Engineering Manager

WorkMotion; Deutschland; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Learning & development allowance

Asynchronous communication

Work from anywhere

Gym membership

Job summary

WorkMotion is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead a high-performing Java-driven team responsible for delivering scalable product capabilities and robust engineering practices. You will coach engineers, shape architecture, and drive delivery in a fast-growing, global environment.

Collaborate with Product, Platform, AI/ML, and Security to translate business goals into concrete technical plans, maintain quality, observability, and security, and foster a culture of ownership and continuous

Qualifications

• Several years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong hands-on experience with Java and the Java ecosystem.
• Professional fluency in English.
• Strong people-management skills, including coaching, feedback, performance management, and career development.
• Understanding of software quality, automated testing, observability, security, and operational excellence.
• Experience with modern software development practices, Java-based backend systems, cloud-native architectures, APIs, distributed systems, and CI/CD.
• Understanding of AI-assisted and agentic software development with modern AI coding tools.
• Excellent communication skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong technical judgment and contribution to architecture and discussions.
• Experience working closely with Product in an agile environment.
• Data-informed approach to engineering performance without over-simplified metrics.
• Ability to turn ambiguous requirements into structured plans.
• Experience defining and using engineering effectiveness and delivery metrics.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of software engineers.
• Own the team's delivery, execution, and engineering health.
• Partner with Product to convert priorities into technical plans.
• Contribute to architecture, design, and engineering discussions.
• Ensure code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, and documentation.
• Drive predictable delivery balancing features, debt, and scalability.
• Collaborate with Principal/Senior Engineers on architecture decisions.
• Use metrics to improve team effectiveness and delivery.
• Identify blockers and coordinate across teams.
• Foster ownership and accountability from design to production.
• Support hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development.
• Contribute to broader engineering initiatives.

Skills

Java

Leadership

Architecture

Agile

Mentoring

Communication

Code reviews

CI/CD

Observability

AI tools

Product collaboration

Hiring

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Job description

• We don't just need an Engineering Manager - a deep understanding of software engineering, can challenge technical decisions, coach engineers, improve engineering practices, and create an environment where teams consistently deliver meaningful outcomes
• Do you enjoy building strong teams, have a strong Java engineering background, want to stay close to technology, and can turn ambitious product goals into reliable execution? We'd love to hear from you
• This isn't a role for someone who wants to stay in their lane. You'll be at the center of it all - ross-functional engineering team responsible for delivering reliable, scalable, and high-quality product capabilities
• You won't be a solo operator. You'll collaborate with Product Managers, Engineering leaders, Principal Engineers, Platform, AI/ML, Security, and other stakeholders across WorkMotion bringing everything together to ensure consistency, impact, and momentum across the board
• You'll have the opportunity to solve technically and operationally complex problems at the intersection of global employment, payroll, compliance, automation, and AI, while helping shape how our Engineering organization operates as WorkMotion continues to grow
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of software engineers, creating clear expectations and supporting their professional growth
• Own the team's delivery, execution, and engineering health, ensuring commitments are realistic and risks are identified early
• Partner closely with Product to translate business priorities into clear, executable technical plans
• Maintain strong technical awareness and actively participate in architecture, design, and engineering discussions
• Ensure appropriate engineering practices around code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, and documentation
• Drive predictable delivery while balancing feature development, technical debt, scalability, and platform reliability
• Work with Principal and Senior Engineers on architecture and complex technical decisions
• Use engineering metrics and qualitative signals to continuously improve team effectiveness, quality, and delivery
• Identify dependencies and blockers early and coordinate effectively across teams
• Build a strong culture of ownership and accountability where engineers own their work from design through production
• Support hiring, onboarding, performance management, career development, and succession planning
• Contribute to broader Engineering initiatives and continuously improve how we build software at WorkMotion

Benefits

• Flexible working: Make your own schedule and plan your work around your personal life. There are no in and out times.
• Learning & development allowance: Hone your skills and join courses and workshops by availing our L&D allowance.
• Asynchronous communication: Organise your own schedule. We celebrate results, not hours spent working.
• Work from anywhere: Work from home, a coffee shop, a beach or the mountains. Plan a workation in the country of your dreams.
• Gym membership: Get access to subsidised gym membership or sports club subscriptions.

• Several years of professional software engineering experience, including experience building and operating production systems
• Strong hands-on experience with Java and the Java ecosystem, with the ability to understand, review, and challenge technical implementations and architectural decisions
• Professional fluency in English
• Strong people-management skills, including coaching, feedback, performance management, and career development
• A strong understanding of software quality, automated testing, observability, security, and operational excellence
• Experience with modern software development practices, Java-based backend systems, cloud-native architectures, APIs, distributed systems, and CI/CD
• Strong understanding of AI-assisted and agentic software development, with practical experience using modern AI coding tools and agents and the ability to help teams adopt them effectively across development, testing, code review, documentation, and other parts of the software delivery lifecycle
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Strong technical judgment and the ability to meaningfully contribute to architecture and technical discussions
• Experience working closely with Product in an agile product-development environment
• A data-informed approach to engineering performance without reducing productivity to simplistic metrics
• The ability to turn ambiguous business requirements into structured execution plans
• Experience defining and using engineering effectiveness and delivery metrics, such as DORA metrics, flow metrics, quality and reliability indicators, to understand team health, identify bottlenecks, and drive continuous improvement - without using metrics as simplistic measures of individual performance
• Proven experience leading or managing software engineering teams