Engineering Manager

Aiven • Toronto, ON

17d • $154,000 - $192,500 • Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a skilled Engineering Manager to lead our App Layer Platform team. This is a critical role focused on providing a reliable, scalable and secure platform for Aiven’s app layer. You will report to the Head of Developer Experience, working closely with your engineering team and product manager to drive revenue through three core responsibilities: Operational Excellence, Customer Satisfaction, and Platform Optimization and Differentiation.

Requirements

• At least five years of hands-on experience and two years in a people leadership role.
• Proven track record of leading diverse teams, from junior to senior engineers, to successfully deliver software products.
• Strong product sense that enables your team to design innovative, cloud-native products that stay ahead of the curve.
• Excellent communication skills in English, with the ability to effectively engage directly with customers.
• Ability to bring order and clarity to a dynamic, ambiguous environment, a trait essential in a fast-growing tech company.
• Experience in recruiting engineering talent and a deep understanding of what it takes to build and retain high-performing teams.
• Experience with agile software development methodologies.
• Extensive experience with containerization and workload orchestration at scale.
• Can develop and enforce SLAs, SLOs, and SLIs. Able to support capacity planning and system risk analysis. Comfortable with managing the operation of a production system.
• Experience in building, designing, and operating distributed systems in a multi-cloud, multi-region, multi-tenant environment.
• A good grasp of monitoring and observability tools, and the judgement on how to use them to support development and operations.
• Deep understanding of release management and CI/CD best practices to own the delivery pipeline.
• A genuine interest in solving complex technical challenges with customer-focused solutions.

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on programming background.
• Meaningful say in technical conversations.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Product Manager and Domain Head to create the team's roadmap, balancing business growth with essential engineering initiatives. Ability to identify technical debt, and balance innovation with stability is vital.
• Oversee the team's backlog and projects, providing clear, timely, and actionable updates to stakeholders on progress and potential blockers.
• Champion a culture of urgency and ownership to deliver impactful results. You'll be accountable for the team's delivery in all aspects, including quality, security, and reliability.
• Empower your team to act as "product custodians" by consistently addressing foundational and production issues.
• Provide clear goals and feedback to manage expectations and drive both individual and team performance.
• Lead team meetings, such as planning sessions and retrospectives, to continuously improve workflows and delivery.
• Foster a psychologically safe, high-trust environment where curiosity and healthy debate are encouraged.
• Ensure effective communication and collaboration both within the team and across the wider organization across Europe and American timezones.
• Lead the team enablement and adoption on AI coding tooling.

Benefits

• Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
• Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
• Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities.
• Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.
• Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time)
• Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed