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Senior Engineering Manager

Helsinki, Finland

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We’re a global team of over 400 people, working together to push the boundaries of open-source technology and multi-cloud solutions. Our vision is to become the trusted Data & AI Platform for everyone, leveraging the most popular open-source technologies like Apache Kafka®, Aiven for PostgreSQL®, Aiven for Clickhouse®, and Aiven for OpenSearch®. to help companies accelerate time-to-market, drive efficiency, and build innovative solutions across any cloud. Right now, we’re looking for a Senior Engineering Manager to join our team who shares our passion for forward-thinking and innovative approaches. 

About this team

In our Product team at Aiven, we believe engineers can drive significant impact through coding and problem solving. Here, you'll have the opportunity to contribute to challenging projects that transcend the cloud provider limitations, work alongside exceptional engineers, and continuously expand your technical expertise. We strive to create an environment that encourages problem solving and results over following directions, so we make better decisions for our customers, our products and our employees.

Who we are

So, how do we become the trusted open source data platform for everyone? By listening closely to our customers and taking action to ensure they achieve their business goals. You see, the software we create is merely a means of delivering value. Our thinking is customer-first. That’s why our customers are at the front and center of all we do. And in the spirit of sideways thinking, we’re by their side as well. Actively helping them solve their challenges. Collaborating. Sharing. And innovating. In other words, it really isn’t just about who we are. It’s about who our customers are – and where they want to be.

Our Crabby Principles

Aiveners use the V2MOM framework to set and align on business goals. In order to achieve those business goals we live by our ‘Crabby Principles’ which unite us in our ways of working, globally. 

These principles are embedded in our business processes and support us in collaborating and role modelling positive and productive behaviours in our daily work, something you will have the opportunity to demonstrate throughout your interview journey with us. 

The Role:

We’re hiring a senior engineering manager to lead Aiven’s Internal Platform Team. The goal for our Internal Platform team is to make the Aiven platform safe for change and ready for evolution and growth. The way we plan to reach that goal is by building scalable foundations that enable other teams to be successful, removing blockers and mitigating inefficiencies along the way.

The team, located in Helsinki, consists of some of our most experienced software engineers who work on some of the most complex subsystems of the platform - both hands-on (No paper architects here!), and by leading other engineers.

We are looking for a product-minded engineering manager with a coaching mindset who has a keen interest in the business and user behavior, is proactive with planning, priorisation and tradeoffs, and wants to understand the “Why?” behind all things. As a product-minded engineering manager you communicate well with engineers and non-engineers alike and are interested in how other teams and functions work. 

What You'll Do:

  • Plan the team’s roadmap together with product leadership and the team.
  • Managing the team’s backlog and projects.
  • Be accountable for the team’s output and performance by supporting the team’s deliveries.
  • Grow the team by hiring excellent engineering talent.
  • Offer 1-on-1 coaching and support to the team members.
  • Create a psychologically safe, high-trust environment where curiosity, healthy debate, and exchange of ideas thrive.
  • Facilitate team meetings like plannings, kick-offs and retrospectives.

What We're Looking For:

Our engineering managers have a hands-on programming background, and we expect them to have a meaningful say in technical conversations. You’ll probably have at least five years’ hands-on programming experience building platforms and distributed systems, and at least two years’ experience of people leadership. But more than the years, we care about what you have been doing - whether you’re a manager with a strong technical core, or a staff engineer looking to dive deeper into people leadership. We want to hear about the products you shipped, how they were built, what was the impact, and what you learned while doing that.

The range of different products and technologies the team is in touch with is wide, but platform and systems engineering is at its core. Our platform is built mainly with Python, with a touch of Golang where efficiency and performance is critical. Aiven runs on Aiven, as we like to put it, with PostgreSQL, Kafka, Redis, Thanos and OpenSearch as the core data storage and streaming solutions, and is deployed on public cloud. We don’t expect you to tackle everything on the list from the get-go, but having prior experience is beneficial for sure.

Leadership skills:

  • Proven track record of leading experienced teams in successful software product deliveries
  • Communicate cross-functionally and have a strong product sense
  • Experience in recruiting engineering talent
  • Experience in agile software development
  • Comfortable leading initiatives and presenting to groups
  • Fluent communication skills in English, written and verbal

Technical skills:

  • Experience building and designing scalable platforms and distributed systems
  • Experience, preferably hands-on, in public cloud infrastructure and networking (AWS, GCP or Azure)
  • Relational database knowledge (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
  • Streaming service knowledge (Kafka, etc.)
  • Experience working with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, etc.)
  • Experience working with container orchestrators (Kubernetes, Nomad, ECS, etc.)
  • Experience designing public RESTful APIs

Don’t worry if your experience doesn’t line up perfectly – we still encourage you to apply! We believe in investing in our crabs’ professional growth.

Our Offer

If you ask us what’s the best thing about working for Aiven, many will probably say it’s the high concentration of talent from around the world that we have here. Enjoy the agile environment of a hyperscale scale-up where you can truly make an impact and have fun while at it.

We invest in you

  • Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
  • With Aiven locations spanning the globe, we want all of our crabs to find the right balance with our hybrid work policy.
  • Get the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
  • Step up your career game with real employer support (use one of our learning platforms, annual learning budget, and more).
  • Get holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.

Make a difference at Aiven

  • Contribute to open source projects that you find meaningful outside of work - and get paid for it! Our Plankton program recognizes extra work to the open source ecosystem for developers and non-developers alike.
  • Use up to 5 days per year to volunteer for a good cause of your choice.
  • Join one of our team member resource groups - empower yourself and others in missions that resonate with you.

What else?

  • Your wellbeing matters: we provide extensive Occupational Health Care, Dental Care, as well as sports, culture, massage and lunch benefits
  • Love breakfast? So do we! Join us at our regular office breakfast
  • We also have you covered by statutory accident insurance

Amazing! What’s next?

Once applying you should hear from our Talent Experience team within 5 days regarding the status of your application. If you are selected to move forward you can generally expect 4 stages with us 

  1. 30-45 minute call with one of our Talent Partners 
  2. 45 minute Depth of Expertise Interview with the hiring manager 
  3. Skills interview and or presentation for 1 hour with the wider team 
  4. Company values interview for 1 hour 

How to Recognise and Avoid Employment Scams

There has been a rise in fake job postings used by scammers to get personal information. Please familiarise yourself with the red flags of a potential scam.

Here at Aiven, all of our emails relating to recruitment come from an @aiven.io, @greenhouse.io or @eu.greenhouse.io domain and all of our interviews are conducted over video call or in person, our interviews will never occur over text or chat. If you’re unsure of the legitimacy of a job opportunity/offer pertaining to Aiven, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at recruitment@aiven.io.

Equal Opportunities

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at recruitment@aiven.io.