★EngineeringLeadership
Why I refuse to stop being technical as an Engineering Manager
The case for staying close to the code when your job title says otherwise. How technical depth makes you a better engineering leader, not a worse one.
Engineering leadership with technical depth.
I'm Cristian Gutui, an Engineering Manager who stays close to the code and bridges business and engineering.
Badly shaped systems create bottlenecks. I find and remove them, and the team usually grows a level in the process.
15+years in engineering
20+engineers led over my career
EMat Refurbed
Full-stacktechnical depth
Creative Coding
What Creative Coding means to me
I believe engineering is a creative discipline. The best solutions come from people who think beyond the ticket, who understand context, question assumptions, and care about craft. That's what Creative Coding is: the space between the human problem and the binary output. That's where I work.
Engineering Leadership
Building and leading high-performing engineering teams. Hiring, mentoring, setting technical direction, and creating the conditions for people to do their best work.
Delivery & Execution
Turning ambiguous product goals into shipped software. I bring structure to chaos: clear priorities, healthy processes, and teams that deliver consistently.
Technical Architecture
Making architecture decisions that balance today's delivery with tomorrow's scalability. I stay hands-on enough to challenge assumptions and unblock teams.
Business–Engineering Bridge
Translating business requirements into engineering strategy and vice versa. I've been on both sides, running a company and leading teams inside one.
Selected outcomes
Impact, not just activity
Europe's leading marketplace for refurbished products, a team of 300 people
Engineering Manager
- Designed and built self-serve platforms that took engineering out of routine campaign and content work across 24 markets
- Standardised hiring for the squad's stack and introduced the Senior Full-Stack Engineer role, with 30+ interviews across Engineering, Product and UX
- Grew engineers up a level in every direction, with zero regretted attrition
Madrid-based services company, building from zero
Lead Fullstack Developer & Architect
- Designed and built the entire technical architecture: custom ERP, React frontend, Flutter mobile app with offline NFC timekeeping
- Managed a team of 4 engineers through the full product lifecycle from concept to production
- Maintained direct relationship with the CEO, translating business needs into product development
Cloud infrastructure platform, early-stage product
Lead Frontend Developer
- Built and maintained the entire dashboard frontend for a complex cloud infrastructure application
- Worked across the stack to deliver a product that simplified cloud management for engineering teams
About
The short version
I started building for the web in 2011 when I founded my own development company. This site used to show screenshots of the websites I built for small businesses. Over the years, I've moved from writing code to leading the people who write it, without ever losing the instinct to understand what's happening under the hood. Today, I manage engineering teams at Refurbed, Europe's leading marketplace for refurbished products. I care about building things that matter, with people who care about how they build them.
Writing
Thinking out loud
Notes on engineering leadership, technical decision-making, AI, and building products in the circular economy.
★EngineeringCareer
What is Creative Coding, and why I named my entire career after it
Creative Coding isn't a technology or a framework. It's a belief that engineering is a creative discipline, and that the best solutions come from people who think beyond the ticket.
Let's have a conversation.
Whether you're thinking about engineering leadership, team structure, technical direction, or just want to exchange ideas, I'm always open to a good conversation.