Engineering Manager

NALA is building Payments for the Next Billion. Faster, smarter, and fairer transfers for everyone. Since 2022, we've grown our business 120x, grown the team from 9 to 150+, raised $50M+ from top-tier investors, and were named to the Forbes Fintech 50 in 2025.

We operate two core products:

• NALA, our consumer app making cross-border payments cheaper, faster and more reliable for the global diaspora. Allowing users to send money from the UK, US and EU to Africa and Asia.
• Rafiki, our B2B payments infrastructure, is powering global payments.

Our team includes alumni from Wise, Stripe, Monzo, Revolut, and CashApp — operators who’ve scaled world-class products. We act with urgency, think deeply, and put our customers first always.

At NALA, this isn’t just a job. It’s ownership, impact, and the chance to change global payments forever.

Join us in building Payments for the Next Billion.

As an Engineering Manager, you’ll support the scaling of NALA’s product and engineering organisation as we grow across Africa and Asia. You'll lead a squad of engineers, collaborate with product leaders, and drive technical excellence while remaining hands-on where needed. If you'd like to learn more about what our teams are focusing on, tech stack or how we work, please use this link for our Notion page.

• Partner with engineers to design robust technical solutions and deliver high-quality features
• Write code, contribute to system design, and guide architecture decisions
• Manage and coach 5–6 engineers, running effective 1:1s, feedback sessions, and career development planning
• Collaborate with other Engineering Managers and Product Managers to align squad goals and processes
• Build a high-performing team culture rooted in accountability, learning, and autonomy
• Hire and onboard new engineers to support our rapid growth
• Report on delivery progress, system performance, and team health to leadership

• 8+ years of engineering experience, including 2+ years managing high-performing engineers
• Empathetic leadership style focused on coaching and growth
• Strong experience writing Go and building scalable, high-performance systems
• Proven delivery of complex products across full development lifecycle
• Experience working asynchronously with globally distributed teams
• Strong time management skills and ability to balance technical and managerial responsibilities
• Outcome-driven mindset with business and technical acumen
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Passion for our mission and enthusiasm for scaling fintech in emerging markets

• Fintech or payments experience
• Previous work in early-stage or scaling startups
• Information security awareness
• Experience designing robust, developer-friendly APIs (e.g., REST, GraphQL)

3-Month Metrics

• Squad is delivering on product roadmap with high code quality
• Strong team health indicators and clear growth plans for each direct report
• Hands-on contributions to critical technical designs and features

6-Month Metrics

• Engineers are progressing on career paths, with measurable improvements in performance
• Squad velocity and reliability improved via stronger processes and culture
• Key technical systems are scalable and well-documented

You will need to first submit your application through our ATS Workable. There is no need to submit a Cover Letter.

If successful you will be selected for our interview process which has 4 interviewing stages:

• [30mins] Interview with the Talent Team
• This is our initial touchpoint. We're keen to understand your motivations and experiences better. As a tip, reflecting on why you applied for this role and being familiar with your application responses will be beneficial.
• [1 hour] Coding Challenge
• You’ll complete a pair programming exercise live, with two of our engineers
• [1.5 hour] Architecture & Management Interview
• You’ll solve an architecture challenge with two of our Engineering Managers for the first hour, with the final 30 minutes focused on how you lead, manager and empower your team.
• [30 mins] Interview with the CTO or Hiring Manager
• The final interview will involve speaking with the CTO about your motivation for the role and will be a great opportunity to ask any questions you have about the business.
• References
• We conduct reference checks as standard for all of our hires at NALA
• Decision
• We’ll aim to come back to you with a timely decision and feedback on your overall interview process.

UK / EU / Remote, we have the following benefits:

• 35 Days Off: Enjoy an amazing 35 days of holidays to unwind and explore (This will be 27 days + 8 Bank Holidays if UK-based).
• Birthday Leave: Celebrate your special day with a bonus day off to take off in that month.
• Enhanced Parental Leave - We offer 16 weeks of full pay for the primary caregiver and 4 weeks of full pay for the secondary caregiver (After your probationary period).
• Enhanced Pension: Salary sacrifice pension scheme via Penfold giving you flexibility and control on how you save for your future!
• Global Workspace: Get access to WeWork locations worldwide.
• Learning Budget: Fuel your growth with $1000 annually for learning and development.

For people who come to our London office:

• Hybrid Working: We work in our Canary Wharf Office four days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
• Sarabi: Themed snacks and Friday lunch focused on building great working relationships with the team.
• Monthly Socials: Join fun social events every month for great times.
• Free Coffee: Enjoy barista-style coffee at your fingertips.