Senior Engineering Manager

Serko is an NZX50, global business travel and expense company, with our Headquarters based in Parnell, Auckland. As the 2020 HI-Tech Company of the Year, we're a SaaS that is diverse, close-knit group where everyone's opinion matters. We’re already the established leader in Australasia and revolutionizing the way people do business travel in the USA and Europe – and we’re growing!

Our purpose is to "Bring People Together", coupled with a vision to "Create a Connected, Frictionless Travel Experience". While the world of business travel is changing, we’re preparing companies for this with intelligent technology that helps them ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of their travelers.

Our mission is to "Build the World's Leading Business Travel Marketplace"! We’re backed by the likes of Booking.com and there is an exciting road ahead of us at a time where travel needs real, impactful change. We’re hiring people from different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives to help us build a world-class team and product.

Requirements

As a Senior Engineering Manager at Serko, you’ll be a key driver of how our Engineering organisation grows, performs, and innovates. You’ll manage, mentor and coach technical teams, helping them deliver quality outcomes while continuously improving how we work. You’ll partner closely with Product, Design and cross-functional leadership to ensure we build, ship, and scale with pace and reliability.

You’ll be expected to be hands-on and accessible — not just directing strategy, but actively shaping technical direction, removing blockers, and ensuring the team has what it needs to succeed. At Serko, emerging technology and pragmatic engineering practices are core to how we win — and you’ll be pivotal in enabling that

What you'll be doing

Team Leadership & People Growth

• Lead, mentor and grow Engineering teams — both in recruiting great talent and developing existing team members.
• Drive hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and career development conversations with clarity and empathy.
• Foster a culture where engineers feel empowered, supported, and accountable.

Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Ensure Engineering commitments are consistently met and aligned to strategic objectives.
• Balance short-term delivery needs with long-term platform health and technical sustainability.
• Partner with Technical Directors and stream leadership to plan and resource teams effectively.

Coaching, Development & Enablement

• Support engineers in their career journeys with coaching, actionable feedback, and clear growth pathways.
• Work with PPC, Product and other partners to align people development initiatives with company-wide programs and goals.

Technical Practices & Community

• Champion and help coordinate Communities of Practice in relevant technical domains (e.g., backend, cloud, data/ML, devops).
• Promote adoption of engineering standards, best practices, and tooling across Product & Engineering teams.

What you'll bring to the team
You’ll bring a blend of strong technical leadership, effective people management, and real-world delivery experience. You understand what it takes to build and scale high-performing teams in a dynamic product environment. You’re comfortable coaching engineers, influencing peers and executives, and aligning teams around shared outcomes. You prioritise psychological safety, measurable delivery excellence, and continuous improvement.

• Leading and scaling technical teams in a product or platform environment.
• Building strong relationships and influencing across teams and leadership.
• Driving execution from planning through to delivery and iteration.
• Supporting engineer growth through coaching, feedback, and structured development.
• Practical familiarity with learning systems, training tools, and ongoing capability uplift.
• Excellent communication skills and comfort with ambiguity in a fast-moving environment.
• Strong project and program management skills.

Bonus (nice-to-have):

• Experience in SaaS, cloud, or travel-tech environments.
• Background in modern engineering practices (CI/CD, microservices, observability).
• Certifications in leadership, coaching, or learning & development.

Benefits

It's important to us that our people can bring their whole selves to work. Join our team and we have the following on offer for you!

• Competitive salary + Kiwisaver + Life Insurance + A generous employee incentive share scheme
• Laptop & tools, modern office with games, exceptional coffee, snacks, and a great social atmosphere!
• Flexibility to work-from-home and with starting and finishing times
• Extended leave benefits
• Promotional opportunities among an established & growing global organisation
• 1:1's to help focus on your personal growth via multiple career pathways
• Access to discounted: Free flu shots, and confidential support, guidance, and counselling services with EAP
• Inclusive culture which embraces the diversity of our people - with many different nationalities proudly represented across the Serko workforce. We look for people to add to our culture!