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 Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

401(k)

Job summary

Kelly Services seeks an Engineering Manager (Developer Experience) to build and lead a DevEx team that spans Backend and DevOps, driving platforms, tooling, and automation in a fast-paced cloud-native environment.

This hands-on leadership role combines architecture, CI/CD, Kubernetes, IaC, observability, and AI-driven software development lifecycle to accelerate deployment and improve developer productivity.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• 2+ years in Engineering Manager/Tech Lead-like roles.
• Hands-on backend software engineering background.
• Experience leading technical projects end-to-end.
• Strong CI/CD and modern software delivery knowledge.
• Kubernetes and containerized environments expertise.
• Infrastructure-as-Code familiarity.
• Experience with Maven, Gradle, or Nx.
• Experience with automated testing and quality practices.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a new Developer Experience team of backend and DevOps engineers.
• Drive strategy to improve developer productivity and lifecycle tooling.
• Identify bottlenecks and develop automation platforms.
• Lead platform initiatives from design to production rollout.
• Establish standards for CI/CD, Kubernetes, IaC, and observability.
• Partner with engineering, platform, and DevOps teams to solve developer challenges.
• Define and implement an AI-driven software development lifecycle.
• Mentor engineers while contributing to architecture and reviews.
• Create a scalable, self-service developer platform.

Skills

10+ yrs SWE

2+ yrs leadership

Backend development

DevOps

CI/CD

Kubernetes

IaC

Build tools (Maven/Gradle/Nx)

Automated testing

Observability

Cloud environments

AI in software dev

Tools

Kubernetes

IaC

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

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.