Backend Engineering Team Manager - Europe

Job Summary

We are looking for a motivated and supportive Backend Engineering Team Manager to guide and mentor a team of engineers. As an integral member of our engineering department, you will contribute to developing our industry-leading products by driving smooth project execution, people growth, and hiring efforts. You will also play a pivotal role in talent development, building a diverse and dynamic team that thrives on collaboration and innovation. Collaborating closely with Product and Design, you will support the execution of our product roadmap and ensure smooth delivery of commitments. If you are an experienced engineering manager with a backend background and a passion for enabling engineers to succeed, we invite you to join our growing team and contribute to the success of Storyblok as we pioneer the future of content management.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support a team of backend engineers with a focus on delivery, people development, and process improvement.
• Partner with the Senior Backend Engineering Manager to align execution with team vision and strategy.
• Mentor and guide team members in their professional development, while promoting a culture of active coaching within the team.
• Support engineers in making technical decisions while ensuring processes and delivery run effectively.
• Establish delivery estimates, monitor progress, and help the team overcome obstacles and resolve blockers.
• Collaborate with Product and Design to ensure roadmap commitments are delivered iteratively and with customer focus.
• Own recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes to strengthen and grow the team.
• Facilitate regular one-on-one meetings to set goals, evaluate performance, and provide continuous feedback.
• Foster a culture of documentation, knowledge sharing, and open communication.
• Cultivate empathy and openness towards team members from diverse backgrounds, and promote a positive workplace culture.
• Contribute to improving processes in a remote-first, globally distributed environment.

Education & Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant experience in advanced software development, including 2+ years of engineering leadership.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Solid backend development background (e.g., Ruby, Python), with enough technical depth to support engineers and understand challenges.
• Strong understanding of databases (PostgreSQL preferred), caching systems (Redis, Memcached), and background processing (e.g., Sidekiq).
• Familiarity with software engineering fundamentals, best practices, and problem-solving, with the ability to guide mid-level and senior engineers.
• Familiarity with testing strategies and CI/CD pipelines, focusing on maintainability and code quality.
• Understanding of scalability, reliability, observability, and security principles.
• Awareness of incident response practices.
• Proven ability to lead teams in execution — guiding engineers, resolving blockers, and ensuring delivery commitments are met.
• Strong communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills, with a focus on collaboration across Product, Design, and Engineering.
• Confident, detail-oriented, and highly motivated to contribute to the organization's growth as part of a high-performing team.