Lead Engineer

Kaliba; Sydney; On-site; AUD 165,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaliba in Sydney is building a new Engineering team and seeks an experienced Engineering Manager who combines strong people leadership with genuine technical depth. This role focuses on shaping architecture, mentoring engineers, and aligning engineering with product strategy.

You’ll lead engineers across levels, partner with Product, manage incidents and operational readiness, coach career development, and drive hiring and retention, while engaging with senior engineers on architecture and

Qualifications

• 3-5 years' people leadership experience preferred.
• Experience managing engineering teams of approximately 6–7 people.
• Strong software engineering background.
• Strong understanding of architecture and system design.
• Ability to engage technically with senior engineers.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of software engineers across multiple levels.
• Work with senior engineers on architecture and system design.
• Partner closely with Product.
• Manage incidents and operational readiness.
• Coach engineers and provide career development.
• Lead hiring, performance management and retention.
• Work closely with engineering teams and stakeholders across Europe.
• Help shape the structure, culture and technical direction of the new Sydney team.

Skills

People leadership

Team management

Architecture & design

Stakeholder collaboration

Hiring & performance management

Tools

Python

Django

FastAPI

PostgreSQL

Kafka

AWS

Job description

A global fintech is building a new Engineering team in Sydney.

We're looking for an experienced Engineering Manager who combines strong people leadership with genuine technical depth.

The role

You will:

• Lead a team of software engineers across multiple levels.
• Work with senior engineers on architecture and system design.
• Partner closely with Product.
• Manage incidents and operational readiness.
• Coach engineers and provide career development.
• Lead hiring, performance management and retention.
• Work closely with engineering teams and stakeholders across Europe.
• Help shape the structure, culture and technical direction of the new Sydney team.

What we're looking for

• 3-5 years' people leadership experience preferred.
• Experience managing engineering teams of approximately 6–7 people.
• Strong software engineering background.
• Technology : Python | Django | FastAPI | PostgreSQL | Kafka | AWS
• Strong understanding of architecture and system design.
• Ability to engage technically with senior engineers.

4 Days on-site in Sydney

Salary - $165k - $200k + super

You won't be expected to code day-to-day, but you will need sufficient technical depth to participate in architecture and system design discussions.

Industry background

Payments, fintech or banking experience is preferred but not essential.

Strong Engineering Managers from high-scale environments involving distributed systems, transaction platforms or complex SaaS products will also be considered.