Front End Competence Owner / Manager

Location: Barcelona / Warsaw Type: Full-time Work Model: Hybrid (2 days at the office, 3 days at home)

About the Role:

We are looking for a highly skilled and visionary Front End Competence Owner / Manager to lead our frontend development practice and manage the growth and success of our frontend engineers. This is a hybrid role that combines strategic leadership, technical excellence, and people development. As a Competence Owner, you will oversee competence leads, define professional standards, and ensure the operational integrity of the frontend competence group.

You will be at the forefront of setting the direction for frontend engineering across our organization, supporting the development of scalable, secure, and maintainable applications used by thousands of users.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic & Technical Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership for the competence group within Operations and support Competence Leads.
• Define and execute frontend strategy, including setting Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
• Ensure technology solutions deliver prioritized business value.
• Evaluate and introduce modern frameworks, tools, and best practices.

Competence Group Management

• Lead and mentor competence leads and frontend engineers.
• Set and enforce frontend standards, development methodologies, and architectural consistency.
• Plan resource and competence allocation in collaboration with domain and team leads.

Talent Development

• Drive upskilling and reskilling initiatives.
• Provide regular feedback, evaluations, and coaching to engineers.
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and knowledge sharing.

Operational Oversight

• Manage budgets, resources, and administrative responsibilities for the competence group.
• Solve complex technical challenges and provide expert consultation.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to align frontend strategy with product and business needs.

Must-Have Technical Skills:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, or related field
• 10+ years of frontend development experience, including leading teams of 20+ engineers
• Expertise with Angular 2+ (v16) and Angular Material
• Strong skills in Reactive Programming (RxJS) and Responsive Web Design (RWD) best practices
• Web application security knowledge (CORS, CSP, etc.)
• Experience with WebComponents and REST APIs
• Proficient with version control systems (Git, Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab)
• Familiar with CI tools (Bitbucket Pipelines, Maven, Jenkins, Nexus) and code quality tools (SonarQube, Codacy)
• Strong focus on Clean Code principles and Design Patterns
• Excellent English proficiency
• Agile mindset with proven team collaboration skills
• Technical leadership experience: mentoring, code reviews, coaching

Expertise & Behaviors:

• Recognized expert in frontend competence
• Skilled in developing performance-improving methods
• Ability to promote work standards and best practices organization-wide
• Experience hiring, interviewing, and assessing staff
• Strong mediation and conflict resolution skills
• Excellent communication skills for conveying complex topics clearly
• Coaching experience with team members and leads
• Proven ability to build and maintain high-performing, engaged teams
• Strategic, innovation-focused mindset
• Passionate about the competence area, proactive in organizing related events
• Open to new ideas, committed to continuous learning
• Fosters a culture of ownership, learning, and feedback

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Experience developing accessible solutions per WCAG 2.2 AA
• Proven track record with reusable component libraries
• Knowledge of AWS, Kubernetes, Datadog
• Familiarity with OAuth2, Auth0
• Experience with Figma or close collaboration with UX/UI teams
• Understanding of microfrontend architectures
• Background in design systems or UI/UX principles
• Experience with JavaScript, CSS, unit testing (Jest), NX
• Knowledge of Vue.js, React, or other frameworks
• Proficiency in Spanish (B2/C1)

What We Offer:

• A key leadership role shaping strategy, technology, and team growth
• A collaborative, learning-oriented work environment
• Opportunities to work with cutting-edge technologies and modern projects
• Strong support for your professional growth and technical development
• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits
• Flexible hybrid work model

About Sanoma Learning:

How do you prepare students for the world, engage their curiosity and inspire them to grow? That is the main question of teachers all around the world. At Sanoma Learning, it has always been our mission to help to find and develop best-in-class answers to this question. If you join us, it means that you embark on an exciting journey to help shape the future of learning for primary, secondary and vocational education. We believe that your journey is our success as a company.

Sanoma Learning is a leading K12 European learning company, operating in 12 countries. Our learning products and services enable and support teachers and schools to develop the talents of every child to reach their potential. By offering printed and digital learning content, as well as digital learning and teaching platforms for primary, secondary and vocational education, we want to grow our positive impact on learning across Europe. With over 3000 employees, we help shape the future of education for 25+ million of students.

So, are you ready to start your journey to help shape the future of learning and help teachers to support all students to reach their potential?