Manager Agentic AI

pLocation: Prague (Hybrid); Czech Republic (Remote); UK (Remote); Ghent (Hybrid) /ppFunction: Software Engineering /ppReports to: Director, Packaging Intelligence /ph3About The Role /h3pEsko is building Agentic AI as a shared platform capability that enables product teams to create reliable AI-powered workflows without independently rebuilding common foundations. The platform team provides reusable capabilities, engineering patterns, and production foundations; product teams retain ownership of their domain applications and customer experiences. /ppThis is a hands-on engineering leadership role combining line management with substantial direct technical contribution. You will lead and develop the Agentic AI team, help shape the platform's technical direction, and take end-to-end ownership of substantial technical areas. Success will be measured not only by what the team ships, but by the quality, adoption, and leverage the platform creates across Esko. /ppYou will work closely with product engineering, architecture, cloud platform, security, compliance, product management, and design to translate shared needs and legitimate domain differences into coherent platform capabilities. You will also contribute to Esko's broader AI direction and participate in customer or industry discussions where your technical perspective is valuable. /ph3What you will do: /h3ulliLead and develop the Agentic AI engineering team through clear goals, regular feedback, coaching, performance management, career development, and thoughtful allocation of ownership. /liliContribute directly to the design, implementation, and operation of substantial areas of Esko's shared Agentic AI platform. /liliHelp shape the platform's technical direction, architecture, interfaces, and engineering quality bar in collaboration with the wider platform and architecture community. /liliTranslate recurring product and engineering needs into reusable platform capabilities, while accommodating legitimate domain differences without creating product-specific forks. /liliEstablish strong engineering practices for reliability, security, observability, evaluation, performance, and compatibility for consuming teams. /liliWork directly with product engineering teams to support adoption of the shared platform and help them take domain-specific agentic capabilities from exploration into production. /liliCreate an environment in which engineers can experiment, learn, challenge assumptions, and make evidence-based technical decisions while remaining accountable for production outcomes. /liliDefine and use meaningful measures of platform adoption, quality, operational performance, delivery effectiveness, and team development to guide priorities and improvement. /li /ulh3What We Are Looking For /h3ulliStrong production software engineering experience in Python, TypeScript, Java, or a similar language, including designing, building, and operating reliable systems. /liliDemonstrated experience leading and developing engineers, including line management, coaching, performance feedback, and creating meaningful technical ownership. /liliExperience building a platform, API, or shared service used by multiple teams, with sound judgement about abstractions, interfaces, compatibility, and operational responsibilities. /liliExperience designing or building production AI systems using large language models, tool use, or agentic workflows, together with a practical understanding of their limitations and risks. /liliA track record of taking uncertain or early-stage technical ideas through evaluation, implementation, and adoption as dependable production capabilities. /liliAbility to balance platform coherence with legitimate product and domain differences, and to make clear technical trade-offs when needs conflict. /liliExperience collaborating across product engineering, architecture, infrastructure, security, and business functions in a global organization. /liliExcellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain technical decisions clearly to engineering, product, and leadership audiences. /liliUndergraduate, Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science / Machine Learning / Data Science / Artificial Intelligence, or related disciplines. /li /ulh3Preferred Experience /h3ulliExperience in packaging graphics, prepress, CAD, or the wider graphic arts industry. /liliExperience building or operating multi-tenant SaaS or cloud platform capabilities. /liliExperience with AI evaluation, observability, security controls, governance, or other production foundations for agentic systems. /li /ulh3What Success Looks Like /h3ulliDelivery of solutions conforming to agreed specifications and architecture that leverage agentic AI to solve valuable customer problems in a way that is explainable and repeatable – resulting in measurable productivity improvements. /liliTeams across the business ship AI-powered capabilities that solve valuable customer problems by leveraging a shared