Engineering leadership,
built for builders
I help companies scale engineering teams that ship — and coach the leaders who run them.
// trusted engineering across
operator
Alexander Wittur
aka. polanco
Engineering Manager · Rasa
52.5200° N, 13.4050° E · Berlin
15+.
years leading engineering
30+.
engineers managed
4.
scaled companies
2.
shipped products
01 / what I do
Strategy, execution,
and the boring-but-critical work in between.
I embed with leadership teams navigating product, technology, and organizational complexity. Pragmatic guidance grounded in 15 years of real operational experience — not playbooks copy-pasted from a blog.
Product & Engineering Advisory
Trusted advisor to founders, CEOs, and executives on product strategy, engineering structure, and technical direction.
- ▪Product/engineering strategy alignment
- ▪Executive technical decision support
- ▪Org design and operating models
- ▪Architecture and platform reviews
- ▪Technical due diligence
- ▪Interim leadership during scale phases
Software & Digital Solutions
Design, build, and long-term support of reliable systems and modern web platforms — from initial build to production and beyond.
- ▪End-to-end software development
- ▪Modern web applications & sites
- ▪System and application architecture
- ▪Performance, reliability, scalability
- ▪Ongoing maintenance and advisory
Leadership & Executive Coaching
1:1 support for current and emerging engineering leaders operating at senior and executive levels.
- ▪One-on-one leadership coaching
- ▪Engineering management development
- ▪Team performance frameworks
- ▪Hiring, org design, succession planning
- ▪Executive communication
02 / products
Things I've
actually shipped.
Two commercial products I designed, built, and operate — end to end. Real customers, real revenue, real production systems. This is where the consulting advice gets stress-tested against my own P&L.
Levell
Team performance & growth
A clear map of skills, levels, and growth for engineering teams. Built for managers who care about outcomes, not frameworks.
Tyjera
The booking system your clients will love
White-label booking, scheduling, and lightweight CRM for local service businesses — barbershops, salons, studios. Multi-tenant from day one.
03 / experience
Real teams.
Real outcomes.
A selection of roles where I led engineering orgs through scale, transitions, and meaningful product wins. Numbers attached where it matters.
Engineering Manager
Rasa · Conversational AI
Leading engineering teams in conversational AI, building scalable systems and developing high-performing teams.
Advisory & Consulting
Independent · Advisory · Engineering
Supporting engineering leaders through organizational transformations, improving operational efficiency by 20%. Building products from concept to production as sole engineer and project lead.
Head of Product Development
Prisma ORM · Developer Tools
Led 12 engineers and 2 PMs to scale the Prisma ecosystem. Launched Prisma Optimize, achieving 5% conversion from 2,000+ OSS developers to paying users. Improved team velocity by 40% through better processes and rebuilt a high-trust engineering organization.
Head of Product Engineering
Shiftmove · Mobility
Managed 30 engineers and 4 engineering managers. Automated QA processes, reducing bugs by 12%. Rapidly scaled the team — 7 engineers and 2 managers hired in 3 months while improving delivery speed.
Engineering Manager
Ziegert Group · Real Estate
Built custom CMS and internal tools that improved conversion rates by 7%. Designed automated lead qualification processes, reducing manual work by 60% while maintaining quality.
engagement models
How we can work together
Flexible part-time engagement models designed to work around my full-time commitments — available evenings and weekends.
Strategic Advisory
- ▪Monthly strategic sessions
- ▪Board meeting prep and support
- ▪Quarterly technology portfolio review
- ▪Priority access for critical decisions
Project-Based Support
- ▪Part-time embedded support for 3–6 months
- ▪Hands-on architecture and team development
- ▪Measurable outcome-based engagement
- ▪Knowledge transfer to internal leadership
Focused Assessment
- ▪2–4 week architecture or process review
- ▪Detailed analysis and recommendations
- ▪Executive presentation of findings
- ▪Implementation roadmap
04 / writing
Notes on leadership,
in public.
Why Great Ideas Don't Need Giant Teams from Day 1
The common mistake of overstaffing a vision before validating it, and why lean teams outperform in early stages.
The Pedigree Paradox: The Hidden Bias in Hiring
Biases in hiring processes and strategies to overcome them by focusing on skills over traditional credentials.
Understanding Your Organization's Immune System
How to work with — rather than against — a company's inherent defenses when navigating change.
Let's build something
that actually ships.
Advisory, project-based engagements, or a focused assessment — tell me what you're working on.