Senior Engineering Manager, Platform

About the role

GiveDirectly is seeking a Senior Engineering Manager to lead a growing platform team in Nairobi. You will own the technical outcomes of the platform, guide a team of senior engineers, and partner closely with product to balance feature delivery, technical debt, and infrastructure investment.

Key responsibilities

• Manage a team of 5–7 senior engineers through 1:1s, goal setting, feedback, career development, and performance management.
• Drive recruiting, onboarding, and retention for new hires during the first year.
• Own delivery, reliability, and the impact of major technical decisions in partnership with senior engineers and product stakeholders.
• Balance feature development with tech‑debt reduction, infrastructure work, and initiatives that improve velocity.
• Lead operational excellence including on‑call rotation, incident response, code quality, testing, AI integration, and deployment practices.
• Represent the team to leadership, translating technical realities into business decisions and creating an environment for product development.
• Maintain a high technical quality bar by reviewing architecture, designs, and trade‑offs without becoming a bottleneck.

Required profile

• 3+ years of experience managing software engineers through full delivery cycles.
• 8+ years of industry experience building production software with a strong backend foundation.
• Proven ability to recruit, coach, develop, and retain engineers while fostering an inclusive, high‑performance culture.
• Demonstrated commitment to GiveDirectly’s values and core competencies such as emotional intelligence, problem solving, and inclusivity.
• Experience creating clarity in ambiguous situations and enabling fast, autonomous senior teams.

Required skills

• Databases
• Cloud services
• APIs
• AI integration
• Deployment practices
• Incident response
• Code quality
• Testing