Engineering Manager

🏢 Who we are

A team from Germany with the vision to make advanced network security accessible for everyone

We are a software company developing an open source zero-trust network security platform that is both easy to use and affordable for teams of all sizes and budgets. Our mission is grounded in a simple yet powerful belief: secure private networking is a fundamental right of every modern company.

Since our launch on GitHub in 2021, we have gained trust among thousands of companies seeking secure and seamless solutions for connecting remote employees and infrastructure. By replacing traditional centralized VPNs, NetBird has become a trusted choice for modern network security, connecting today hundreds of thousands of users and machines worldwide. Our open source, community-driven approach has been a key driver of our success. We listen to our users, and their input helps us make network security better for everyone.

Want to see what we're working on? Check out our GitHub repo at https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird or https://netbird.io/knowledge-hub|

✏️ What you will do

As an Engineering Manager, you will lead a team of engineers building core components of NetBird's global networking platform. You'll be responsible for delivering impactful outcomes while creating an environment where engineers can do their best work. This role blends execution, people leadership, and technical guidance.

• Lead and grow a team of engineers, supporting their development through coaching, feedback, and clear expectations.
• Own team delivery by translating product and technical goals into execution plans and ensuring consistent, high-quality outcomes.
• Partner closely with the CTO and engineering to define priorities and align on roadmap and scope.
• Foster a strong engineering culture focused on ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure the reliability and performance of your team's systems, driving best practices in testing, observability, and incident response.
• Provide technical guidance and context, enabling the team to make sound architectural and implementation decisions.

🔎 What we are looking for

We're looking for someone who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment, enjoys leading by example, and is passionate about building scalable and reliable systems.

Must-Haves

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, with recent experience in a senior or leadership role
• Proven experience managing and growing engineers, including coaching, feedback, and performance management in a fast-paced environment
• Strong project ownership: experience planning, prioritizing, and delivering projects in a fast-moving environment
• Experience working in a startup or high-growth environment
• Ability to make pragmatic technical decisions and drive them to completion
• Hands-on experience with system design, performance, and reliability
• Strong sense of ownership - you take responsibility from idea to production and beyond
• Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate across teams
• Comfortable staying hands-on while leading others
• Experience hiring and building engineering teams in a scaling environment

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience working with Go or similar backend languages
• Experience working on networking products, VPNs, or peer-to-peer systems
• Solid understanding of networking fundamentals (IP, routing, NAT, DNS)
• Experience leading incident response and communicating with stakeholders during outages
• Experience contributing to or maintaining open source projects
• Experience interacting with developer communities via GitHub or similar platforms

😌 What’s in for you

We know that happy and supported team members build the best products. That’s why we offer

• Competitive compensation including salary and equity.
• Hybrid Cowork model in our new Berlin office with flexibility for remote days.
• High-impact role working directly with customers and product teams.
• Autonomy and ownership over your solutions and customer success.
• Close collaboration with Sales, Engineering, Product, and Support.
• Career growth as NetBird scales its technical customer function.