Apply to El Niño
See what we're hiring for or send an open application if your role isn't listed
Working at El Niño means working on technically serious projects for clients who rely on what we build. Victron Energy's remote monitoring platform running thousands of off-grid energy systems worldwide. Just Eat Takeaway's driver recruitment platform processing 120,000 applicants a month across 12 countries. Enterprise Magento upgrades for manufacturers shipping to research labs in every time zone. The work is real, the clients are demanding, and we like it that way.
We're looking for experienced people who want ownership of their work, direct contact with clients, and colleagues who push them to be better.
What you'll actually work on
Not templated websites. Not throwaway campaign sites. The work that comes through our door tends to look like:
Platforms with real-world consequences: energy monitoring systems people rely on off-grid, recruitment platforms that move 100,000+ people per month, e-commerce that handles seven-figure revenue.
Long-running partnerships with clients like Victron Energy, Just Eat Takeaway, FrieslandCampina, Nedap, and a roster of European industrials. We've been building with most of them for years, not weeks.
Genuinely hard technical problems: performance at scale, multi-region complexity, deep ERP and back-office integrations, real-time data, and the kind of edge cases you only get when thousands of people use the platform daily.
Direct contact with the people making the calls: not slowed down by layers of project managers. You'll talk to the client architect, the product owner, sometimes the CTO.
Self-driven teams
We work in self-driven squads, which means the team, not a manager, owns how the work gets done. As a senior you're not the person assigning tickets or running standups. You're the person the team turns to when an architecture call needs to be made, when a client conversation gets technical, when a junior is stuck, or when something is on fire and someone needs to stay calm. You're also expected to push back when you think we're heading the wrong way.
What you're not: a people manager, a project manager, or a issue gatekeeper. We have other people for that. Your job is to do excellent work and make the work around you better.
The basics
Salary: published bands per role, fully transparent.
Pension paid out directly: added to your gross salary so you can invest it however suits you (index funds, real estate, your own setup).
24 days holiday at 40 hours/week, plus Dutch public holidays
100% paid sick leave in year one, 70% in year two (above the legal minimum, which we mention because it actually matters when something serious happens)
Hybrid working with offices in Enschede and Den Haag
Flexible hours within a reasonable core overlap
MacBook Pro and the gear you need to do the work properly
Things worth highlighting
Direct contact with clients: no project managers buffering the technical conversation
€1,500/year learning budget: courses, books, certifications. Time during work hours to use it. Conference attendance included.
Real transparency: company financials, goals, decisions, and salary bands shared with the team
Speaking opportunities: if you want to present at a conference or meetup, we'll help you prepare
20+ years in business, ISO 27001 certified, no VC pressure to grow at any cost
Flexibility that actually fits a life
Our team includes parents, caregivers, hobbyists, athletes, and people who just value their evenings. We build work around that, not the other way around.
In practice that looks like:
Leaving at 13:45 to pick up your kids from school, and finishing the day at home after dinner
Taking a long lunch to get to a physio appointment, the gym, or just outside in the sun
Blocking a morning a week for deep work where Slack stays closed
Going to the school play in the middle of the day without making it a thing
Hybrid by default. Flexible hours within a reasonable core overlap so we can still collaborate. Part-time options available for the right role.
How we hire
You apply via the role page, or an open application. We respond within 3 working days.
An intro talk 30–45 minutes with somebody from our team. We talk about your work, your questions, and whether there's a real fit.
A trial day at our office, working with the team on something concrete. This is the one we take seriously: it tells us how we'd actually work together.
An offer based on the published band for the role, with the specifics agreed transparently.
By the numbers
