Head of Engineering - Infrastructure & Reliability (all genders) (Remote)

Head of Engineering - Infrastructure & Reliability (all genders)

About Babbel

Driven by the purpose of creating mutual understanding through language, Babbel has been building digital language learning products for consumers and businesses since 2007. The Babbel app helps people connect and communicate across cultures, whether for travel, friendship, or career advancement. Based on a deep knowledge of how language learning is most effective, Babbel aims to make learners conversational as fast as possible. And it works: Studies from institutions like Michigan State University, Yale University and the City University of New York demonstrate the efficacy of Babbel's language learning methods. Millions of language learners agree.

Babbel's secret sauce is the blend of true expertise, understanding of how humans learn, and the latest technology. With more than 60,000 lessons across 15 languages hand-crafted by experts, the learner experience constantly adapts through behaviour analysis to provide high-quality interactive content that makes understanding a new language easy, from Spanish to Indonesian.

Because Babbel is for everyone, its team reflects this diversity. From headquarters in Berlin and New York, Babbelonians from more than 80 nationalities represent the backgrounds and perspectives that make humans unique. With over 25 million subscriptions sold and an industry-leading retention rate, Babbel creates genuine connections with users worldwide.

Job Summary

We are looking for a Head of Engineering - Infrastructure & Reliability, (full-time) to join our team in Berlin. As the Head of Engineering - Infrastructure & Reliability, you will lead our efforts to design, build, and scale a robust technical foundation that powers Babbel's platform at a global scale. You'll oversee the engineering teams responsible for Infrastructure, Developer Experience (DevEx), and AppPlatform, driving innovation and operational excellence. You will champion Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles to ensure reliability, scalability, and performance across our fully AWS-based, serverless architecture. Your leadership will define how we evolve our systems and processes to meet the growing demands of our users and business.

This role requires a deep technical understanding of modern cloud-native architectures, exceptional leadership skills, and a passion for building highly reliable and efficient systems. You will have a significant impact on shaping Babbel's engineering strategy and ensuring our platform is ready to support millions of learners worldwide.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a group of engineering teams, driving the innovation and strategy behind our infrastructure & reliability area, including DevEx, Infrastructure, and App Platform teams
• Establish and implement the technical vision and roadmap for Infrastructure & Reliability to align with Babbel's overarching strategic objectives
• Drive SRE best practices, including SLAs, SLOs, and error budgets, to ensure reliability and operational excellence
• Optimize and scale our cloud setup and strategy on AWS to support rapid growth and evolving business needs
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and open communication within the team, emphasizing accountability and high standards
• Guide and mentor engineering managers, promoting continuous learning, innovation, and professional growth

Requirements / Qualifications

• Proven experience of 10+ years in backend or system engineering and a minimum of 3 years leading engineering managers
• Proven track record of leading and growing high-performing engineering teams and delivering scalable, reliable infrastructure in cloud-native environments
• Deep expertise in cloud environments, with a preference for strong knowledge on AWS
• Strong experience with SRE principles, including observability, incident management, and automation of operational tasks
• A DevOps mindset that empowers teams to take full ownership of their respective areas. Following the principle of "you build it, you run it, you own it."
• Outstanding communication and stakeholder management abilities, adept at influencing and collaborating at various organizational levels

Salary & Benefits

Enjoy 30 vacation days. Plus family and life situation counseling.

Set up the right schedule for you with flexible working hours and enjoy Jobbatical (up to 3 months working inside the EU and the UK), plus work from our fully equipped office with nap, faith and family rooms.

Learn and grow with the internal learning opportunities, and use a yearly learning & development budget for external training. Learn languages with Babbel for free with your full access to Babbel.

Take advantage of your mobility benefits options and a discounted Urban Sports Club membership.

Be part of our DE&I Community Networks (such as FLINTA in Tech, and Queer Collective), attend cultural and regular social events.

Equal Opportunity Statement

As part of our ongoing journey towards building a diverse, equitable and inclusive company, we welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in tech. We are a learning company, inside and out, and we encourage you to apply even if you do not fit all the technical requirements - all candidates are assessed based on skills, qualifications and on our business needs. Please state your pronouns in your application, and let us know if you’d like to be addressed by a name other than the one appearing on your official documents. If you have a disability or special need, feel welcome to inform us, so that we can provide you with the proper assistance in the application process.