Engineering Manager | Core Platform Backend

  • Locations
  • London
  • Munich, Germany
  • Berlin, Germany
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Hamburg, Germany
  • Last Published
  • Dec. 11, 2024
  • Sector
  • AI/ML
  • Functions
  • Software Engineering
  • Other Engineering

Meet DeepL

DeepL is a global communications platform powered by Language AI. Since 2017, we’ve been on a mission to break down language barriers. Our human-sounding translations and intelligent writing suggestions are designed with enterprise security in mind. Today, they enable over 100,000 businesses to transform communications, reach new markets, and improve productivity. And, empower millions of individuals worldwide to make sense of the world and express their ideas.

Our goal is to become the global leader in Language AI, building products that drive better communication, foster connections, and make a real-life impact. To achieve this, we need talented individuals like you to join our exciting journey. If you're ready to work with a dynamic team and build your career in the fast-moving AI space, DeepL is your next destination.

What sets us apart

What sets us apart is our blend of modern technology, competitive benefits, and an open, welcoming work culture that enables our people to thrive. When we share what it's like to work at DeepL, the reactions are overwhelmingly positive. This may be because of our products that have helped countless people worldwide or our shared mission to improve communication for individuals and businesses, bringing cultures closer together. What we know for sure is this: being part of DeepL means joining a team dedicated to innovation and employee well-being. Discover what our teams have to say about life at DeepL on LinkedIn, Instagram and our Blog.

Meet the team

We're looking for two Engineering Managers for two closely cooperating platform teams responsible for our core text processing backend services, which are built by integrating advanced neural networks developed by our research department.

Team one is focused on providing APIs to other teams and our customers. In particular, it is responsible for implementing API tasks through neural net inference jobs.
Team two focuses on efficiently scheduling these inference jobs on our neural net infrastructure, using a custom load balancer that dynamically optimises for latency and throughput.

Both teams work closely with the research department to provide state-of-the-art AI technologies to other teams within the company and to our end users.

Your responsibilities

The core purpose of the Engineering Manager role is to develop a product engineering team to an autonomous, high performing stage and take responsibility for ensuring high quality deliverables:

  • Delivery & Excellence: Collaborating with key stakeholders, represent the team’s engineering perspective on the feasibility, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and time-to-market aspects of new or existing services and products. Ensure timely delivery of new features, maintain existing ones, and establish high engineering excellence metrics. Actively contribute to resolving technical issues and challenges by participating in code reviews, system design discussions, and occasionally engaging in hands-on coding to support team members. People Leadership: Inspire, develop, recruit, and motivate a software engineering team. Conduct regular 1:1s with team members, set individual development or improvement plans, and foster a healthy, non-retaliatory feedback culture within the team. Team Management: As a collaborative partner with a member of the Product Management team, jointly oversee the team’s strategy, quarterly goals, and business-technical metrics. Ensure the team's development process methodology is optimal, actively participate in building and maintaining the technical roadmap, and take ownership of technical incident management. Dedicate time and resources to quality efforts, maintain a current knowledge base and documentation for the team's services and artifacts, and coordinate resource planning in collaboration with the Senior Engineering Manager and Craft Leads as needed. Manage growth: You derive satisfaction from navigating change and collaboratively discovering innovative solutions with your team and various stakeholders within a dynamic and evolving environment. Strategic Leadership: Responsibility includes guiding the strategic direction of the team's engagements and collaborating with stakeholders. Not directly involved in software delivery, the role necessitates a profound understanding of technical architecture, potential challenges, and aligning the team's work with broader organizational goals.

Qualities we look for

  • Track record of successfully leading and scaling a software development team with backend scope
  • High level of hands-on technical experience in software development and architecture, with several years of experience working as a senior software developer
  • You would enjoy a 30% share of hands-on technical work (code and architecture reviews, technical design, hands-on coding, ...)
  • Experience in back-end development and system design
  • Proficiency in modern C++, or proficiency in other statically typed programming languages and the ability and interest to quickly become proficient in understanding C++ code
  • You are a pragmatic problem solver who enjoys both the technical and non-technical challenges associated with the responsibilities of an Engineering Manager
  • Excellent communication skills in English with a strong sense of empathy and a solution-oriented mindset
  • Solid understanding of computational complexity and common data structures; comfortable reasoning about the time and space complexity of code and choosing appropriate data structures to efficiently solve algorithmic challenges
  • Degree in Computer Science or Mathematics or equivalent experience an advantage

What we offer

  • Diverse and internationally distributed team: joining our team means becoming part of a large, global community with people of more than 90 nationalities. We're more than just colleagues; we're a group of professionals with a shared mission to connect diverse cultures. Our global presence is growing–we've doubled in size nearly every year, with our employees based in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the US, and Japan, and we continue to expand our network.
  • Open communication, regular feedback: as a language-focused company, we value the importance of clear, honest communication. We value smooth collaboration, direct and actionable feedback, and believe that leading with empathy makes us better together.
  • Hybrid work, flexible hours: we offer a hybrid work schedule, with team members coming into the office twice a week. This allows you to engage directly with your team and experience the unique energy of our workspace, while still enjoying the flexibility and comfort of working from home. With flexible working hours and trust in your productivity, we are in sync with your team’s general locations and time zones to foster effective and seamless collaboration.
  • Regular in-person team events: we bond over vibrant events that are as unique as our team, from local team and business unit gatherings, to new-joiner onboardings, to company-wide events that bring us all together–literally.
  • Monthly full-day hacking sessions: every month, we have Hack Fridays, where you can spend your time diving into a project you're passionate about and get the opportunity to work with other teams–we value your initiatives, impact, and creativity.
  • Comprehensive health insurance: your health comes first. With our comprehensive insurance, we'll make sure you're covered from head to toe.
  • 30 days of annual leave: we value your peace of mind. With 30 days off (excluding public holidays) and access to mental health resources, we make sure you're as strong mentally as you are professionally.
  • Annual learning budget: because we never stop learning, we’ve set up an annual budget for your professional development—pick a learning path which contributes to your career development and we'll back you up.

We are an equal opportunity employer

You are welcome at DeepL for who you are—we appreciate authenticity here. Our product is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all succeed, contribute, and think forward! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our diversity that we will find the power to break down language barriers in the world.