Director of Engineering in London

Messy spend management is tricky business. At Pleo, we're changing that. We build spend solutions that make managing money seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike—with a vision to help all businesses ‘go beyond’. The word ‘Pleo’ actually means ‘more than you’d expect’, and living by that mantra has been the secret to our success over the last 10 years.

Now, we’re at a pivotal moment in our journey; every move we make has a direct impact on our 40,000+ customers, our business, and our collective success. We need people who take pride in uncovering customer needs, who turn complex problems into simple solutions, challenge the way things are done (respectfully), and always aim high. With great ambitions driving us forward, we can’t say we’ve got this whole thing figured out. And frankly, that’s half the fun! What we can say is that we’re a driven, progressive, and, importantly, a kind bunch of 850+ people from over 100 nationalities, all committed to delivering the future of business spending, together.

Joining Pleo as a Director of Engineering places you at the center of building and operating mission-critical financial systems that power how our customers spend, pay, and manage money. You will be part of a senior engineering leadership group representing multiple technical areas, reporting to the VP of Engineering and partnering closely with Product manager(s) covering the same scope.

You are accountable for outcomes and delivery across multiple engineering teams, owning systems where correctness, reliability, and predictability matter deeply. You foster an environment where teams perform at a high level, grow sustainably, and deliver high-quality software aligned with business and customer needs.

This role operates across Accounts Payable, Cards, Treasury, Procurement, and external vendor integrations, working with 4+ teams and 20+ engineers, led by Engineering Managers reporting to you.

• Delivery and outcomes across multiple teams building and operating financially critical systems
• Predictable execution: planning, prioritization, and delivery across teams with competing demands
• Reliability and correctness of systems that move, record, and reconcile money
• People leadership at scale, including coaching Engineering Managers, setting clear expectations, and addressing underperformance
• Organizational design, ensuring teams, ownership boundaries, and responsibilities are clear and effective
• Cross-functional collaboration with Product, Security, Risk, and other Engineering leaders
• External technical partnerships, including vendors and service providers critical to system operation
• Continuous improvement of engineering practices, processes, and technical standards

• You are someone others would choose as their manager, regardless of role or seniority
• You care deeply about people as individuals while holding a high bar for delivery and impact
• You practice transparency, clear communication, and direct feedback
• You build trust within and across teams, especially under pressure
• You help teams become high-performing by setting direction, removing obstacles, and making hard tradeoffs when needed

• Lead and support Engineering Managers responsible for multiple cross-functional teams
• Build and manage delivery plans across several teams, balancing speed, quality, and risk
• Partner with Product to align technical execution with business priorities and customer outcomes
• Ensure systems meet expectations around availability, scalability, and operational excellence
• Step into technical discussions when needed to guide decisions and resolve ambiguity
• Represent engineering in initiatives spanning Security, GRC, Finance, and external partners
• Improve how we work with vendors and outsourcing partners, ensuring clarity of ownership and outcomes

• You are a technologist at heart, with strong judgment around system design and tradeoffs partnering closely with principal and staff engineers
• You may not design every solution, but you can challenge, guide, and validate technical decisions
• Experience in fintech, payments, or financial systems is required
• You are comfortable leading teams working on mission-critical systems, where errors have real consequences
• You value data integrity, operational stability, and long-term maintainability alongside product velocity

• Teams deliver with greater predictability and confidence across financial domains
• Engineering Managers are operating effectively, independently, and growing as leaders
• Mission-critical systems show improved reliability, clarity of ownership, and operational maturity
• Collaboration with Product, Security, GRC, and external partners is smooth and trusted
• The organization is well-structured to scale further without creating bottlenecks

• Your own Pleo card (no more out-of-pocket spending!)
• Lunch is on us - with catering in our Lisbon, Copenhagen and London offices or a monthly lunch allowance paid directly together with your salary in other markets
• Private health insurance to ensure you’re fit in body and mind to do your best work
• We offer 25 days of holiday + your public holidays
• Flexibility/remote working options
• Option to purchase 5 additional days of holiday through a salary sacrifice
• We’re trialling MyndUp to give our employees access to free mental health and wellbeing support with great success so far
• Access to LinkedIn Learning - acquire new skills, stay abreast of industry trends and fuel your personal and professional development continuously
• Paid parental leave - we want to make sure that we’re supportive of families and help you feel that you don’t have to compromise your family due to work

Please submit your application in English; it’s our company language so you’ll be speaking lots of it if you join. We treat all candidates equally: If you are interested please apply through our application system - any correspondence should come from there! Our lovely support team isn’t able to pass on any calls/emails our way - and this makes sure that the candidate experience is smooth and fair to everyone. We can only achieve our goals if our team reflects the diversity of the world around us - and that starts with you, hitting apply, even if you are worried you might not tick all the boxes. We embrace and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply - regardless of race/ethnicity, colour, religion, nationality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, neurodiversity, socio-economic status, culture or beliefs.