PoD on Thangs went live May 6, 2025, reducing onboarding friction.
- WVS completed asset purchases by November 2024, restoring Shapeways operations after bankruptcy.
What critics are saying
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 2, 2024 erased customer data and old accounts.
- The original U.S. company died; the brand now depends on WVS International.
- If WVS financing stalls, Shapeways loses manufacturing and becomes another liquidation.
What makes Shapeways unique
- Shapeways.com survives under WVS International, keeping the brand and Eindhoven manufacturing alive in 2026.
- Thangs integration gives designers self-serve print-on-demand listings, launched May 2025.
- FDM launch on February 26, 2025 expanded materials beyond legacy polymer offerings.
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Benefits
- Remote Work Options
- Paid Vacation