Engineering Manager, Device Passport

About the Role As an Engineering Manager at Apkudo, you will lead the Device Passport team in building systems that give every device a trusted, verifiable identity, powering repair workflows, hardware certification, and takeback programs for partners including Asurion, Samsung, and major carriers. Your role will be crucial in bringing structure and momentum to a growing team while staying hands-on in the code. Responsibilities Lead a team of engineers in building and maintaining a scalable and efficient platform for device passporting. Partner closely with the Product Manager to develop and execute a vision for the team and align with company goals. Develop and maintain a well-groomed backlog, own sprint commitments, and ensure the team consistently delivers against its roadmap. Recruit, interview, and onboard engineers; build a team culture defined by ownership, craft, and psychological safety. Mentor engineers at every level through regular one-on-ones, career development conversations, goal-setting, and performance feedback. Serve as the primary escalation point for cross-team dependencies, blockers, and coordination with other pods. Translate technical complexity into clear updates for product and leadership stakeholders. Spend approximately 40% of your time as an individual contributor writing production Python code, reviewing pull requests with substantive technical feedback, and pairing with engineers on hard problems. Lead by example in code quality, testing discipline, and documentation standards. Contribute to architectural decisions and technical design reviews, ensuring the team's technical direction is sound and well-documented. Own specific features or integration modules within the Device Passport platform. Requirements 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 3 years in an engineering management or tech lead role. Hands-on Python proficiency, with experience in writing production code and doing real code review. Strong PostgreSQL and SQL experience; comfort with cloud infrastructure (AWS or equivalent). Proven track record of shipping software on time with a distributed, cross-functional team. Experience with agile delivery, including sprint planning, backlog management, velocity tracking, and retrospectives. Demonstrated ability to give direct, constructive performance feedback and support engineers' career growth. Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to represent engineering clearly to product, operations, and leadership audiences. High empathy, low ego, with a focus on team success rather than individual achievement. Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns and API-based platform products serving multiple external partners simultaneously. Exposure to warehouse automation, device lifecycle, or supply chain software is a plus.