Software Engineering Manager

About the role

We’re looking for an experienced and business-minded Engineering Manager to lead high-performing software engineering teams and shape the future of Appfire’s product ecosystem. In this role, you will drive both technical excellence and measurable business impact across products within our Acceleration and Core streams. Your team may contribute to industry-leading solutions such as BigPicture Enterprise – Strategic Management for Jira, 7pace Timetracker for Jira, Advanced Tables for Confluence, Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE), and other products trusted by thousands of customers worldwide.

This role combines strategic thinking with strong technical leadership and thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. We’re looking for a leader who:

• Has a proven ability to align engineering strategy with tangible business outcomes, including revenue growth, customer retention, operational efficiency, and cost optimization,
• Demonstrates strong technical judgment and can confidently navigate and communicate pragmatic trade-offs such as speed versus stability, build versus buy, or consistency versus availability,
• Is passionate about influencing across disciplines — partnering effectively with Product, Design, Marketing, Finance, and other stakeholders to deliver impactful outcomes,
• Brings a calm, thoughtful, and principled approach to risk management, production incidents, and complex decision-making,
• Excels at building inclusive, high-trust, and collaborative engineering cultures where teams can thrive and grow.

As an Engineering Manager at Appfire, you will play a key role in defining both the short- and long-term direction of our products and engineering organization. You’ll be responsible for leading a team of exceptional engineers, guiding technical strategy and architectural decisions, prioritizing work that maximizes customer and business value, and supporting the career growth and development of your team members.

Beyond day-to-day delivery, you will champion continuous improvement across engineering processes, technical health, scalability, and team effectiveness — ensuring your teams remain innovative, resilient, and customer-focused as we continue to grow globally.

Your everyday tasks will include:

• Strategic & Business Alignment:

• Lead the team in delivering customer value.
• Articulate a long-term technical vision for the product.
• Collaborate with Product Management and Design to shape the future of the product.

• Technical & Architectural Leadership:

• Apply technical literacy and judgment to guide the team on system complexity, scalability and reliability.
• Instill habits and practices to manage security, privacy, performance, cost.
• Drive improvements in observability, incidents prevention and response processes.

• Delivery & Operational Excellence:

• Improve delivery predictability, remove friction points from the development process.
• Use operational data to influence future prioritization and drive effective corrective actions.

• Leadership & Team Development:

• Serve as a leader and coach responsible for the development, mentoring, and performance of team members.
• Foster open collaboration and establish/strengthen scalable team processes.
• Practice principled decision-making, encouraging healthy debate and building trust.

Skills and experience you'll need to succeed:

• 7 years of experience in software development, including 3 years in a management or technical leadership role (e.g., Team Lead, Engineering Manager).
• Product-oriented mindset, proven ability to connect engineering work to measurable business outcomes (e.g., examples of increased feature adoption, improved retention or reduced operating cost).
• Strong technical literacy with an up-to-date knowledge of modern cloud architectures (GCP, AWS, or Azure) and high-volume, scalable application development.
• Experience implementing or guiding teams on high availability and core observability concepts (SLOs, MTTD/MTTR).
• A track record of improving delivery predictability or reducing friction using concrete, structured actions.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to create well-organized, concise narratives suitable for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience with cross-functional influence and effective stakeholder management.
• Readiness to openly accept mistakes, demonstrate clear reasoning, and preserve team and stakeholder trust under adversity.

Beyond the resume skills that match our culture and this role:

• You are dedicated to elevating client and co-worker experiences, knowing that exceptional work centers on serving others.
• You adapt swiftly to new business demands, understanding that change fuels collective and individual growth.
• You excel in communication, effectively connecting in remote/hybrid environments using tools like Slack, Zoom, and G Suite and through occasional in-person events.

You have exceptional coaching, mentoring, and people development skills.

Benefits & Perks

Equity

Every Appfire team member is eligible for company equity, fostering a true sense of ownership and connection to our growth.

Time Off & Flexibility

• 25 days of annual leave per calendar year (January–December)
• Up to 10 unused vacation days may be carried over to the following year and must be used by December 31
• Reduced summer hours to support better work-life balance
• Flexible bank holidays, allowing employees to exchange one public holiday for another
• This role is fully remote within Spain, with the option to work from our Bilbao office whenever preferred

Learning & Development

Grow with Appfire University — our custom, on-demand learning platform designed to support continuous learning and professional development.

Health & Wellbeing

• Private health insurance
• Family members may also be added at a discounted rate through payroll deduction
• €400 gross annual sport allowance for gym memberships, outdoor activities, sports equipment, running gear, and other wellness-related expenses

Work-from-Home Support

Appfire provides €50 per month to help cover home office and remote work expenses.

Community & Volunteering

Employees receive 3 fully paid volunteering days each year through Appfire Town, our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program supporting local communities.

Disclaimer: The responsibilities outlined in this job posting are intended to provide a general overview of the role. Additional duties may be assigned as needed to meet the needs of the business.