[Hiring] Engineering Manager, Device Passport @Apkudo

Role Description

As an Engineering Manager at Apkudo, you will lead the Device Passport team in building systems that give every device a trusted, verifiable identity, powering repair workflows, hardware certification, and takeback programs for partners including Asurion, Samsung, and major carriers. Your role will be crucial in bringing structure and momentum to a growing team while staying hands-on in the code.

• Lead a team of engineers in building and maintaining a scalable and efficient platform for device passporting.
• Partner closely with the Product Manager to develop and execute a vision for the team and align with company goals.
• Develop and maintain a well-groomed backlog, own sprint commitments, and ensure the team consistently delivers against its roadmap.
• Recruit, interview, and onboard engineers; build a team culture defined by ownership, craft, and psychological safety.
• Mentor engineers at every level through regular one-on-ones, career development conversations, goal-setting, and performance feedback.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for cross-team dependencies, blockers, and coordination with other pods.
• Translate technical complexity into clear updates for product and leadership stakeholders.
• Spend approximately 40% of your time as an individual contributor writing production Python code, reviewing pull requests with substantive technical feedback, and pairing with engineers on hard problems.
• Lead by example in code quality, testing discipline, and documentation standards.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and technical design reviews, ensuring the team's technical direction is sound and well-documented.
• Own specific features or integration modules within the Device Passport platform.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 3 years in an engineering management or tech lead role.
• Hands-on Python proficiency, with experience in writing production code and doing real code review.
• Strong PostgreSQL and SQL experience; comfort with cloud infrastructure (AWS or equivalent).
• Proven track record of shipping software on time with a distributed, cross-functional team.
• Experience with agile delivery, including sprint planning, backlog management, velocity tracking, and retrospectives.
• Demonstrated ability to give direct, constructive performance feedback and support engineers' career growth.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to represent engineering clearly to product, operations, and leadership audiences.
• High empathy, low ego, with a focus on team success rather than individual achievement.
• Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns and API-based platform products serving multiple external partners simultaneously.
• Exposure to warehouse automation, device lifecycle, or supply chain software is a plus.