Engineering Manager

Whip Around was  born in 2016, originally to help freight companies in New Zealand tackle their paper-based compliance burden. It was whilst working for some of the globe’s largest freight companies, that we saw first-hand how much time paper was costing fleet managers every day. Within a year, the US market was calling loudly as Whip Around met a clear pain point for businesses with fleets.  Whip Around now services customers from coast to coast in the US and around the world.

Team culture is at the heart of our success, with personal improvement being just as important as company outcomes. We now boast a senior leadership team with experience from numerous successful global businesses and continue to double down on our vision to bring simplicity and efficiency to fleet management and compliance.

Our Values

Each of us at Whip Around are committed to living and breathing our Values in everything we do. At Whip Around you will become part of a culture that’s committed to helping you become the best version of yourself. Whip Around is dedicated to our people!

• Be the Best You
• Be the Driver
• Always Bring Value
• Manaakitanga

What success will look like

People Leadership:

• Lead and support engineers and QAs through regular 1-1s, coaching, and feedback
• Support career development through growth plans, PDPs, and performance conversations
• Translate company and product goals into clear team and individual objectives via 15five

Delivery Enablement:

• Partner closely with Product Owners to support predictable, high-quality delivery
• Remove impediments and proactively support teams to maintain strong delivery velocity
• Balance scope, quality, and timelines to support sustainable execution across both Product, Engineering & Security roadmaps.
• Step in as needed to support the Product delivery team with core Scrum practices, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, and retrospectives.

Product & Technical Partnership:

• Collaborate with Product and Design to align on priorities and delivery plans
• Provide technical guidance where needed to support sound engineering practices
• Ensure engineering effort delivers meaningful product and customer impact

Reporting & Observability metrics:

• Track and report on key engineering and delivery metrics
• Provide clear updates to stakeholders on progress, risks, and outcomes

Collaboration & Culture:

• Work cross-functionally to remove blockers and improve ways of working
• Foster a culture of collaboration, ownership, and continuous improvement

Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in software development, with 2+ years in a management role.
• Strong experience in agile development processes and leading engineering teams.
• Proven track record of delivering large-scale, high-quality software products.
• Excellent communication, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP) and modern development practices (e.g., CI/CD, microservices).

Preferred Experience:

• Demonstrated experience running effective 1:1s, performance reviews, and Personal Development Plans (PDPs) to support continuous growth and accountability.
• Proven ability to coach, mentor, and grow engineers across different levels, including senior engineers, junior engineers, and QA engineers.
• Experience building high-performing, engaged teams in a fast-paced, scaling environment where priorities evolve quickly.
• Strong commercial mindset, with the ability to balance technical excellence with business outcomes, customer impact, and delivery timelines.
• Hands-on experience with both frontend and backend technologies, with the ability to dive into technical discussions when required.
• Experience working closely with Product, Design, and QA to deliver customer-centric outcomes.
• Comfort operating in an environment with ambiguity, making pragmatic decisions, and driving momentum without compromising quality.
• Prior experience leading teams through growth, or transformation (e.g., scaling teams, improving delivery practices, or lifting engineering maturity).

Benefits

• Compensation Range: $130K - $150K, commensurate with experience and qualifications
• Hybrid working & core hours with flexibility outside of core hours - we understand you have a life and family outside of work and we support that!
• Free parking
• Southern Cross health insurance
• Birthday leave - goes without saying, no one wants to work on their birthday!
• Monthly team lunches
• Twelve weeks additional paid parental leave
• Regular Team events and activities