Quick Summary
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 dedicated Backend Team. This senior team is responsible for the Yazio API and all in-app AI features. This role is ideal for an experienced engineering manager who excels at guiding seasoned engineers to take full ownership of their work, including product discussions.
Join us in shaping the future of nutrition and making Yazio 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 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 cross-squad communication.
Key Responsibilities in Your First Year:
- Take ownership of team rituals, including stand-ups, refinements, sprint planning, retrospectives, and bi-weekly written syncs, continuously improving team workflows.
- Cultivate strong working relationships with squad leads and product managers to integrate backend work into quarterly plans from inception.
- Manage the team's contribution to the OKR process, developing the quarterly roadmap with engineers and ensuring progress visibility for dependent teams.
- Foster team growth through regular 1:1s, development goal setting, and timely feedback, addressing accountability issues proactively.
- Collaborate with the Talent Acquisition team to hire new members as the team expands.
- Monitor production systems, ensuring timely resolution of issues and outages by directing them to the appropriate personnel.
YOUR PROFILE
You will thrive in this role if you possess the following qualifications:
- Proven Leadership: You have successfully led an engineering team with direct reports, guiding them through new responsibilities or process changes.
- Senior Backend Expertise: Prior to management, you spent several years as a senior backend engineer, demonstrating comfort in discussing system design, infrastructure, and technical trade-offs with an experienced team.
- Team Empowerment: You achieve results by coaching engineers to make independent decisions and manage stakeholder conversations, providing them with the autonomy to do so.
- Effective Communication: You are a clear, friendly communicator who maintains composure under pressure, especially during production outages.
- Strong Relationships: You build robust relationships with other leads and stakeholders, confidently advocating for solutions while remaining open to diverse perspectives.
- Product Mindset: You possess a strong product orientation, effectively connecting team efforts to user and business needs.
- Proactive Follow-up: You identify dormant topics and follow up promptly to prevent stagnation.
Bonus Points for Experience in:
- Leading a team that supports multiple product squads concurrently.
- Working on high-traffic consumer products.
- Implementing or operating within a model where backend engineers are embedded in product squads.
- Guiding business decisions with KPIs and executing A/B tests for continuous improvement.
OUR CORE TECH STACK
- Backend: PHP (REST APIs) and Go (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: Handling up to one million API requests per minute.
WHY US?
- Impactful Product: Contribute to an exciting product with millions of users across 150+ countries, driven by a mission to promote healthy eating.
- Remote-First Flexibility: Enjoy 100% remote work from home, access co-working spaces, or work abroad for several weeks annually.
- Generous Time Off: Benefit from 30 vacation days for relaxation and recharge, plus 5 child sick days.
- Focus-Driven Culture: Experience an environment that prioritizes efficiency over long hours, with no overtime expectations; any extra time worked is compensated.
- High-Impact Environment: Your work drives real change through short decision-making processes and an absence of micromanagement.
- Supportive Team Culture: A blend of ambition and balance, fostered by strong connections through fully covered company retreats, team meetups, and virtual coffee breaks.
- Tools and Development: Equipped with a MacBook, monitor, and a €1,000 annual learning budget, alongside regular feedback and career growth opportunities.
- International Team: Join a truly international team with English as the company language, united by a commitment to growth and well-being, supported by Sunday Supplements and Nilo Health.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
At Yazio, we believe diversity fuels innovation. We are dedicated to cultivating an inclusive environment where everyone, regardless of gender identity, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ability, feels valued and empowered. We celebrate diverse perspectives and actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds.
READY TO JOIN US?
If you are excited to elevate Yazio and help people worldwide lead healthier lives, we encourage you to apply! Please submit:
- Your CV in English.
- Any additional materials showcasing your work (e.g., LinkedIn profile, portfolio).