Freelance Engineering & Product Leader

I help teams build precise, purposeful software and the organisations to sustain them

With 15+ years leading large, global engineering organisations, I partner with companies to tackle complex challenges, scale their teams, and ship things that matter.

Frida Johansson
Spotify Voyado IKEA Sogeti HiQ

What I do

Available in Skåne, Copenhagen and remotely.

Engineering leadership

Interim or fractional engineering leadership. I build teams, set technical strategy, and establish the culture and practices that make delivery reliable.

Product & Project Management

From defining roadmaps and clarifying ownership to driving cross-functional delivery. I bring structure, momentum and a product mindset to complex initiatives.

AI & Engineering Productivity

Helping engineering teams navigate the shift to AI-assisted development — from tooling strategy and ways of working to building a culture where new technology actually gets adopted.

Leadership & Career Coaching

Certified coach with experience supporting leaders and individuals through career transitions, leadership challenges, and personal development.


Experience
2024 – Present Voyado

Director of Engineering — Search & Recommendation Platform

Led Elevate, an AI-driven platform delivering real-time search and personalised recommendations to millions of end users. Managed 3 Senior Engineering Managers, 1 Product Architect, 1 Staff Engineer, and 2 Principal Engineers across an org of 47 engineers.

2024 IKEA

Product Manager — Data Platform

Established a dedicated product function within the Data Platform, defining roles, ownership, and ways of working. Moved internal data products from zero adoption to active usage across the organisation.

2022 – 2024 Spotify

Director of Engineering — Data Processing

Owned technical strategy and execution for a mission-critical data processing platform used across the company. Managed 4 Engineering Managers, 3 Staff Engineers, and 31 engineers across complex distributed systems.

2019 – 2022 Spotify

Senior Engineering Manager — Data & Insights

Led Data Foundations within a 300-person organisation, managing 9 Engineering Managers and 75 engineers. Owned technical strategy for Spotify's most critical data assets and spearheaded a major platform split to increase delivery speed.

2018 – 2019 Spotify

Senior Engineering Manager — AdTech & Marketing

Led engineering for Spotify's player-facing marketing and messaging platforms across ~30 engineers. Delivered real-time, personalised messaging for millions of users and led a company-wide personalised content initiative.

2013 – 2018 Spotify

Engineering Manager & Product Manager — Client Platform

Started as QA engineer and rapidly progressed to Product & Engineering Manager. Owned cross-functional release planning and execution for global releases reaching millions of users.

2007 – 2013 Sogeti & HiQ

Consultant

Worked as a consultant across multiple clients in software development, testing, and project management roles.

2000 – 2001 Telia Prosoft

Software Developer

Developed software in C++/MFC, laying the technical foundation for a career spanning engineering, product, and leadership.


About

I'm Frida — an engineering and product leader with 15+ years across roles as Director of Engineering, Product Manager, Project Manager, QA, and Software Engineer. That breadth isn't accidental: understanding every role in a team is what makes me a better leader.

Since 2009 I've led and coached people and engineering organisations — managing teams of up to 75 people within companies of up to 9,000 employees.

My passion sits at the intersection of business, technology, and people. I've worked in scale-ups and global corporations, always focused on the same things: rapid innovation, technical excellence, and developer productivity.

Those I work with tend to appreciate my clear, direct communication and my ability to create structure in complex situations. Many highlight how I help teams stay grounded and focused during times of change.

Available for fractional, interim, and permanent engagements.

15+
Years in tech
75+
Engineers led
6
Global companies

Testimonials
"Frida stepped into all of this, with her hands-on approach of 'transformation through delivery'. Her wealth of experience, can-do attitude, and especially her warm heart have been invaluable. She's an asset to any organisation, providing both light and direction on whatever comes her way."
Maj-Britt
Global VP Platform Engineering, Ingka IKEA Group
"Frida is dedicated to her work and is always striving to deliver with high quality. She is structured and organized. She also has a warmth and a big heart which shows in her caring for other people."
Maria
QA & Testing Specialist, Securitas Direct
"She has a strong sense of responsibility and is always striving to make sure that she and her team is making a good job. Frida is very good at making sure that all of the team members are used at the best suited position."
Anja
Product Manager, ST-Ericsson

Let's talk

Working through a leadership transition, a platform challenge, or a strategic question? I'd love to hear what you're building — and whether I can help.

✉ mail@fridajohansson.com