What are the responsibilities and job description for the Software Engineering Manager position at workatbackbase?
The job in short
We are looking for a seasoned Software Engineering Manager to lead high-performing, cross-functional development teams. This role blends technical expertise, delivery excellence, and people leadership, ensuring that your teams build robust, scalable software that aligns with business goals.
As an AI-native leader, you’ll play a critical role in driving adoption of AI across our Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and product strategy—ensuring our engineering practices remain modern, efficient, and future-ready.
Meet the job
People & Performance
- Lead, coach, and grow multi-disciplinary Agile teams (typically 6–8 engineers per team);
- Create an inclusive, engaging team environment with a strong engineering culture;
- Drive performance and talent development with clear feedback, coaching, and formal reviews;
- Manage local/global hiring and onboarding to build teams with the right technical competencies and seniority balance;
- Address underperformance swiftly and constructively when needed.
Engineering Excellence
- Champion high-quality software delivery through modern engineering practices (CI/CD, test automation, observability, quality gates);
- Provide localised technical leadership to ensure guild guidelines are correctly implemented;
- Act as Technical Leader for the output and direction of your team’s deliverables;
- Lead teams in achieving production-readiness and robust release management practices.
Process & Delivery
- Ensure teams are set up for success with the right processes, workflows, and tooling;
- Deliver on-time commitments while enabling fast feedback loops with stakeholders;
- Drive continuous improvement in delivery capability, operating models, and tooling;
- Promote visibility and transparency through effective project tracking and communication.
Product & Value Focus
- Collaborate with Product Managers and Domain Architects to translate business needs into technical outcomes;
- Motivate delivery of high-value work that balances immediate needs and long-term strategic goals;
- Champion customer-centricity through data-driven insights, feedback loops, and usability focus.
AI-Native Mindset
- Proactively explore, experiment with, and apply AI tools and agentic frameworks (e.g. code generation, test automation, dev productivity);
- Encourage AI adoption across engineering workflows and product capabilities;
- Partner with AI/ML SMEs to embed AI in value delivery across our SDLC.
Skills & Competencies
|
Area |
Description |
|
Leadership |
Sets a compelling direction, builds trust, holds accountability, and develops others. |
|
Growth Mindset |
Embraces learning and adapts in the face of change and feedback. Models resilience and curiosity. |
|
Communication |
Adjusts style for different audiences; confident presenter and listener who fosters open dialogue. |
|
Delivery Management |
Skilled in Agile methods (Scrum/Kanban); manages delivery risk, scope, and stakeholder expectations. |
|
Customer Focus |
Acts with customer empathy, champions internal/external satisfaction, and drives quality. |
|
Engineering Fundamentals |
Strong grounding in modern engineering tooling and practices, with the ability to pragmatically guide their adoption. |
|
Problem Solving |
Approaches problems systemically and strategically, balancing short- and long-term considerations. |
|
AI Fluency |
Familiarity with the AI tool ecosystem and how to drive AI adoption across engineering and product development. |
How about you
- BSc or MSc in Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent experience;
- 7 years in software engineering roles, including 2 years in people management;
- Proven experience with Agile delivery, CI/CD pipelines, and quality-focused development;
- Track record of building and scaling teams, processes, and product impact;
- Exposure to banking, payments, or SaaS is a plus;
- Enthusiastic about leveraging AI to boost productivity and innovation.
What we offer
- A mission-driven environment with smart, supportive colleagues;
- Opportunities to influence our SDLC, team structures, and product strategy;
- A front-row seat in our journey towards truly AI-augmented software engineering.