Engineering Manager

Runna; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Runna is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead a high-performing team of engineers (4–8+). You will own team delivery for a product area, partnering with Product, Design, and other Engineering teams to align priorities and ensure high-quality, scalable systems.

This is a people-leadership role focused on setting direction, mentoring engineers, and driving execution in a fast-paced environment. You will work closely with modelling teams on features core to Runna’s mission, including AI/ML

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
• Experience leading and managing engineers in a fast-paced product environment.
• Strong track record of delivering complex projects end-to-end.
• Ability to align stakeholders across engineering, product, and design.
• Strong technical judgement with focus on architecture and implementation quality.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to translate context into team direction.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support, and grow a medium-sized team of engineers.
• Own team delivery across a product or platform area.
• Partner with Product, Design, and other Engineering teams to align priorities.
• Independently lead through ambiguous problems and drive resolutions.
• Encourage experimentation and thoughtful risk-taking.
• Coach engineers and emerging leaders, and manage all people aspects.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Software engineering

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

TypeScript/JavaScript

React Native

AWS

Serverless

Job description

We're putting together a talented team to build the #1 training platform for Runners

We help everyday runners become outstanding by building an incredible app providing world-class training, coaching and community for everyone, whether you're improving your 5k time or training for your first marathon.

We’re growing extremely fast! In November 2023 we closed a $6.5M funding round led by JamJar with participation from Eka Ventures, Venrex and Creator Ventures. In 2024, we were selected by Apple as one of three global finalists for the iPhone app of the year, reflecting the innovation and impact of what we’ve built & in 2025 we were acquired by Strava!

Our ambition is huge: to become the go-to global leading training platform for millions of runners everywhere. We’re growing with purpose and looking for people who want to build something meaningful with lasting impact. With the recent acquisition by Strava accelerating our journey, now is a really magical time to join.

What You’ll Be Doing

We’re looking for an Engineering Manager to lead a high-performing team of engineers at Runna. You’ll be responsible for a medium-sized team of ICs (roughly 4–8+ engineers) and will independently guide that team to deliver meaningful business outcomes across a product or platform area.

This is a people leadership role first, grounded in strong technical judgement. You’ll partner closely with Product, Design, and Engineering peers to align goals, navigate ambiguity, and ensure your team can deliver high-quality work at pace. You’ll be expected to independently manage all aspects of people leadership, while creating the conditions for engineers to grow, experiment, and do the best work of their careers.

You’ll sit on the Train Team where you will work closely with our modelling teams to integrate features that are core to Runna’s mission (think adapting plans around holidays and B races, supporting new cutting edge plans, and building in-app experiences around our AI/ML tooling).

• Lead, support, and grow a medium-sized team of engineers, creating the clarity, context, and accountability needed for the team to do its best work.

• Own team delivery for a product or platform area, driving execution from planning through release and ensuring work is aligned to business goals.

• Partner closely with Product, Design, and other Engineering teams to align priorities, manage dependencies, and coordinate work that affects other teams.

• Independently lead through open-ended or ambiguous problems, identifying risks, proposing solutions, and driving resolutions without heavy guidance.

• Encourage experimentation and thoughtful risk-taking, creating space for exploratory work and creative solutions where it adds value.

• Hold engineers accountable for high-quality technical designs and implementations that result in performant, scalable, secure, and maintainable systems.

• Coach engineers and emerging leaders, providing feedback, mentorship, and support while deliberately delegating opportunities for others to step into leadership.

• Independently manage all aspects of people management, including goal setting, performance reviews, career development, promotions and more.

• Create a team environment built on psychological safety and inclusion, where people feel supported, challenged, and able to contribute fully.

• Communicate company context clearly and effectively, helping the team understand how their work connects to wider company strategy and goals.

• Participate in and drive organisation-level initiatives that improve how we build, plan, hire, and collaborate across engineering.

• Partner with Recruiting and interviewers to calibrate assessments, make strong hiring and levelling decisions, and build a diverse and talented team for the long term.

• Track delivery, unblock work, and improve team effectiveness through healthy processes, strong planning, and continuous improvement.

What You’ll Bring To The Team

• 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering, including meaningful experience in technical leadership and/or engineering management.

• Experience leading and managing engineers in a fast-paced product environment, ideally owning a team through planning, delivery, and people development.

• Strong track record of delivering complex projects end-to-end, especially in cross-functional environments with evolving priorities or ambiguity.

• Ability to align stakeholders across engineering, product, and design, and to coordinate work effectively where multiple teams are involved.

• Strong technical judgement, with the ability to raise the bar on architecture, design, and implementation quality without needing to be the primary coder on every project.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate company context into clear team direction and surface risks early.

• Comfortable working in a highly skilled, fast-paced engineering team. In 2024, we shipped:

  • 99 mobile app releases (iOS and Android)

  • 443 API releases

  • 237 modelling backend releases

• Technical fluency across modern product engineering environments. Experience with TypeScript/JavaScript, React Native, AWS cloud environments, and serverless architectures would be especially valuable.