Engineering Manager – Growth Foundations

About the Company and Team

Payward, the parent company behind Kraken and other brands such as NinjaTrader and CF Benchmarks, has cultivated a leading global financial infrastructure for over 15 years, focusing on enabling an open and accessible financial ecosystem worldwide. Kraken, established in 2011, is among the oldest crypto platforms, serving over 10 million users globally with a variety of trading products including spot, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services suited for retail and institutional clients.

The Growth Foundations team is responsible for building AI-native growth systems that empower other growth teams across the organization. They develop and maintain AI-driven tools, automations, and core infrastructure including the company website, user communications, and marketing technology platforms. Their products have a substantial impact on user acquisition, engagement, and company expansion globally.

Role Overview

As an Engineering Manager on the Growth Foundations team, you will lead and mentor a group of engineers delivering critical features, platforms, and tools essential for company growth. You will align the team around priorities, foster a productive, collaborative environment, and remain hands-on by contributing production-quality code regularly. Your leadership will ensure that complex problems are transformed into effective, reliable solutions with global reach.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage, guide, and nurture a cross-functional engineering team focused on growth-critical features and systems.
• Work closely with Product and Design teams to define project scope, prioritize initiatives, and enable smooth execution.
• Ensure progress through clear expectations, realistic timelines, and transparent stakeholder communication.
• Provide technical leadership to inform architectural and implementation decisions.
• Create a culture centered on accountability, trust, and continuous learning, enhancing team autonomy and impact.
• Optimize team workflows, inter-team communication, and collaboration across multiple time zones.
• Partner with other engineering leaders to maintain best practices and consistency across growth engineering efforts.
• Incorporate AI tools routinely to enhance both individual and team productivity.
• Maintain hands-on involvement by contributing high-quality, production-ready code.

Candidate Profile

• Proven experience managing engineering teams and delivering quality in a collaborative setting.
• Strong leadership skills focused on coaching, clarity, and empowerment of team members.
• Robust backend technical expertise enabling active participation in design discussions and code reviews.
• Demonstrated ability as an individual contributor consistently writing production-grade code while leading by example.
• Expertise in AI-driven development methodologies, applying AI tools daily for boosting productivity and automation.
• Familiarity with modern programming languages such as TypeScript, Rust, Go, or Python.
• Product-oriented mindset, valuing impact on user experience and key growth metrics.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills with the ability to align technical efforts with business strategies.
• Experience working in distributed, remote-first team environments.

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in analytics, marketing performance, growth experimentation, or growth tool development.
• Background in developer experience improvements, internal SDKs, or platform engineering.
• Experience managing scaling processes or teams in fast-growth scenarios.

Leadership Style

• Support engineers by offering clear context rather than exerting control.
• Coach through inquiry and curiosity, fostering autonomy and judgment growth.
• Communicate transparently to maintain alignment between engineering, product, and design teams.
• Exemplify accountability and empathy to build trust and shared mission commitment.

Working Culture

Engineers are entrusted with ownership and expected to deliver impactful results with craftsmanship and responsibility. The team operates with agility, embraces experimentation, learns from data and user feedback, and prioritizes fast, reliable, and measurable engagement solutions. Collaboration is asynchronous across global time zones, underpinned by clear communication and shared objectives.

Additional Information

Applications are accepted continuously unless an explicit deadline is given. Candidates may omit sensitive personal information from their resumes, such as age or educational dates, to ensure equitable consideration. The company adheres to fair hiring practices, including evaluating applicants with criminal records consistent with local regulations, and values diversity and inclusion. Employment decisions may involve skills or behavioral assessments to supplement interviews. Equal opportunity employment is upheld rigorously, prohibiting discrimination across all legally protected categories.