head of r&d.

Our Partner is a US-headquartered market leader providing technological infrastructure for the advertising and marketing sector. With a globally distributed network, they operate a dynamic operational center and SSC in Budapest. The next major phase of their expansion is establishing a brand-new R&D HUB integrated into this existing Budapest organization. As the first dedicated leader of this strategic initiative, you will build and direct this brand-new R&D Center. The hub will launch with an initial headcount of approximately 40 engineers, working to modernize a proprietary platform and develop new, patentable products.

• Team Building & Recruitment: Drive the recruitment process from scratch, with a strong primary focus on hiring top talent in Software Engineering, while also bringing in professionals across the Data Science and Machine Learning domains.
• Technical Leadership: Take full ownership of the Budapest engineering teams (overseeing 4-5 technical sub-teams led by engineering managers), overseeing the software architecture, codebase quality, and infrastructure.
• Strategic Execution: Partner closely with the US-based Chief Product & Technology Officer and global leadership to define the product roadmap and deliver best-in-class enterprise solutions.
• Agile & Operations: Implement and optimize Agile/DevOps methodologies and CI/CD pipelines to ensure high-quality and on-time delivery.
• Innovation: Contribute to the design of advanced, cloud-native systems including Agentic Delivery, intelligent Data Streaming (Kafka/Flink), and automated compliance engines.

• Software Engineering Leadership Experience: 10+ years of software development background with at least 5+ years in a senior leadership role (Director level or above). Proven track record of building and managing remote or distributed software engineering teams of 20-25+ members.
• “Full-Stack” Engineering Background: Extensive, broad technical expertise coming from a software development background. Experience with .NET (C#) and/or Java platforms, complemented by modern web frameworks (Angular / React) and cloud-native architectures (AWS/Azure, microservices) is a strong advantage.
• AI / ML / Data Competence: While a broad and deep software development background is the primary focus, having some hands-on experience or solid understanding of Data Engineering, Data Science, or Machine Learning is a mandatory requirement.
• Excellent, fluent English communication skills to effectively collaborate with global executive stakeholders on a daily basis.
• BSc or MSc degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Engineering.

• A unique professional challenge to build a completely new R&D strategic hub from the ground up for a stable, market-leading enterprise.
• Director-level benefits including an annual target bonus.
• Additional perks: a cafeteria allowance, private health insurance package, and a car allowance.
• Flexibility: Hybrid working model requiring 3 days of office presence and offering 2 days of home office.

Ildikó Mező-Mészáros:

Lili Wenner: