---
title: 'Head of Product Development at Appodeal'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-product-development-appodeal-barcelona-ybe4r8g492aj'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Head of Product Development at Appodeal

- **Company:** Appodeal
- **Location:** Barcelona, Spain
- **Posted:** 2026-06-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/appodeal/jobs/5250549008

## Job description

Appodeal is a dynamic US-based product company with a truly global presence.

We have offices in Warsaw, Barcelona and Parkland (FL), along with remote team members located around the world.

Our company thrives on diversity, collaboration, and innovation, making us a leader in the mobile app monetization space.

Why Appodeal?

At Appodeal, we’re more than just a company—we’re a team united by a common mission: Help people discover and grow their talents through products that enable successful mobile app businesses!

We take pride in our cutting-edge product and our internationally dispersed team of talented professionals.

Here’s what we value, and what we hope you do too:

- Continuous Learning and Growth: We are passionate about learning, growing personally, and building rewarding careers.
- Making an Impact: We are committed to building a history-defining company that leaves a lasting impact on the mobile app industry.
- Solving Exciting Challenges: We tackle complex problems every day, supported by a team of world-class professionals and mentors.
- Enjoying the Journey: We believe in having fun while working toward our goals.

Appodeal is looking for a Head of Product Development to lead the full ownership of both product and engineering across our mobile gaming business unit — WordMaker, Solitaire, and Brick Blast.

This is a single leadership role that owns both product and engineering across Appodeal's mobile gaming portfolio. The Head of Product Development operates as a player-coach: shipping work alongside the team, setting the bar by example, and growing people through proximity — not through management layers.

This is not a director role. It's the most senior hands-on contributor in the department who also happens to own the direction. We are looking for someone who has built and shipped at the intersection of product and engineering in mobile gaming, is deeply AI-native, and is energized by ownership without guardrails.

## What You Own

Product Direction

- Define and evolve the product strategy for the games portfolio — grounded in eProfit outcomes.
- Own the quality of PRDs, roadmap decisions, and product hypotheses across the team. Write them yourself on the highest-priority bets.
- Maintain live knowledge of product metrics across the portfolio: retention, ARPU, ARPDAU, experiment results. Stay in the data daily.

Technical Direction

- Own the full technical architecture of the product department — game clients (Unity), backend systems, release pipeline, and internal tooling.
- Define engineering standards, development workflows, and code quality bar across the team.
- Ensure reliability, performance, and scalability of all systems supporting the games portfolio.

AI as an Operating Layer

- Drive AI adoption across both product and engineering functions — from PRD generation and competitive research to test automation, release pipeline, and analytics agents.
- Build and iterate on the intelligence layer that replaces manual coordination and reporting: analytics agents, QA agents, LiveOps automation, reporting pipelines.
- Continuously improve development velocity through AI tooling and process optimization (e.g., Copilot, GPT-based workflows, GitHub Actions automation).

Hands-On Delivery

- Personally contribute to both product work (specs, experiments, analysis) and engineering work (architecture decisions, code review, shipping core systems) — not one delegated to the other.
- Lead by doing on the highest-stakes initiatives. The team should be able to follow your PRDs and your pull requests.
- Participate in debugging, optimization, and solving complex technical challenges alongside the team.

## Team and Culture

- Lead, develop, and grow a lean team of Product Owners and ICs (Unity engineers, backend developers, design, QA).
- Set a high bar for ownership, speed, and AI fluency. Address performance gaps directly.
- Foster a culture where people act as DRIs, not ticket-resolvers.
- Grow engineers into independent, high-impact contributors and tech leads.

Cross-Functional

- Work closely with monetization, UA, data, and RnD departments to ensure portfolio decisions are grounded in full eProfit context.
- Enable fast hypothesis testing and iteration cycles within product teams.
- Partner with product and data teams to build scalable systems for experimentation, analytics, and performance tracking.
- Coordinate the RnD department → internal team handover process and maintain hit-readiness and de-handover criteria.

## Requirements

Must-Have

- 8+ years of software engineering experience, including senior leadership roles in mobile gaming or mobile product environments.
- Genuine hands-on in both product and engineering — you write PRDs and you write code. Not one delegated to someone else.
- Strong expertise in Unity (C#) and mobile game architecture; solid understanding of scalable backend systems and client-server architecture.
- AI-native, not AI-curious — you have concrete production examples of AI tools accelerating your output. You don't describe it in theory; you show it.
- Leadership by proximity — you have led small, high-performance teams in a fast-moving environment. You grow people by working alongside them, not by reviewing their work from a distance.
- Data-driven mindset — experience working in environments with frequent experimentation cycles, A/B testing, and metric-driven decision-making.

Strong Signals

- Founded or co-founded a mobile gaming studio.
- Have directly scaled an ad-monetized casual game from early traction to meaningful portfolio revenue.
- Have built internal tooling, automation pipelines, or SDK integrations alongside product work.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and release processes (Unity Cloud Build, GitHub Actions).
- Familiarity with analytics tools: Firebase, GameAnalytics, Amplitude.
- Experience with mobile game monetization systems (ads, IAP).

Why Join Us?

- Ownership without guardrails. You set the direction for both product and engineering — no committee, no layers.
- Real products, real traction. WordMaker, Solitaire, and Brick Blast are live, growing games with real users and data to work with.
- AI-first environment. We are building the next generation of mobile games with AI at the core of how we develop, test, and iterate.
- Lean, high-trust team. Small team, fast decisions, high impact per person.
- Competitive compensation. Competitive salary, performance-based bonuses, and clear career growth opportunities.

We believe in the following values, and hope you do too:

- Leverage data to build product. We rely on data to make informed decisions and create products that solve real problems. While data guides us, we apply insight, context, and wisdom to interpret it thoughtfully.
- We work together to serve others. Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. By serving others — customers, teammates, and stakeholders — we create value and build trust.
- Relentless pursuit of excellence. We commit to grow and evolve in everything we do, constantly seeking opportunities to refine our processes, skills, and results.
- Passionate curiosity fuels perseverance. Passionate curiosity drives us to explore challenges, learn from setbacks, and adapt with resilience.
- Direct and straightforward, no politics. Transparency and honesty are essential. We communicate clearly, focus on facts, and avoid unnecessary politics or hidden agendas.
- Lean startup mentality: start small, iterate quickly. We prioritize experimentation, fast learning, resourcefulness, agility, and innovation.
- Ownership and accountability. Everyone is empowered to take ownership of their work. We are accountable for our decisions, actions, and outcomes.

Ready to lead with impact? Apply now and help us build the next generation of mobile game experiences!

With an outstanding product and a mission that excites and inspires, Appodeal offers a unique opportunity to make an impact while being part of an amazing team.

Join us and help shape the future of mobile app success!

## About Appodeal

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Appodeal provides an open-source SDK mediation platform, programmatic ad exchange, and user acquisition tools powered by in-house machine learning models to maximize mobile app monetization.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed/Series A stage; total funding of $7.5M–$11.1M per conflicting reports)
- **Headquarters**: McLean, Virginia, United States (with major offices in Warsaw, Poland; Barcelona, Spain; and Parkland, Florida, as well as remote team members)
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Not publicly available

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Ad tech & mobile publishing (IT Services and IT Consulting per LinkedIn)
- **Target customers**: Mobile app developers and publishers (B2B)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Help people discover and grow their talents through products that enable successful mobile app businesses.” Also: “We create digital products that support teams, communities, people.”

## Products & Services
- **[Appodeal SDK Mediation](https://appodeal.com/)**: Open-source mobile ad mediation SDK that connects to multiple ad networks; uses ML models to optimize ad revenue in real time.
- **[Appodeal Programmatic Ad Exchange](https://appodeal.com/)**: Real-time bidding marketplace for mobile ad inventory.
- **[User Acquisition Tools](https://appodeal.com/)**: Campaign management and optimization for mobile app installs and re-engagement.
- **[Publishing Division](https://appodeal.com/)**: Portfolio of casual and hybrid-casual mobile games developed in-house.
- **[Appodeal Accelerator](https://appodeal.com/)**: Program that provides mobile developers with expert guidance and user acquisition capital to grow their apps.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**:
  - Annual Revenue: $16.4M (LinkedIn estimate, 2025)
  - Total Funding: $7.46M (LinkedIn) or $11.1M (CB Insights – conflicting reports)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: ImpulseVC (lead investor in 2018 seed round); also acquired Corona Labs in 2017.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Named one of the top five ad SDKs worldwide by Pixalate in 2025.
  - 300+ full-time employees across three hubs (Warsaw, Barcelona, Parkland) plus remote.
  - Active hiring: 17–18 open roles as of early 2026 (Greenhouse jobs board).
  - LinkedIn reports 10,535 followers (+1.6% monthly) and 5,483 Twitter followers.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Open-source SDK** lowers integration friction for developers.
- **In-house machine learning models** are tested daily in production to maximize eCPM and fill rates.
- **Full-stack approach**: mediation, exchange, UA, publishing, and accelerator program create a vertically integrated ecosystem.
- **Global presence** with strong European hubs offers talent diversity and cost advantages.

## Strategic Focus
- Continue to grow the publishing division and Accelerator program to attract more mobile developers.
- Leverage data science and ML to improve ad revenue optimization and user acquisition efficiency.
- Expand remote-first hiring to access global talent while maintaining physical hubs for collaboration.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Human-first, “making tech kinder.” Values include continuous learning, making an impact, solving exciting challenges, and enjoying the journey.
- **Remote/hybrid policy**: Offices in Warsaw, Barcelona, and Parkland (FL); many roles are fully remote, especially for part-time technical positions.
- **Perks & benefits**:
  - Full private health insurance with 24/7 digital health access.
  - Mental health support (psychology sessions, preventive care).
  - Professional development budget (courses, conferences, learning tools, pro subscriptions).
  - In Warsaw: sports, language courses, commute reimbursement, free lunches.
  - “Lean startup mentality” – ownership and accountability, direct communication, no politics.
- **Engineering culture**: Heavy emphasis on data, machine learning (senior data scientists, MLOps, Rust engineers), and product development. Low hierarchy and fast iteration.

## Sources
1. [Appodeal Official Website](https://appodeal.com/)
2. [Appodeal Job Board (Greenhouse)](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/appodeal)
3. [Appodeal Careers Page](https://appodeal.com/career/)
4. [LinkedIn – Appodeal, Inc.](https://www.linkedin.com/company/appodeal)
5. [CB Insights – Appodeal Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/appodeal)

## Other roles at Appodeal

- [Accounting Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/accounting-manager-appodeal-parkland-florida-7rb9hb3cpnsd) — Parkland Florida, United States
- [HR Business Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/hr-business-partner-appodeal-barcelona-q11tzsmdrkjc) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Monetization Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/monetization-lead-appodeal-barcelona-yk8j34g0zxkn) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Senior Supply Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-supply-product-manager-appodeal-barcelona-z931j3yrwcbp) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Senior Technical Account Manager (part-time)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-account-manager-part-time-appodeal-europe-4qjshj45mcrh) — Europe
- [Independent Board Director (ML-Driven Product & Data Platform Leader)](https://feeny.ai/job/independent-board-director-ml-driven-product-data-platform-leader-appodeal-tm9sb91xzn1d) — United States / Barcelona, Spain
- [Independent Board Director (Performance AdTech)](https://feeny.ai/job/independent-board-director-performance-adtech-appodeal-united-states-barcelona-j95hq892455z) — United States / Barcelona, Spain
- [Chief Data Science Officer](https://feeny.ai/job/chief-data-science-officer-appodeal-barcelona-w2qcp6m5c893) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Head of Publishing](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-publishing-appodeal-barcelona-eh3atm6b5bz2) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Head of UA](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-ua-appodeal-barcelona-am2xwa7hejtg) — Barcelona, Spain