DevEx Manager (Backend) - Waltham

Kelly Services; Waltham (MA); Hybrid; USD 173,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Benefits

Vision Benefits

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Flexible PTO

Parental Leave

401(k)

Job summary

Motion Recruitment Partners is seeking an Engineering Manager (Developer Experience) in the United States to build and lead a new DevEx team. This hands-on leadership role combines backend engineering leadership with platform optimization and automation across CI/CD, Kubernetes, IaC, and observability.

The role emphasizes technical credibility, architecture influence, and driving AI-enabled improvements throughout the software development lifecycle, with a hybrid work setup and production

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• 2+ years leading engineers as an Engineering Manager, Technical Lead, Team Lead, or similar role.
• Strong prior hands-on experience as a Backend Software Engineer.
• Background in Backend Engineering, Platform Engineering, Developer Experience, DevOps, or related disciplines.
• Experience leading technical projects from design through implementation and production.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and modern software delivery practices.
• Technical knowledge of Kubernetes (K8s) and containerized environments.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Familiarity with modern build tools such as Maven, Gradle, or Nx.
• Experience with automated testing frameworks and software quality practices.
• Understanding of application and infrastructure observability.
• Experience operating in cloud-based, fast-moving engineering environments.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong interest in leveraging AI to improve software engineering processes.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a new Developer Experience team consisting of Backend and DevOps engineers.
• Drive technical strategy focused on improving developer productivity and the software development lifecycle.
• Identify engineering bottlenecks and develop tools, automation, and platforms that improve efficiency.
• Lead platform initiatives from design and architecture through implementation and production rollout.
• Establish standards and best practices across CI/CD, Kubernetes, Infrastructure-as-Code, build systems, testing, and observability.
• Partner closely with Engineering, Platform, Infrastructure, and DevOps teams to understand and solve developer challenges.
• Help define and implement an AI-driven software development lifecycle.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and automation opportunities that improve engineering effectiveness.
• Mentor engineers while remaining actively involved in technical discussions, architecture reviews, and strategic technical decisions.
• Build a scalable, self-service platform experience that allows developers to move faster and deliver software more efficiently.

Skills

Backend Eng

DevOps

CI/CD

Kubernetes

IaC

Observability

AI in Dev

Communication

Stakeholder mgmt

Leadership

Tools

Maven

Gradle

Nx

Job description

$180000 - $234000

Job DescriptionA rapidly growing technology company is seeking an Engineering Manager (Developer Experience) to build and lead a newly established Developer Experience (DevEx) team. This role offers the opportunity to shape the tools, platforms, and processes that enable engineering teams to build, test, deploy, and operate software more effectively across a modern cloud-native environment.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, not a people-management-only position. The ideal candidate has a strong background as a Backend Engineer and remains deeply engaged in technical decision-making, architecture discussions, platform strategy, and engineering best practices. The team specifically wants someone who can lead engineers while still bringing credibility and expertise across backend development, DevOps, CI/CD, Kubernetes, Infrastructure-as-Code, observability, and modern software delivery practices.

This individual will play a key role in building a Developer Experience organization from the ground up, driving platform initiatives, implementing automation, and helping incorporate AI across the software development lifecycle. The environment is highly automated and fast-paced, with production deployments occurring on an hourly basis.Required Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of software engineering experience

• 2+ years of experience leading engineers as an Engineering Manager, Technical Lead, Team Lead, or similar role

• Strong prior hands-on experience as a Backend Software Engineer

• Background in Backend Engineering, Platform Engineering, Developer Experience, DevOps, or related disciplines

• Experience leading technical projects from design through implementation and production

• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and modern software delivery practices

• Technical knowledge of Kubernetes (K8s) and containerized environments

• Experience with or strong understanding of Infrastructure-as-Code

• Familiarity with modern build tools such as Maven, Gradle, or Nx

• Experience with automated testing frameworks and software quality practices

• Understanding of application and infrastructure observability

• Experience operating in cloud-based, fast-moving engineering environments

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills

• Strong interest in leveraging AI to improve software engineering processes

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience building or leading a Developer Experience, Platform Engineering, Internal Developer Platform, or Developer Productivity team

• Experience managing both Backend and DevOps engineers

• Experience building internal developer platforms and self-service tooling

• Experience applying AI or GenAI technologies to engineering workflows

• Familiarity with AI-assisted software development and development automation

• Experience working with globally distributed engineering teams

• Background in high-growth technology organizations with frequent production deployments

What You Will Be Doing

Daily Responsibilities (Highly Technical, Player-Coach Leadership Role)

• Build and lead a new Developer Experience team consisting of Backend and DevOps engineers

• Drive technical strategy focused on improving developer productivity and the software development lifecycle

• Identify engineering bottlenecks and develop tools, automation, and platforms that improve efficiency

• Lead platform initiatives from design and architecture through implementation and production rollout

• Establish standards and best practices across CI/CD, Kubernetes, Infrastructure-as-Code, build systems, testing, and observability

• Partner closely with Engineering, Platform, Infrastructure, and DevOps teams to understand and solve developer challenges

• Help define and implement an AI-driven software development lifecycle

• Evaluate emerging technologies and automation opportunities that improve engineering effectiveness

• Mentor engineers while remaining actively involved in technical discussions, architecture reviews, and strategic technical decisions

• Build a scalable, self-service platform experience that allows developers to move faster and deliver software more efficiently

The Offer

• Base Salary: $173,000 - $234,000

• Full-time opportunity

• Hybrid schedule (onsite Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday)

• Opportunity to build a Developer Experience organization from the ground up

• Performance-based incentive opportunity

You will receive the following benefits

• Medical Insurance

• Dental Benefits

• Vision Benefits

• Life Insurance

• Disability Insurance

• Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO)

• Parental Leave

• 401(k)

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis now and in the future.

Motion Recruitment Partners (MRP) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants must be currently authorized to work on a full-time basis in the country for which they are applying, and no sponsorship is currently available. Employment is subject to the successful completion of a pre-employment screening. Accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process as required under MRP’s Employment Accommodation policy. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.