Manager, Engineering - Platform

Bonterra Tech•Austin, TX

12d•Remote

About The Position

Bonterra is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead their Platform Engineering team, focusing on Authentication, API, and MCP (Model Context Protocol) services. These foundational systems are critical for secure identity, reliable API access, and AI-agent integration across all Bonterra products. This is a working manager role, requiring a balance between team leadership, technical ownership, architecture decisions, design reviews, and direct contribution to the codebase (at least 25% of the time). The role involves managing and growing the team, owning the technical direction for these platform services, and ensuring the reliability, security, and scalability that the rest of the engineering organization depends on.

Requirements

7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 2+ years in engineering leadership or management.
Experience managing an engineering team through delivery, hiring, and performance management.
Deep technical credibility in one or more of: authentication/identity systems, API design and platforms, or MCP (Model Context Protocol) and AI-agent integration patterns.
Familiarity with TypeScript/Node.js and AWS serverless infrastructure; comfortable evaluating modern cloud-native architectures.
Experience with security and compliance considerations for authentication systems (e.g., SOC 2, OAuth/OIDC, or equivalent).
AI-first mindset: actively uses AI coding tools, champions spec-driven development, and coaches engineers to work effectively with AI-generated output.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage confidently with senior leadership, peer teams, and ICs.
Passion for empowering the social good sector through technology.

Nice To Haves

Experience building or operating MCP servers or AI-agent tooling integrations.
Experience with identity and access management platforms (e.g., Auth0, Okta, AWS Cognito, or custom OAuth/OIDC implementations).
Background in mission-driven, nonprofit, or social impact technology.

Responsibilities

Lead and grow the platform engineering team responsible for Authentication, API, and MCP services.
Hire, coach, and develop engineers; support career growth and run performance management for the team.
Coach engineers on spec-driven development and AI-assisted delivery practices; hold the team accountable for applying them consistently.
Foster a culture of ownership, quality, and continuous improvement.
Contribute directly to technical work—architecture reviews, design decisions, and hands-on engagement with the codebase—at a minimum of 25% of your time.
Own the technical direction for the platform's Authentication, API, and MCP services.
Ensure authentication and identity systems are secure, reliable, and meet compliance requirements (e.g., SOC 2).
Guide the design and evolution of internal and external-facing APIs used across Bonterra's product domains.
Set the technical strategy for MCP integration, positioning Bonterra's platform for AI-agent and tool-based access patterns.
Maintain the technical depth needed to evaluate architectural decisions, set credible non-functional requirements, and earn the confidence of senior engineers.
Own delivery outcomes for the team: set clear goals, establish metrics, and ensure commitments are met.
Coordinate dependencies with product domain teams that rely on Authentication, API, and MCP services.
Identify and remove process friction—technical debt, dependency issues, and workflow inefficiencies that constrain delivery.
Maintain high standards for reliability, observability, and incident response for platform services.
Partner with product domain engineering teams to understand their platform needs and prioritize accordingly.
Work with InfoSec on access controls, authentication security, and compliance requirements.
Collaborate with peer Engineering Managers and Directors on org-wide engineering standards and delivery practices.