Technology Director

About Sandmark

Sandmark is an independent, privately owned media and data company focused on digital assets. Head-quartered in Geneva, Switzerland, our international team spans Europe, North America and Asia. Our ambition is to become the most trusted source of crypto information, combining the highest standards of journalism with deep research insights and essential tools for investors and traders. Our established editorial platform went live in mid-2025; and we are currently exploring and building in other data-related areas to expand and enhance our product. We offer competitive employment opportunities as well as working with external contractors and vendors.

Website: www.sandmark.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/sandmark 

Role Summary

The Technology Director is responsible for supporting and enabling Sandmark’s business strategy through the clear development of IT structures, resourcing and vendor management. This position will have oversight of data-engineering operations, technical partnerships, and platform technical development, along with related personnel.

This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for shipping product, managing the technical team, and delivering projects on time and within budget constraints. The Technology Director owns the technical roadmap and is accountable for execution, ensuring that what is planned is delivered with quality, reliability, and speed.  This role is responsible for implementing best practices and thorough documentation to ensure the future sustainability of Sandmark’s technical infrastructure. 

The Technology Director bridges Sandmark’s business objectives and technical execution, translating the needs of editorial, product, and commercial teams into scalable solutions while driving cross-functional collaboration.

The ideal candidate has experience building sustainable technology structures, managing and optimizing technology budgets, and operating across both strategic and operational contexts. They can translate complex technological opportunities and challenges into clear proposals and progress reports for management.

Key Responsibilities

Product Delivery & Execution 

• Own end-to-end delivery of Sandmark’s technical structure, organization, and internal and external resourcing
• Set realistic project timelines and be accountable for meeting them. 
• Identify and remove blockers that prevent the engineering team from shipping.
• Provide frequent progress updates to management and to relevant teams.
• Ensure quality standards are met before any release reaches production.
• Manage UAT processes and ensure defects are tracked, prioritised, and resolved.

Product Planning & Technical Translation

• Transform business product requirements and feature specifications into actionable technology plans.
• Assess build options and recommend the most efficient and cost-effective approach for each feature or product.
• Break down product roadmap items into clear technical workstreams with estimated effort, cost, and timelines.
• Ensure that technical plans are accessible to non-technical stakeholders before execution begins.

Technical Team Management

• Directly manage engineers, including data and DevOps engineers, across the technical function.
• Set clear expectations for each team member with measurable deliverables and deadlines.
• Conduct regular performance reviews and address underperformance directly and promptly.
• Hire, onboard, and structure the technical team to meet current and future product needs.
• Ensure the team operates efficiently, with no duplication of tasks or unclear ownership.

Vendor & Contractor Management 

• Own relationships with external technical vendors and agencies.
• Monitor vendor performance against contracted scope, timelines, and quality standards.
• Manage the transition of work between external vendor agencies, contractors and internal staff where appropriate.

Budget & Cost Accountability 

• Prepare and own the technical budget, including headcount, cloud infrastructure, tooling, and vendor costs.
• Monitor and report on budget spend monthly
• Flag budget risks or overruns proactively with proposed mitigations.
• Optimise cloud and infrastructure spend, running periodic assessments of usage and vendor value.
• Ensure all contract renewals and new vendor engagements are reviewed for cost-effectiveness.

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Work closely with the editorial, product, and commercial (sales & marketing) colleagues to understand their requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Ensure the technical team is aligned with and actively supporting Sandmark’s business priorities.
• Collaborate with the management on company-wide strategic decisions that have a technical dimension.

Infrastructure & Operations 

• Oversee, review and reaffirm cloud infrastructure, ensuring reliability, security, and cost-efficiency.
• Establish and maintain DevOps practices that support rapid, reliable deployment.
• Ensure monitoring and incident response processes are in place for production systems.
• Manage the technical dev backlog and ensure it does not compromise product delivery.
• Drive automation of repetitive processes across the technical function.

Required Qualifications

Experience & Expertise

• 7+ years in technical leadership roles, preferably in the fintech, financial services or media sector, or other startups.
• Proven track record of shipping products on time in fast-paced environments.
• Experience managing technical and/or engineering teams of 5–15 people.
• Experience managing external vendors, agencies, and contractors.
• Experience owning and composing technical budgets.
• Background in data-intensive environments, market data, streaming, or analytics preferred.
• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (GCP preferred).

Technical Understanding

• Strong understanding of modern software development practices, CI/CD, and DevOps.
• Ability to review and understand code, architecture decisions, and technical trade-offs without needing to write code daily.
• Familiarity with cloud cost management and infrastructure optimisation.
• Understanding of data pipelines, streaming systems, and API design.
• Experience in transforming business requirements into actionable developer stories and tasks.

Leadership & Communication 

• Ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Direct, transparent communication style: flags problems early and proposes solutions.
• At ease taking on objectives and goals with accountability for delivery.
• Strong organisational skills: manages multiple workstreams without dropping priorities.
• Collaborative mindset: able to work effectively with editorial (journalists), product, and commercial teams.

To apply:
Send your resume and your motivation for applying to the position to careers@sandmark.com.

Back to Careers