Lead Physical Access Engineer

Canary Technologies; United States; On-site; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Canary Days

Self Improvement Club

Professional Development Chats

Travel Reimbursement

Personal Travel Reimbursement

Job summary

Canary Technologies is seeking a Lead Engineer to own its Physical Access product, including Mobile Key and lock-vendor integrations. You will lead a pod of engineers, shape architecture, and ensure security, reliability and low latency at guest arrival.

Collaborate with Product to expand vendor coverage and with Arrivals/Kiosk teams to refine guest workflow. You will mentor engineers, drive roadmap decisions, and own execution plans while maintaining high-quality delivery and operational

Qualifications

• 8+ years of engineering experience.
• 2+ years leading engineering teams.
• Experience building backend applications.
• Hands-on with hardware/vendor API integrations—IoT, access control, payments, telephony.
• Proven track record shipping reliable, scalable products.
• Strong communication across diverse teams.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and take ownership.
• Bonus: mobile (iOS/Android), BLE/NFC experience.

Responsibilities

• Directly manage a pod of engineers responsible for Canary's Physical Access product, including Mobile Key and lock-vendor integrations.
• Set an example as an IC in terms of both the quality and velocity of code shipped.
• Own the architecture and its evolution across mobile-key issuance, lock-vendor integrations, and encoder/BLE paths.
• Drive improvements in unlock reliability, latency, and vendor coverage.
• Partner with Product Managers to inform roadmap and prioritization for Physical Access.
• Mentor engineers, build execution plans, and allocate work across the team.
• Conduct 1:1s and performance reviews to maintain pod health.
• Run pod processes autonomously and participate in hiring for the team.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Backend development

Team management

IoT integrations

Vendor API integration

Security & reliability

System architecture

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Cloud platforms

APIs

CI/CD

Job description

About Us

Canary Technologies is changing the game for hotels with modern software powered by Canary's hospitality-specific AI platform. Canary is utilized by 20,000+ hoteliers in 100+ countries to equip hoteliers with the technology they need to work smarter and wow their guests. Major hotel brands such as Wyndham, Marriott, IHG, Four Seasons, Rosewood, and Best Western trust Canary to deliver results. Canary was named a 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ company, a Most Innovative Company by Fast Company and a HotelTechReport Best Place to Work — and is backed by top Silicon Valley investors like Y Combinator, F-Prime, Brighton Park Capital and Insight Partners.

Join us in shaping the future of hospitality!

About The Role

We're looking for a Lead Engineer to own Canary's Physical Access product — Mobile Key and the integrations that let hotel guests unlock doors from their phones across a wide range of lock vendors. You'll lead a pod of engineers, set the bar as a hands-on IC, and own the architecture of a system that has to be reliable, secure, and low-latency at the moment of guest arrival. You'll partner closely with Product to expand lock-vendor coverage and deepen the Mobile Key experience, and collaborate with the Arrivals and Kiosk teams where the guest journey connects. The systems you own directly gate physical entry, so discipline around security, reliability, and operational excellence is essential.

Responsibilities

• Directly manage a pod of engineers responsible for Canary's Physical Access product, including Mobile Key and lock-vendor integrations
• Set an example as an IC in terms of both the quality and velocity of code that you ship
• Own the architecture and its evolution across mobile-key issuance, lock-vendor integrations, and the encoder/BLE paths that unlock doors
• Drive measurable improvements in unlock reliability, latency, and vendor coverage by deeply understanding how hotels and guests use the product
• Partner closely with Product Managers to inform roadmap and prioritization for the Physical Access surface area
• Independently mentor and advise engineers in the pod, build engineering execution plans, break down work, and assign it across the team
• Directly manage the people on your pod — conduct 1:1s, performance reviews, and team ceremonies to maintain the health of the pod and its members
• Run pod processes autonomously and elevate appropriately when required
• Participate in hiring and interviewing for the Physical Access team and broader engineering org

Qualifications

• 8+ years of a strong engineering background
• 2+ years of proven experience managing successful engineering teams
• Solid knowledge of developing backend applications
• Hands-on experience integrating with third-party hardware or vendor APIs — IoT, access control, payments, telephony, or similar
• Strong demonstrated ability to ship high-quality products that operate reliably at scale
• Self-motivated, collaborative, and diligent work ethic
• Excellent communication skills. You love being part of a diverse team, building consensus, and establishing credibility
• Comfort with ambiguity and eager to embrace ownership and accountabilityBonus: experience with mobile (iOS/Android), BLE/NFC, or hardware/lock-vendor integrations

We also work hard to ensure Canary is a fun and exciting place to work! Here are some of the additional benefits:

• Canary Days: As a company we want to ensure that the team has time to recharge. Each month we provide company wide days off to ensure there is at least one extended weekend or day off.
• Self Improvement Club: We meet each month and share our personal goals for the month. Each individual is provided a budget towards any purchases that help us achieve these goals.
• Professional Development Chats: We provide budget to help drive cross functional professional development conversations across the organization.
• Travel Reimbursement: Team members are able to visit our offices across New York, San Francisco or Dallas when they choose, and are provided a travel stipend for doing so. Spend time working with the team in their office, and use the rest of your time exploring a new city!
• Personal Travel Reimbursement: If you stay at a hotel that Canary works with, we provide a credit towards your stay.

Canary Technologies is an equal-opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote talent regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other protected characteristic.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.