VP of Software Engineering

About Ding*

ding* was established in Ireland in 2006 and has grown to the world’s leading top-up service. They have their head office in Dublin and have homes in Miami, Dubai, Bucharest, Dhaka and San Salvador. ding* won the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in both 2012 and 2013. They have reached billions of phones, via their app and website as well as in-store at over 600,000 retail outlets worldwide. Since 2006, their aim has been to build & run the safest, simplest, most effective & convenient top-up service, in partnership with the best operators and platforms. They provide more secure top-up, to more countries, through more operators, than anyone else – helping people all around the world to send little bytes of happiness to their loved ones, in the blink of an eye. Their customers have successfully sent over 500 million top-ups – sending little smiles all around the world.

The Challenge

With approximately 60 team members based in Dublin, Bucharest, Dhaka, Dubai and Miami, the VP of Software Engineering would be responsible for managing, developing, and mentoring each team member whilst assisting the team to deliver projects on time and to the needs of the business. As a direct report to the CEO, ding* was looking for someone who could communicate and interact well with both the CEO Founder and the business to ensure that there is only one viewpoint: what’s best for the business.

Our Solution

Morgan McKinley were looking for a highly technically competent leader candidate who also had to possess a commercial mindset to ensure that the Technology team would deliver what the business needed most. ding*‘s proprietary technology is the engine that drives the business, and they needed someone who would understand the nuances and fundamentals of online technology, while also bridging the gap between business needs and technology development. For this search, we focused first on Ireland and then on overseas candidates with a link to Ireland. We shortlisted candidates with the right background to be able to audit a technology team of considerable size and complexity and optimize that team to meet the organsation’s considerable scale up and growth plans. The successful candidate was not only an exceptional technology leader but proved over time the ability to work seamlessly with the CEO founder to realise their commercial goals.