Technical Lead Manager

About SkyLink

SkyLink is building the corporate travel chatbot that allows travelers and arrangers to book and manage travel in enterprise chat channels, Slack & Teams, as if they're speaking to a corporate travel agent. Leveraging the latest in LLMs and generative AI, SkyLink’s workflows can handle simple or complex travel itineraries and changes using natural language. We serve enterprises and Travel Management Companies to save millions in excess corporate travel costs, increase online booking throughput, and delight users who have been stuck with decade old booking tools.

We are backed by Y Combinator, Menlo Ventures, Human Capital, and Fortune 50 CEOs. Our board of advisors includes former CEOs of Global Travel companies.

About You

You are an experienced engineer who is ready to transition into a leadership role and take ownership of both the technical architecture and team management aspects of product development. You enjoy collaboration with cross-functional teams, but are also comfortable making executive decisions on the technical side. You balance shipping quickly with building long-term sustainable solutions and have a demonstrated ability to lead projects from concept to completion. You’re passionate about growing engineering teams while maintaining velocity, improving engineering processes, and are eager to have an outsized impact on the company's success.

About the Role

We are looking for a Technical Lead/Engineering Manager to oversee the development of SkyLink. This role will work closely with Product and the Founders to drive and manage the product and technical roadmap while guiding a team of talented engineers. Your role will include balancing hands-on coding, code review, design doc review, and leadership. There will be weeks where this role will lean towards roadmapping and management and other weeks where this role will lean technical architecture and design doc review.

An ideal candidate will have 5+ years of software development experience and a passion for both building systems and guiding teams. Previous technical leadership is preferred but not required - we are open to engineers who want to be leaders for the first time.

A Great Fit:

• Has experience as a Tech Lead or Engineering Manager but also has been a software engineer for 5+ years
• Can drive both technical and product roadmaps while managing the engineering team
• Has strong architecture and design skills and can translate high-level requirements into scalable solutions
• Can effectively delegate tasks and mentor engineers
• Understands the balance between quality and speed in an early-stage startup
• Has excellent problem-solving skills and can drive initiatives to improve the team's productivity and the codebase
• Is passionate about building high-quality systems and driving technical excellence
• Can communicate effectively across technical and non-technical teams

You Will:

• Work closely with Product Managers and Founders to plan, prioritize, and execute technical and product roadmaps
• Assign, delegate, and oversee engineering tasks and initiatives
• Help shape and refine technical architecture and design, with a focus on long-term scalability and stability
• Conduct code and documentation reviews to ensure quality and consistency
• Manage and mentor a team of engineers, guiding their growth and helping them excel
• Continuously improve engineering processes, tools, and systems to scale the codebase and the team effectively
• Participate in hands-on development when needed and drive key technical projects

Requirements:

• References to vouch for your technical and management skills - those without previous management/lead experience should have references who can vouch for their ability to lead

Tech Stack:

• Backend: Python, Django, Celery, Redis, RabbitMQ, Postgres
• Frontend: React, Typescript
• Infrastructure: AWS, Docker

Benefits:

• Healthcare
• New laptop of your choice
• 401(K) Plan
• Unlimited PTO
• Hybrid in New York City

About the Interview Process:

1. Introduction Zoom Chat with a Co-founder:
   A conversation to get to know each other. We’ll discuss your background, leadership experience, and your technical knowledge. We want to understand what motivates you, your goals in transitioning into a semi leadership role, and your interest in early-stage startups. You will also get time to learn about us.

   This is an informal call for us to meet each other and get to know one another. The conversation will cover your past experiences as a software engineer and lead/manager in high-growth tech environments. We'll discuss your approach to engineering leadership, design, and teams. We'd like to hear about significant initiatives you've led, including both successes and challenges, which demonstrate your leadership and problem-solving skills. We also want to understand what you're looking for in your next role and why you're interested in early-stage startups in the AI travel space. You'll have the opportunity to ask us about the role and learn what working at SkyLink will be like.

2. Round 2: One In-depth Interview

   1. Technical, System & Feature Design: This interview will focus on your ability to design systems and features for the SkyLink product.
   2. Leadership and Operational Excellence Interview In this interview, we'll dive deeper into your leadership style and operational capabilities. We'll explore your approach to managing engineering teams and product roadmaps as well as your decision-making processes in a fast-paced environment.

3. Offer!