Full-StackSMBEnterprise

Engineering Manager

We are looking for an Engineering Manager to lead a team of software engineers at [Company Name]. You will be responsible for the people, process, and delivery outcomes of your team — hiring and developing engineers, partnering with product on roadmap execution, and ensuring technical quality and operational excellence. This is a people-first leadership role with a strong technical foundation.

Download DOCX Use in AtinoHire

Key Responsibilities

Manage, mentor, and grow a team of 5-10 software engineers through regular 1:1s, feedback, and career development
Partner with Product Management to plan sprints, prioritize work, and ensure the team delivers on roadmap commitments
Drive hiring for the team — define role requirements, participate in interviews, and make hiring decisions
Establish and refine team processes (sprint planning, retrospectives, code reviews) to improve velocity and quality
Ensure technical quality through architecture reviews, code review practices, and engineering standards
Manage team capacity, resolve blockers, and escalate risks to leadership proactively
Foster an inclusive, psychologically safe team culture where engineers do their best work

Required Skills & Experience

3+ years of engineering management experience leading teams of 5 or more engineers
Strong technical background — previous experience as a senior or staff software engineer
Proven track record of hiring, developing, and retaining engineering talent
Experience with agile methodologies and delivery management (Scrum, Kanban)
Ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and vice versa
Experience managing performance — delivering feedback, running performance reviews, and handling underperformance
Demonstrated ability to balance technical debt with feature delivery

Nice-to-Have

Experience managing distributed or remote engineering teams
Track record of growing engineers into senior roles or management
Experience with engineering metrics and productivity frameworks (DORA metrics, SPACE framework)
Background in the specific domain or tech stack used at [Company Name]
Experience managing multiple teams or a team of teams

Tech Stack

JiraGitHubSlackConfluenceLinearDatadogNotionFigma

What We Offer

Competitive salary and equity at [Company Name]
Management coaching and leadership development programs
Flexible remote or hybrid work arrangements
Annual budget for conferences and professional development
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
Generous PTO, parental leave, and sabbatical after 4 years

Interview Process

1Recruiter phone screen (30 min)
2Hiring manager conversation — discuss leadership philosophy and management experience (45 min)
3Technical depth assessment — discuss architecture decisions and technical trade-offs from past work (45 min)
4People management scenario — role-play a difficult management situation (feedback, conflict, underperformance) (45 min)
5Cross-functional conversation with Product Manager and/or Design Lead (30 min)
6Executive/skip-level conversation with VP or Director of Engineering (30 min)

Hiring for this role? You might also need:

Interview Scorecards

Phone Screen

Recruiter Phone Screen (Universal)

General-purpose recruiter screen covering motivation, experience fit, and logistics.

Phone Screen

Technical Phone Screen — Frontend

Evaluate frontend fundamentals: DOM, CSS, React/Vue patterns, and browser APIs.

Phone Screen

Technical Phone Screen — Backend

Assess backend skills: API design, databases, concurrency, and system thinking.

Email Templates

Sourcing

Cold Outreach — Passive Developer

A personalized first-touch email to engage passive developers who aren't actively job hunting.

Sourcing

Cold Outreach Follow-up

A concise follow-up email for candidates who didn't respond to your initial outreach.

Sourcing

Cold Outreach — Break-up Email

A final follow-up email that politely closes the outreach sequence while leaving the door open.

Related Templates

Full-Stack

Tech Lead

Drive technical direction and architecture decisions while mentoring engineers and shipping features.

Full-Stack

Senior Full-Stack Engineer

Own end-to-end feature delivery and drive architectural decisions across frontend and backend.

Backend

Senior Backend Engineer

Architect scalable backend systems and lead technical decisions on API design and data modeling.

Back to all templates

Common Screening Mistakes

Screening Engineering Managers the same way you screen engineers — the core skills are people management, delivery, and communication, not algorithm solving
Not distinguishing between Tech Lead and Engineering Manager — a Tech Lead drives technical direction while an EM owns people and delivery; some candidates have done both, but ask which they prefer
Overlooking candidates from smaller companies — an EM at a 50-person startup who built a team from scratch may be stronger than one who inherited a team at a large company

Red Flags

Cannot give specific examples of developing an engineer's career — generic answers like 'I give regular feedback' without concrete stories suggest surface-level management
Only talks about technology and architecture with no mention of people, hiring, or team dynamics — this person may be a Tech Lead who wants to stay technical, not a people manager
Has never dealt with underperformance or conflict — either they are very early in their management career or they avoid hard conversations

What Good Looks Like

A strong Engineering Manager candidate can tell you about a specific engineer they helped grow (where they started — what the EM did, and where they ended up), describe how they balanced technical debt against product roadmap, and explain a time they had to navigate a difficult team situation.
They should demonstrate genuine care about their people alongside strong execution instincts.

Key Tech to Listen For

1:1s and Career Development
Sprint Planning
DORA Metrics
Hiring Process Design
Agile/Scrum
Performance Management