Engineering Manager, Platform Team

About the role

KAYAK is looking for an Engineering Manager to lead the Backend Platform team. You will guide senior engineers and principals as they modernise core infrastructure, standardise Java architecture, and improve deployment and observability across the company.

Key responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and develop a team of senior backend engineers and principals.
• Own and communicate the technical roadmap, aligning it with broader platform strategy.
• Drive adoption of modern backend infrastructure practices to boost reliability, scalability and developer velocity.
• Champion architecture decisions, lead design reviews and collaborate with technical leaders across engineering.
• Set and enforce best practices for coding, testing, code coverage and deployment quality.
• Manage day‑to‑day operations, remove blockers, balance backlog and ensure high reliability and security standards.
• Collaborate with other engineering managers and cross‑functional stakeholders to resolve dependencies.
• Monitor team health and delivery metrics, identify risks early and adjust priorities.
• Recruit, interview and onboard new backend talent.

Required profile

• 5+ years of backend software development experience, with strong knowledge of distributed systems and service architecture.
• Experience leading or managing backend engineering teams, including performance management and mentoring.
• Hands‑on experience with Kubernetes and cloud‑native infrastructure.
• Solid understanding of modern CI/CD practices, deployment quality gates and release engineering.
• Strong knowledge of API design, microservices patterns, and related best practices.

Required skills

• Java (plus, not mandatory)
• Kubernetes
• Cloud‑native infrastructure
• CI/CD pipelines
• API design
• Microservices architecture
• Distributed systems

What we offer

• Opportunity to shape core platform that powers global travel search.
• Collaborative environment within a leading travel tech company.
• Hybrid work model with at least three days per week onsite in Kaunas.