Software Engineering Manager - Control Plane

blackshark.ai; Graz; Hybrid; EUR 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working arrangements

Learning opportunities

Mental well-being programs

Healthcare

Job summary

Blackshark.ai is seeking a Head of Control Plane to lead a team spanning backend, frontend and security, and report to the Head of Engineering. You will own hiring, performance reviews and development plans.

You will own the end-to-end roadmap, define SLAs, costs, on-call processes, and ensure engineers own problems, not tickets. The role also delivers the public API for defense, intelligence and enterprise integrators.

Qualifications

• Managed at least three software engineers for two years with performance ownership.
• Shipped and operated production backend services, preferably Python on Kubernetes.
• Experience delivering software in customer-controlled environments (on-premise/air-gapped).

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a cross-functional team across backend, frontend and security.
• Own the roadmap end to end with SLAs, cost, on-call ownership.
• Deliver the public API developer experience for defense and enterprise integrators.
• Build usage and licensing instrumentation for the organization.
• Ship access control for sovereign customers with SSO and RBAC.
• Represent the team in architecture and design reviews.
• Maintain the operational bar: availability, success metrics, incident handling.

Skills

People management

Backend development

Python

Kubernetes

System design

Documentation

Tools

PostgreSQL

Keycloak

Redis

Docker

ArgoCD

AWS

PostGIS

FastAPI

Job description

Satellite and drone imagery access is on the rise, and traditional image processing methods are struggling to keep up. We’ve never had more data, turning those pixels into trusted, measurable understanding still takes months of AI work. HUNTR™ reduces this to hours.

We do not sell models. We provide the infrastructure that lets governments and enterprises build, validate, deploy and operate visual models they own. From pixel inputs to operational 2D and 3D outputs, under full sovereign control. Once deployed, every new sensor observation improves the customer’s understanding of reality. Wherever the mission takes place, HUNTR™ runs there - from SaaS and private cloud to on-premise, classified networks and edge hardware in the field

We kicked off in 2020 and have secured $35 million in Series A funding from a lineup of top US and European investors, among which Microsoft M12, Point72 Ventures, Maxar, In-Q-Tel, SAFRAN, and ISAI/Capgemini.

The Control Plane team builds the backbone every other service team depends on. Authentication and authorization, subscription, license management, the public API, the frontend and the shared services that the whole platform depends on. You will lead the domain related team in all aspects, reporting to the Head of Engineering.

Your Mission

• Lead and grow a team spanning backend, frontend and security work. Run 1:1s, performance reviews, development plans. While owning hiring and delivery.
• Own the roadmap end to end. Teams here own their services completely: SLAs, cost, on-call, customer impact. Engineers own problems, not tickets.
• Deliver the public API developer experience for defense, intelligence and enterprise integrators. Shorten the path from first credential to first successful integration.
• Build the usage and licensing instrumentation the rest of the organization decides on. Adoption, activation and per-tenant behavior are questions Control Plane answers for everyone.
• Ship the access control sovereign customers require. Single sign-on, role-based access, and administration tooling that holds up in environments we do not operate.
• Represent the team in architecture and design review. The strongest argument wins regardless of who holds it, and the proposing team owns the stack it commits to.
• Hold the operational bar. Availability, request success and incident quality are yours, and they are measured.

Your Profile

• You have managed software engineers directly, at least three of them, for at least two years, with real performance and development ownership.
• You are still technically credible. You read a design document and find the resource management flaw, the consistency assumption, or the failure mode nobody modeled.
• You have shipped and operated backend services in production, ideally Python on Kubernetes. You know what identity, authorization, and multi-tenancy cost when they are done badly.
• You have delivered software into environments the customer controls, not only infrastructure you run yourself. On-premise, single-tenant or air-gapped delivery is a requirement here.
• You work in writing. This is an async-first, remote-friendly organization with a distributed team. Decisions live in documents and interfaces, not in recurring meetings.
• You reason from evidence and change position when the data moves. You can name a decision you reversed and what caused it.

Tech Stack

• Python, FastAPI
• Vue.js, TypeScript
• Keycloak
• Postgres, PostGIS
• Redis
• Docker, Kubernetes, ArgoCD
• AWS

Why join us

• Own the highest-leverage surface in the company: every service team, every customer and every deployment runs through what your team builds.
• A seat in the engineering leadership group, and real influence over how the organization is built as it scales.
• Diverse deployment challenges: the same platform runs in the cloud, on classified networks and on a laptop in the field.
• Customers who are demanding for good reasons, and who tell you exactly what sovereign control has to mean in practice.
• Competitive compensation with flexible working arrangements and personalized benefits including learning opportunities, mental well-being programs, and healthcare.

The minimum salary is 75.000,–€ gross per year. The effective salary depends on qualification and experience and may be significantly higher!