João joined Dexter four years ago as a Backend Engineer and today works as an Engineering Manager, leading two highly technical teams: Infrastructure and Core Services. His journey reflects both personal growth and the way Dexter approaches autonomy, trust, and long-term development.

Originally from Brazil, João moved to the Netherlands five years ago after completing a PhD in Electrical and Communications Engineering in Scotland. Back then, embedded systems roles were hard to find, which led him into web development and eventually to Dexter. Outside of work, he is married and about to celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary, has three cats, and is a new parent to a baby who is almost nine months old. He is also a big fan of heavy metal, board games, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Joao, what does your role look like day to day?

“A big part of my job is alignment. That means a lot of meetings, but for good reasons. I spend time in team meetings, one-on-ones, and broader discussions with other managers and even the senior leadership team. My role is very much about influencing rather than doing hands-on engineering. I cannot delegate that part.

What I care most about is helping people grow. I work with engineers on their career progression, making sure they are learning, working on the right problems, and staying motivated and happy. Dexter operates in a self-managed way. We are given clear goals, but teams decide how to reach them. That requires trust and communication, but it also creates a strong sense of ownership.”

And how did you grow into an Engineering Manager role at Dexter?

“From my very first interview, I was open about wanting to move toward management after spending time as an individual contributor. When our former CTO later joined, he asked me why I wanted that path. I told him that I get more joy from helping others do their work than from achieving things by myself. He told me that was the right motivation and promised to support me.

The opportunity did not come immediately. Dexter was smaller at the time, and the company needed more experience and structural changes first. It took about three and a half years before the timing was right. When I did step into the role, it was during a challenging period with reorganizations and internal changes. It was a rough start, but also an intense learning experience.

Throughout that time, Dexter gave me a lot of freedom and coaching. I was trusted with management-related responsibilities before I had the title, like designing the technical stage of our software engineering hiring process. I was also given space to grow, which sometimes meant explicitly discussing which tasks I could put aside to focus on leadership development. At one point, I even had the opportunity to mentor another team for six months, which was incredibly valuable.

My background helped me a lot. I have been in leadership roles since I was young, starting as a scout monitor and later leading different groups. Empathy and communication are core to how I lead. I am comfortable going deep into technical details, but I can also translate that into what matters for the business. That ability to switch context helps me connect engineers with stakeholders like finance or leadership, and make sure we understand each other.”

João, you are also very open about the fact that not everything was perfect. Can you tell more about this?

“I would have appreciated more clarity around career progression earlier on, especially before Dexter had a formal career framework. At times, progression felt dependent on who I reported to rather than following a clear, structured path. The interview process for the first Engineering Manager application was also poorly handled, with long delays and unclear expectations. While the situation eventually improved, I believe it is an important learning for the organization.

What stands out is that Dexter is willing to reflect on experiences like these and improve.

That mindset, combined with autonomy, trust, and a genuine focus on people, is why I stayed and continue to grow at Dexter. It is a place where you are challenged, supported, and given room to shape not just your own career, but also how the company evolves.”