Technical Leader

About the Position

Grape Up is a consulting & technology company that helps enterprises build and modernize their most critical applications, combining cloud-native engineering with applied AI. We specialize in connected vehicle platforms and software-defined vehicle architectures for premium automotive manufacturers – systems that process telemetry from fleets of hundreds of thousands of vehicles in production. We also work across aviation and manufacturing, applying the same cloud-native engineering approach to mission-critical, regulated systems.

We are looking for a Technical Leader in Software Engineering to join our team. You’ll take a new engagement from a blank page – no existing codebase, a loosely defined problem – and turn it into a solid, production-grade platform.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical architecture for new client engagements – from initial discovery and technology selection through PoC, MVP, and production rollout
• Act as the primary technical counterpart for the client: translate business goals into an actual technical design and run technical workshops to walk stakeholders through it
• Proactively surface risks, technical debt, and better alternatives
• Lead and mentor cross-functional engineering teams: set technical direction, review key design decisions, and raise the technical bar without becoming a bottleneck
• Contribute to presales and scoping: effort estimation, solution outlines, and technical input into commercial proposals – including presenting the architectural/technical part directly to prospective clients
• Stay hands-on where it matters – critical prototypes, spikes, and architecturally significant code – rather than operating purely at the whiteboard level

Requirements

Experience & Technical

• Master’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field
• 8+ years of commercial software engineering experience, including at least 3 years designing architecture for systems that reached production – not only participating in design as a senior IC
• Strong hands-on background in Java or Kotlin (Spring / Spring Boot) proven on enterprise-scale microservice systems: security, scalability, resilience, async communication
• Practical production experience with at least one public cloud (AWS preferred; Azure or GCP acceptable), including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or equivalent)
• Comfort with distributed-systems building blocks: messaging (Kafka, RabbitMQ, or MQTT), REST/gRPC/GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines
• Hands-on frontend coding ability: able to personally ship production features in React and TypeScript, not just review or advise on frontend architecture
• A track record of owning at least one greenfield build or major re-architecture – able to walk through the trade-offs made and why, not just the patterns used
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers formally or informally (tech lead, team lead, or similar) – this role will set direction for other developers
• Very good spoken and written English (C1) – this role runs client meetings independently, often with non-Polish stakeholders

Soft skills

• Proactivity and ownership: propose solutions and take responsibility for outcomes, rather than waiting for tasks to be assigned
• Strong presentation skills – able to present the technical/architectural part of a solution as part of client offer presentations and lead technical workshops with client stakeholders
• Influence without authority: able to push back on a client or a team decision with a well-reasoned alternative and get buy-in for it
• Business fluency: genuinely comfortable translating technical concepts into business language and building real relationships with client stakeholders

Nice to Have

• Hands-on exposure to GenAI/LLM tooling – RAG-based systems, agentic workflows, prompt engineering, or AI-assisted code modernization.
• Experience in the automotive, connected-vehicle, or IoT domain (telemetry pipelines, digital twin, software-defined vehicle) – directly relevant to our current project mix
• Additional languages beyond Java/Kotlin – Python, Go, or Rust
• Experience with data platforms and pipelines (e.g., Databricks, Kafka Streams, ETL) or systems ingesting high-volume device/fleet data
• Prior consulting or professional services background – comfortable with ambiguity and switching context across concurrent engagements
• Cloud architecture certification (AWS/Azure/GCP)

We Offer

• Salary: 26 000 - 34 000 PLN net (B2B)
• Locations: Białystok, Kraków, Wrocław, Remote
• Benefits: Employee referral, Knowledge platforms, Equipment, Integration activities, Lunch & Learn, In-house Tech Up, Language lessons, Conferences & training, Development plan, Feedback sessions, Business travel opportunities

About the Company

Grape Up is a consulting & technology company that helps enterprises build and modernize their most critical applications, combining cloud-native engineering with applied AI. We specialize in connected vehicle platforms and software-defined vehicle architectures for premium automotive manufacturers – systems that process telemetry from fleets of hundreds of thousands of vehicles in production.

Application Process

1. Application: Send us your CV through the application form.
2. HR & technical interview: Let’s talk about your experience and expectations.
3. Meeting with the Manager: Learn more about the project you could be involved in.
4. Offer: We’re excited to welcome you onboard! Let’s discuss the details.
5. Feedback: If you’re not lucky this time, we’ll tell you what you can improve to join us in the future.

Are you ready to become part of the Grape story?

Apply now