Engineering Manager

Orkes Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Orkes Inc. is seeking a strong engineering leader to own the Cloud & Platform engineering function in Santa Clara, CA. This high-impact role requires a hands-on approach in architecture, systems, and production challenges while driving the velocity of the engineering team.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in distributed systems, recent hands-on experience, and the ability to manage while contributing technically. This position offers a competitive salary and requires in-office presence five days a week.

Qualifications

• Strong background in distributed systems / cloud infrastructure.
• Proven experience as a hands-on engineer (recently).
• Experience leading engineers (formal or informal).
• Ability to operate in high-context-switch, fast-moving environments.
• Startup experience or large-company experience with understanding of scale.

Responsibilities

• Lead systems responsible for cloud infrastructure, deployments, and platform capabilities.
• Support customer environments and production systems at scale.
• Drive improvements in reliability, performance, and scalability.
• Lead and mentor engineers while contributing technically.
• Review architecture, code, and system design.

Skills

Strong background in distributed systems / cloud infrastructure

Proven experience as a hands-on engineer

Experience leading engineers

Ability to operate in high-context-switch environments

Startup experience

Job description

Location: Santa Clara, CA (5 days/week in office)
Comp: ~$250K–$300K base + equity

Who We Are

Building the Backbone of Distributed Applications.

At Orkes, we are reimagining how developers build reliable, scalable, event-driven applications without wrangling complex infrastructure.

Born from Netflix's battle-tested open-source project, OSS Conductor, our platform is now powering billions of mission critical workflows across fintech, e-commerce, logistics, healthcare, and more.

Our platform powers billions of mission critical workflows across industries like fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and healthcare helping companies run the core operations of their business with confidence. These are the workflows behind every transaction, every delivery, every patient check-in, quietly orchestrating our digital world.

We’re solving some of the hardest infrastructure problems: how do you make distributed systems reliable, observable, and scalable – without every team having to reinvent the wheel? We absorb the complexity of distributed systems, letting teams build with confidence.

We’re hiring a strong engineering leader to own the Cloud & Platform engineering function at Orkes.

This is a high-impact, highly operational role; you’ll lead engineers while staying deeply hands-on in architecture, systems, and production challenges. The primary goal is to drive velocity of engineers on the team.

We are open to:

• A hands-on Tech Lead ready to step into management
• OR a Manager who still codes and operates at a high technical level

What You’ll Own

• Lead systems responsible for cloud infrastructure, deployments, and platform capabilities
• Support customer environments and production systems at scale
• Drive improvements in reliability, performance, and scalability
• Lead and mentor engineers while contributing technically
• Review architecture, code, and system design
• Potential to grow and manage a larger team over time

Execution in a Startup Environment

• Handle frequent context switching across priorities
• Support high-profile customers and urgent production needs
• Drive velocity while maintaining engineering quality

What We’re Looking For

• Strong background in distributed systems / cloud infrastructure
• Proven experience as a hands-on engineer (recently)
• Experience leading engineers (formal or informal)
• Ability to operate in high-context-switch, fast-moving environments
• Startup experience or large-company experience with understanding of scale

What Won’t Work

• Managers who have been out of hands-on engineering for too long
• Pure people managers without deep technical credibility
• Engineers who struggle with fast pace or shifting priorities

Ideal Profile

• Former senior/staff engineer stepping into leadership
• OR current EM who still codes and leads technically
• Someone who has seen both startup and structured scale