Head (m/f/x) of Engineering - Delivery

Title: Head (m/f/x) of Engineering - Delivery Location: München (81671) / Heilbronn

The appliedAI Initiative elevates Europe’s industry to become shapers in the age of AI, creating a future that we desire to live in. Through our ecosystem of strong partners, comprehensive programs, services and solutions we advance companies holistically on their AI journey. With our uniquely diverse, interdisciplinary, and driven team, we build on deep technical expertise while specializing on applicability of the solutions. We share a mindset of collaboration and openness with our ecosystem of leading companies and tech players. Our common goal is to strengthen the European landscape, jointly creating unique knowledge for applying trustworthy AI. We believe that AI Agents will be the dominant topic for AI in the near future and that appliedAI with its partner ecosystem will impact how this technology is being used in industry and beyond in Europe.

AI engineering at appliedAI runs on real industrial ground: energy, automotive, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and financial services, with systems that have to hold up in production and not only in a demo. At the head of engineering for the whole of Professional Services, you would set the direction for how that capability is built, staffed and grown, while squads keep the kind of leadership and development proximity that makes people actually grow. If you want the seat where engineering strategy, commercial accountability and people development are the same job, this role was built for you.

Please note: For this role, you can work from either of our offices, in Munich (House of Communication) or Heilbronn (IPAI Spaces), whichever suits you better. Both locations offer the same role and the same hybrid setup.

Your tasks will include:

• Developing engineers as the first duty of the role rather than the residue of it: growth paths, levelling, honest feedback, and enough proximity to know what each person is genuinely ready for
• Leading your squads, setting how engineering works day to day, and holding the standard the rest of the practice builds to
• Owning the skill map and capacity plan for engineering across the whole of Professional Services: what capability exists, what's missing, and how engineer-to-engagement fit gets decided, so staffing is a strategic call and not a calendar exercise
• Selling engineering in the technical substance: carrying a deep architecture discussion and a C-level conversation in the same meeting, and owning the scope, effort and price that comes out of it
• Owning escalation on the engagements where a wrong call gets expensive, stepping in early enough for it to count without taking the project away from the person leading it
• Shaping how appliedAI builds software itself, applying agentic and AI-native development to our own delivery so the practice compounds instead of restarting with every project

You lead people first: you have grown engineers into seniority, given feedback they trusted, and can point to careers that moved because of you

Deep and current engineering substance across software architecture, system integration, or generative and agentic AI, backed by years of shipping software that actually runs at customers, not just demos

You sell in the substance: technical trust in an architecture review and commercial trust with a CTO or managing director, both in the same week

You carry ultimate accountability for the engagements where a wrong call would hurt in six months, and know when to step in early rather than after the fact

A real feel for capability across an entire practice: who is ready for what, where the gaps are, and how staffing and development close them together

You enjoy shared ownership, where direction is agreed with a peer rather than handed down, and you're comfortable owning the call when it's yours to own

Fluent German and English to communicate confidently with customers and colleagues

A highly qualified and motivated team of ~90 people is on a journey to change the rapidly evolving European AI Landscape

• Experience the best of both worlds with our hybrid work model: You can choose to work from our vibrant offices - either at the IPAI in Heilbronn or the House of Communication in Munich - while also enjoying the flexibility to work remotely a few days each week
• Opportunity to shape a variety of projects and the development of new, original content based on the latest developments in AI and its adoption in businesses
• An atmosphere that encourages to think and experiment in new ways with software, hardware, and processes
• A highly visible initiative that helps you build a large and high-level network of start-ups, partners, and tech companies
• A flexible development budget that’s yours to shape - invest it in training, certifications, conferences, or new challenges, however you want to grow
• Sports membership with Wellpass to access thousands of sports facilities all over Germany (and beyond) as well as online courses
• JobRad: Lease a bike for a cheaper rate via JobRad and we cover the bike insurance on top
• Sabbatical option: You can take a sabbatical of up to 3 months after min. 3 years of employment - because sometimes 30 vacation days are not enough to explore the beauty of this world
• PME Familienservice: A 24/7 support for a successful work & life in any life situation. Benefit from free support in areas like life coaching, child care and many other options
• Mobility budget: Every month we contribute to your individual mobility usage with public transport or shared mobility offers within the app Moovster
• Workation: Work from anywhere in the EU/EWR area for up to 3 months per year - combining working at a nice place and spending your leisure time in the evening like vacation

Lucas Fernandes - Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist appliedAI Initiative GmbH, August-Everding-Str. 25, 81671 München