Engineering Manager (Virtuals)

At KingMakers, we build and operate leading sports and iGaming platforms used daily by millions of customers across multiple African markets.

We are not maintaining legacy systems: we are scaling a live, revenue-driving technology platform in real time.

Virtuals is one of our highest revenue-driving verticals, powering engagement and commercial performance across markets. As we expand geographically, the technical complexity increases: more traffic, more integrations, higher performance expectations.

We are hiring an Engineering Manager to lead this evolution.

This is a full-scope Engineering Manager role combining people leadership, delivery ownership and technical direction.

👥 People & Leadership

• Lead, mentor and develop a team of engineers.

• Run structured performance cycles and development plans.
• Hire and onboard strong talent.
• Foster accountability, collaboration and engineering maturity.
• Shape on-call culture and operational ownership.

We look for leaders who build durable, high-performing teams, not short-term heroics.

🚀 Delivery & Roadmap

• Drive execution of the Virtuals roadmap.
• Own planning, prioritisation and risk management.
• Align engineering delivery with business and product strategy.
• Reduce noise and bring predictability to releases.
• Contribute meaningfully to roadmap definition.

This role requires clarity, structure and strong stakeholder alignment.

🔭 Architecture & Technical Direction

You will guide architectural decisions and engineering standards across:

• Distributed, event-driven systems

• High-concurrency environments
• Microservices architecture
• Domain-driven design
• Technical debt management
• Observability, monitoring and incident resolution
• Security-first mindset

Architectural decisions here are not theoretical, they influence performance, uptime and revenue stability.

We operate with modern, scalable technology including:

• Backend
• C# / .NET
• Microsoft Azure
• Docker & Kubernetes (AKS)
• MS SQL Server, MongoDB, Redis
• Kafka & RabbitMQ
• Terraform (Infrastructure as Code)
• CI/CD (Azure DevOps)

• Frontend
• React framework
• JavaScript / TypeScript
• Modern frontend architecture and component-based design

• Observability & Monitoring
• Tools such as Grafana

We expect technical credibility, not necessarily daily hands-on coding, but the ability to guide and challenge engineering decisions.

You bring:

• Proven experience operating as an Engineering Manager with direct people management responsibility.
• Experience leading engineers in production environments with operational accountability.
• Strong performance leadership: structured feedback, talent development, and constructive handling of underperformance.
• Clear ownership of delivery: planning, prioritisation, risk management and predictable execution.
• Strong stakeholder partnership: able to communicate trade-offs clearly and early.
• Technical credibility: capable of guiding architecture and maintaining standards without micromanaging.

The Leadership Profile We Value

We are deliberate about the managers we hire.

You are:

• A structured, transparent communicator.
• Comfortable making difficult trade-offs.
• Calm under pressure during production issues.
• Consistent and thoughtful in decision-making.
• Someone who embodies the standards you expect from your team.
• Focused on sustainable performance over chaos.

We believe strong engineering organisations are built through clarity, consistency and respect.

Nice to Have

• Experience in iGaming, Virtuals, Sportsbook or Casino (Sportsbook particularly transferable).
• Background in high-traffic or revenue-critical systems.
• Experience with distributed or event-driven architectures.
• Experience scaling both teams and engineering practices.

💰 Compensation & Security

• Comprehensive Private Health Insurance: Robust, meaningful coverage, not just basic benefits.
• Performance Bonus: Discretionary rewards aligned with real impact.
• Wellbeing Allowance (€350/year): Dedicated annual budget to support your physical and mental wellbeing.

🌍 Flexibility & Time

• Hybrid by Design: 2 days in-office, 3 days remote. Intentional collaboration, not presenteeism.
• Work From Anywhere (10 Days): Up to 10 business days per year working remotely from wherever you choose.
• Additional Time Off: Extra leave days, including your birthday off.

🚀 Impact & Growth

• Real Leadership Autonomy: Ownership over your team, hiring decisions and delivery model.
• Scale With Impact: Lead a revenue-critical platform expanding into new markets — where engineering decisions directly influence growth.
• True International Scope: Collaborate with engineering and product teams across Nigeria, South Africa, Spain and the UK.

🏢 Environment & Experience

• Healthy, High-Performance Culture: Clear priorities. Direct communication. High standards without ego or chaos.
• Thoughtful Office Experience: Weekly in-office meals, quality coffee, team building budget and snacks and a welcoming team environment.
• Modern Malta Office: Professional workspace with reserved parking.