Backend Engineering Manager

At Yazio, we empower millions of users daily on their journey to healthy nutrition and enhanced well-being. We are actively seeking a Backend Engineering Manager to lead our Backend Team, a highly experienced group responsible for Yazio's API and all in-app AI features. This role is ideal for an engineering manager with prior leadership experience who excels at fostering full ownership among senior engineers, including their engagement with Product teams.

Join us in shaping the future of nutrition and establishing Yazio as the leading nutrition app globally!

This is a 100% remote position, open to candidates based in Germany, Spain, Portugal, or the UK.

YOUR MISSION

The Backend Team collaborates closely with various product squads across Yazio, including Monetization, Growth, Tracking Experience, Mobile Platform, Web, Internal Tools, and our CRM team. As the Backend Engineering Manager, you will provide engineers with the necessary context and support to drive their initiatives from end-to-end, encompassing planning and direct communication with each squad.

In your first year, you'll:

• Take ownership of the team's rituals within your initial months, including stand-ups, refinements, sprint planning, retrospectives, and a bi-weekly written sync, continuously optimizing team workflows.
• Establish strong working relationships with squad leads and product managers to ensure backend work is integrated into each squad's quarterly plans from the outset.
• Manage the team's contribution to our OKR process, developing the quarterly roadmap with engineers and maintaining transparent progress visibility for dependent teams.
• Foster team growth through regular 1:1s, setting clear development goals, providing timely feedback, and proactively addressing accountability issues.
• Lead hiring efforts for team expansion in collaboration with our Talent Acquisition team.
• Oversee production stability, ensuring that any issues or outages are promptly escalated to the appropriate personnel and resolved efficiently.

YOUR PROFILE

You'll thrive here if:

• You have successfully led an engineering team with direct reports and have experience guiding teams through new responsibilities or process improvements.
• Prior to management, you gained several years of experience as a senior backend engineer, enabling you to confidently discuss system design, infrastructure, and technical trade-offs with a highly experienced team.
• You achieve results by empowering your team, coaching engineers to make independent decisions, manage stakeholder conversations, and providing them with the autonomy to do so.
• You are a clear, approachable communicator who maintains composure under pressure, particularly during production outages.
• You build robust relationships with other leads and stakeholders, confidently advocating for solutions while remaining open to the best possible outcome.
• You possess a strong product mindset, effectively connecting the team's technical work to user needs and business objectives.
• You are proactive in following up on quiet topics to prevent project stalls.

Bonus points for:

• Leading a team that provides support to multiple product squads concurrently.
• Experience working on high-traffic consumer products.
• Establishing or operating within a model where backend engineers are embedded within product squads.
• Driving business outcomes through KPIs and implementing A/B tests for continuous improvement.

OUR CORE TECH STACK

• Backend: PHP (for REST APIs) and Go (for async processing and high-concurrency features)
• Ways of working: Jira and Notion, utilizing a Scrum-like process
• AI features: Daily tips, meal summaries, and food search via voice, text, and image
• AI in development: Agentic coding integrated into the team's daily workflow
• Scale: Capable of handling up to one million API requests per minute

WHY US?

• An engaging product with millions of users across over 150 countries, driven by our mission to promote healthy eating worldwide.
• A remote-first setup: enjoy 100% work-from-home flexibility, access co-working spaces, or work internationally for several weeks annually.
• 30 vacation days for relaxation and rejuvenation, plus 5 child sick days when family needs arise.
• A focus-driven culture that prioritizes efficiency over extended hours – no overtime expectations, and any accrued time is compensated.
• A high-impact environment where your contributions drive tangible change, characterized by streamlined decision-making and an absence of micromanagement.
• A team culture that harmonizes ambition with work-life balance, supported by strong connections through fully covered company retreats, team meetups, and virtual coffee breaks.
• Comprehensive tools and support for optimal performance: MacBook, monitor, a €1,000 annual learning budget, alongside regular feedback and career development opportunities.
• A truly international team with English as the primary company language, united by a commitment to growth and well-being, enhanced by initiatives like Sunday Supplements and Nilo Health.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At Yazio, we firmly believe that diversity fuels innovation. We are dedicated to cultivating an inclusive environment where every individual, irrespective of gender identity, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ability, feels valued and empowered. We celebrate diverse perspectives and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds.

READY TO JOIN US?

If you are excited to elevate Yazio and help people globally achieve healthier lives, we encourage you to apply! Please submit:

• Your CV in English
• Any supplementary materials that highlight your work (e.g., LinkedIn profile, portfolio)