Tech Lead at Actian – Remote Europe SaaS Backend — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Remote-Friendly Role in Europe: Actian explicitly offers flexible work arrangements (remote or hybrid), making this role viable for location-independent professionals based anywhere in Europe. The job description does not specify fixed hours or a single required timezone, which is a positive signal for async-friendly work — though some overlap with European business hours is practically expected for a team lead managing 3–4 engineers.
Timezone Considerations: Leading a small engineering team will require regular synchronous touchpoints (standups, code reviews, pair programming). Budget for at least 4–6 hours of overlap with CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2). Digital nomads in Lisbon (WET/WEST) or Warsaw fit naturally; those in Southeast Asia (Bangkok, UTC+7) would face early-morning calls.
Visa & Location Options:
- Portugal — Digital Nomad Visa (D8) is ideal; Lisbon offers excellent cost-of-living value for senior tech salaries.
- Spain — Digital Nomad Visa launched in 2023; cities like Valencia or Barcelona are popular bases.
- Georgia (Tbilisi) — Remotely Green program; very low cost of living and no income tax for foreign-sourced income.
Travel Perks: No specific equipment stipend or coworking allowance is mentioned. Confirm these during negotiation — they are common at SaaS-scale companies like Actian. The lack of salary data makes COL comparisons approximate, but a senior Tech Lead role in Europe typically commands €80K–€120K, which goes very far in Lisbon or Medellín.
We are looking for a highly technical, hands-on Tech Lead to guide a small feature team of 3 to 4 engineers. We are not looking for an administrative manager who just sits in meetings and assigns tasks; we want a builder.
In this role, you will lead by doing. You will write exceptional code, architect robust backend systems, and guide your team by example. We love engineers who truly "feel" the product—people who understand the business goals, care deeply about the user experience, and proactively do whatever it takes to ship a great product. You will own the technical execution of your team using a modern stack focused on SaaS backend architectures, Scala, Python, and TypeScript. Crucially, you are a modern developer who knows how to leverage AI coding agents to multiply your team's output without compromising on quality.
Core Responsibilities
Hands-on Coding & Execution: Spend a significant amount of your time writing high-quality backend code, taking on the most complex technical challenges yourself.
Technical Stack Mastery: Guide the technical direction of your team using Scala and Python for robust backend data systems, and TypeScript for full-stack feature delivery.
AI-Driven Velocity: Actively use and advocate for AI coding agents (like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar tools) within your daily workflow and teach your team how to use them efficiently to ship code faster.
Product-Driven Ownership: Connect deeply with the product vision. You don't just build specs blindly; you understand the goals and optimize your technical choices to deliver the best product value.
SaaS Delivery Mastery: Own the entire lifecycle of your team's features, ensuring they are designed for multi-tenant cloud scalability and successfully deployed to production.
Mentorship by Example: Coach and unblock your 3–4 engineers through pair programming, deep code reviews, and technical guidance, raising the bar for the entire team.
Goal Achievement & Velocity: Focus relentlessly on hitting team milestones, proactively removing blockers, and keeping team performance sharp.
Product Collaboration: Partner closely with Product Managers to refine features, challenge assumptions when necessary, and turn ambitious ideas into realistic technical tasks.
Production Health: Take pride in what you ship. Ensure your team's features run smoothly, securely, and efficiently in the cloud, and help quickly fix issues if they arise.
Qualifications & Profile
Technical Background: Deep backend engineering experience building and scaling cloud-native SaaS platforms.
Polyglot Developer: Strong, production-proven experience writing code in Scala; Python or TypeScript are a big plus.
Coding Agent Mastery (Must-Have): Deep experience using AI coding agents in your day-to-day work. You know how to prompt them effectively, critically review AI-generated code for security or architectural flaws, and use them to maximize engineering efficiency.
Builder Mindset: You love writing code and building systems. You prefer solving technical puzzles and shipping features over traditional management paperwork.
Product Empathy: You care about the "why" behind what you build. You are motivated by achieving product goals and making the platform better for the end user.
High-Agency Leadership: You take absolute responsibility for your team's output. If something is broken or a deadline is at risk, you jump in and fix it.
Communication: Exceptional English skills (written and spoken) to align your small team and collaborate easily with product owners.
What We Offer
- The chance to be part of an innovative, fast-growing company making a significant impact in the data management space.
- Collaboration with a passionate and diverse team.
- Competitive salary and benefits package.
- Flexible work arrangements (remote or hybrid).
- Opportunities for professional growth and development.
Why Join Us? At Actian, we are passionate about innovation and teamwork. This role is perfect for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment, loves creating an efficient and welcoming workspace, and enjoys working closely with a talented team.
Interested? We'd love to hear from you! Let's discuss how you can contribute to our success while growing your career with us.
We value diversity at our company. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics in the location in which the candidate is applying.