“What do we do as Backend Leads? We solve problems!”
What’s life like as a Lead Backend? Four Qontoers offer a peek behind the curtain.
For many, the role of a Lead Backend Engineer is shrouded in mystery. Working behind the scenes on developments that are essential to keeping a product running smoothly, unlike Frontends, their work is never directly seen by the end user. In fact, not seeing their work is probably a good sign that their efforts are paying off. And, as well as tackling the technical, they’re charged with carefully overseeing the teams delivering this vital work.
But while the role is rarely seen from the outside, it’s a business-critical one. As Qonto’s Head of Backend, Gabriel de Laboulaye, puts it, “From day one, Qonto’s ambition has been to redefine banking for SMEs. Pushing boundaries and aiming for the best is part of our DNA. Backend Leads embody that ambition; they’re a vital central point between strategic vision and operational excellence.”
Backend Leads: what do they love about their job?
Backend Leads are often drawn to the role for the freedom it offers. Both in lifting their skills ceiling above the technical — and making a sizable business impact in the process.
From Qonto’s Lead Backend Sebastian Lamelas’s vantage point, this impact is central to what he loves about the role. “I enjoy working in an environment where teams collaborate through a creative process to build cool features that provide real value to customers, leading to higher customer satisfaction, bigger company success, and personal and professional growth.”
Félicie Godineau, a Lead Backend at Qonto, describes a sense of pride in seeing everything run smoothly, and knowing that she’s playing a valuable part in its functioning. Being surrounded by a supportive and highly skilled team means she’s always learning — and finding joy in overseeing a well-functioning team.
Backend Leads at Qonto work with talented Individual Contributors (ICs) — those who are not on a management track, instead pursuing their own projects within the company. And, Gabriel adds, a Lead’s mission is, “to help them maximize their impact: through coaching, training and team alignment. Empowering the team to dare to experiment, creating the right teamwork conditions, and identifying the right people growth makes a huge difference for Qonto.”
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Opportunities for continuous improvement can be found in all directions, depending on where the Lead’s own interests lie. “We have developed a lot of training programs, from our L&D department (e.g. Lift-off Your Management) and from Tech (Tech Management Launchpad, Ruby/Go/Kafka trainings),” Gabriel explains. “On top of that, the Qonto Way Manager Training brings all our Team Leads up to speed in our Lean principles.”
Let’s take a step back — what is a Lead Backend, exactly?
The Lead Backend role sits at a unique intersection between programming, engineering, and leadership. A Lead’s job, distinct from that of a Backend Engineer’s, brings together applied expertise (being hands-on) with leadership skills (managing people).
“As a Team Lead, I distribute my time to guaranteeing the stability of the work environment, making the team more productive, and unblocking abnormal situations,” says Sebastian. “So it’s a highly operational role, seeking to generate a spirit of engagement and improvement in the team. That’s the vision — but each Lead needs to add the human touch to know the best ways to put it into practice for their teams.”
In the course of a day they’ll often oversee technical solutions, set priorities for their teams in line with the company’s goals, as well as mentor engineers to grow in their own career paths, providing opportunities for skills development.
How does the Qonto Way support Leads Backend?
There’s little as professionally satisfying as a job well done. And Qonto’s Backend team is set up for success, with the Qonto Way (the company’s guiding philosophy) providing a structure for effective solution-finding.
For Félicie, the Qonto Way forms the bedrock of the role. “The Qonto Way is about solving problems. And what do we do daily as a Backend Engineer or as Leads Backend? Solve problems! Instead of suffering from a pipeline taking ages to complete, a recurring bug that requires 5 minutes of your time every day, or a bad decision taken at the beginning of a project, the idea is to go and solve it once and for all.” ”If your problem blocks the delivery process, we raise an ‘Andon’: meaning that everyone should focus on solving this problem. This allows a fast resolution and everyone can go back to delivery in no time. If your problem is just generally annoying you, we start a ‘Kaizen’: meaning everyone facing this problem will gather and agree on an objective. We close the Kaizen only when this objective is reached. Sometimes, you are so used to daily frustrations that you don’t see them anymore. As a lead, my role is to underline these to make sure the team is not stuck in a bad process restraining them from delivering smoothly.”
What are the qualities needed to be a great Lead Backend?
The qualities needed are as varied as the role itself.
In Qonto Backend Engineer Mounika Mudda’s view, “A skilled Lead Backend should excel in fostering open and transparent communication channels, encouraging collaboration and feedback within the team. I would expect them to be approachable, empathetic, and willing to provide support and guidance to their colleagues.”
Sebastian elaborates: “Successful Leads demonstrate high agency (they ensure things get done, one way or another), clear communication (with different stakeholders — direct reports, those in other departments, the CTO), expert-level technical skills (they still need to be a Technical Lead for their team), and profound self-knowledge (they need to know what are the things about themselves that can help or hinder their capacity to build trust with the team, to frequently listen and accept feedback, to be empathetic with direct reports, to be aware of how others perceive them).”
In many ways, the qualities needed in the role represent the core of what it means to be a Qontoer. According to Gabriel, “Our team leaders play a crucial role in carrying our values in the teams. Mastery, through their expert level on Coding and Design principles. Ownership and Customer focus, with their ability to pilot delivery in an ambitious, engaging, and accountable way. Teamwork, in their ability to grow teammates through coaching. And Integrity, by alerting and reacting on any issue.”
What’s the usual background of a successful Lead Backend?
There’s no one ‘cookie-cutter’ career path leading to the role. But, according to Gabriel, applicants should have applied technical knowledge in their skills toolkit. ****“We want our leaders to be experts on the job. It’s absolutely key, as it allows them to analyze real pieces and problems, instead of discussing vague concepts.”
Félicie agrees that having technical expertise makes a difference in her day-to-day tasks. During 1:1’s with her team members, it means that she has a better understanding of the topics they’re bringing to the table, and she’s better equipped to challenge their approach and help them find more efficient solutions. It also means that, when aligning with other teams, she’s able to assess a rough delivery estimate and raise any pain points that she foresees.
Moving into a Lead Backend role could prove the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle for those in purely technical roles and looking for more diversity in their responsibilities. This was the case for Sebastian, who felt that something was lacking in his past roles as a Developer. “I realized that most of my motivation at work was coming from responsibilities that were well beyond Programming and Technology. Once this seed was planted, I started pursuing opportunities with more leadership responsibilities — and, voilà: Lead Backend!”
So, while Backend Leads at Qonto represent a range of backgrounds, they’re all welcomed into an environment in which they’re encouraged to supercharge their own skills, raise up their teams, and play a part in transforming the business banking landscape.
About Qonto
Qonto makes it easy for SMEs and freelancers to manage day-to-day banking, thanks to an online business account that’s stacked with invoicing, bookkeeping and spend management tools.
Created in 2016 by Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi, Qonto now operates in 4 European markets (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) serving 450,000 customers, and employs more than 1,400 people.
Since its creation, Qonto has raised €622 million from well-established investors. Qonto is one of France’s most highly valued scale-ups and has been listed in the Next40 index, bringing together future global tech eleaders, since 2021.
Interested in joining a challenging and game-changing company? Take a look at our open positions.
Illustration by Karina Pasechka
Writing by Ellie Day
