Full-Stack Software Engineering Manager

Diesel Laptops is revolutionizing the commercial truck and off-highway vehicle repair industry. We provide cutting-edge diagnostic tools, comprehensive repair information, and world-class training to empower technicians and repair facilities. Our mission is to enable efficient vehicle diagnosis and repair, significantly reducing downtime and boosting profitability. We foster a collaborative and innovative environment where every team member is valued and encouraged to grow.

We are seeking a hands-on Software Engineering Manager to lead a team of full-stack engineers. This role focuses on building and operating real-time, data-driven applications. With an 80/20 management-to-individual contributor split, you will primarily drive team leadership, project delivery, and uphold engineering quality, while also making targeted technical contributions.

This position emphasizes building and scaling high-quality software systems and evolving our existing architecture. Our core application logic, primarily in Python within the web layer, handles complex data querying and transformation. You will guide your team in developing clean, maintainable patterns, focusing on robust data modeling, data integrity, and overall system clarity.

You will support ongoing platform improvements, including incrementally modernizing systems and consolidating legacy components. The ideal candidate is a strong technical leader capable of developing engineers, clarifying complex systems, and enhancing system reliability, maintainability, and developer experience.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership (80%)

• Manage and mentor a team of 5–7 engineers across frontend, backend, and full-stack domains
• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development planning
• Own team technical delivery against product and platform priorities
• Maintain and continuously improve engineering standards, code quality expectations, and review practices
• Work directly with Project Manager to drive sprint planning, prioritization, and execution consistency
• Partner with Product, Data, and DevOps teams on cross-functional initiatives
• Support hiring, onboarding, and contractor management

Technical Contribution (20%)

• Contribute selectively to production code in high-impact areas
• Lead design and architectural decisions across full stack development
• Perform high-quality code reviews across React, React Native, Django, and related frameworks
• Set technical direction and patterns for the team (not primary feature ownership)
• Step in on critical issues, incidents, or high-risk deliverables

Architecture & System Design

• Guide backend architecture with a focus on data modeling, schema design, and reliable data transformations, particularly in Python-based application logic, ensuring clean system boundaries and consistency across services
• Shape frontend architecture (React, TanStack ecosystem preferred)
• Contribute to mobile strategy (React Native or Flutter)
• Ensure clean integration with data pipelines and ML-driven systems
• Promote API-first and modular design principles

Legacy System Migration & Simplification

• Support the gradual migration away from AWS Lambdas and PHP services
• Support safe migration of functionality into the core application stack (Django / Python)
• Ensure continuity of business logic while improving maintainability and observability
• Identify opportunities to simplify, consolidate, or eliminate redundant services

Delivery & Execution

• Improve delivery predictability and reduce bottlenecks
• Ensure high-quality releases with proper testing and observability
• Balance feature delivery with technical debt and platform investments
• Drive accountability and ownership within the team

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of full-stack software engineering experience
• Experience with backend systems using Python for data processing and transformation logic
• 1+ years of engineering management or strong technical leadership experience
• Production experience with:
  • Backend: Django (preferred), or Rails / Spring Boot
  • Frontend: React (TanStack ecosystem a strong plus), React Native (Expo ecosystem a strong plus)
  • APIs: RESTful design and integration
  • Databases: SQL (Postgres preferred)
• Proven ability to lead teams while staying technically credible

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with real-time or data-driven systems
• Familiarity with ML/data-integrated applications
• Ability to decompose and consolidate distributed logic into maintainable application services
• Exposure to cloud infrastructure and CI/CD systems
• Experience improving engineering processes and team performance

Core Technologies

• Frontend: React, TanStack (Query, Router), Tailwind CSS (shadcn)
• Backend: Django, Django REST Framework
• Mobile: React Native or Flutter, Expo
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Tooling: GitHub Actions, CI/CD pipelines

Performance Metrics

• Team delivery velocity and predictability
• Code quality and system reliability
• Reduction in production issues and cycle time
• Developer productivity and onboarding effectiveness
• Team engagement, professional growth, and retention