Senior Manager, Application Engineering

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong></p> <p><span lang="en-US">Are you searching for an opportunity to play a key role in driving the dramatic growth of a highly successful software company? </span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">At Poppulo, we’re working on what’s next in communications and workplace technology. As a pioneer in this industry, we understand that meaningfully reaching every employee is hard. And so is managing office space in a hybrid world. And so is improving the customer and guest experience. We exist to make each of these things easier. We exist to bring harmony to our customers. </span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">And we do that at enterprise scale. Our omnichannel employee communications, customer communications, and workplace experience platform is trusted by over 6,000 organizations today, reaching more than 35M employees and delivering content to 500,000+ digital signs.</span></p> <p>We know there’s no such thing as a “perfect" candidate - we’re all a work in progress and are growing new skills and capabilities all the time. We encourage you to apply for a position with Poppulo even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We believe in fostering an environment where there is a diversity of perspectives, in hopes that we can all thrive. </p> <p><strong>The Opportunity</strong></p> <p><span>The </span><span>Application Engineering</span><span> organization is responsible for developing and scaling internal communication and employee engagement platforms that underpin our Employee Communication (EC) suite. The </span><span>Senior Engineering Manager </span><span>will lead multiple cross-functional software engineering teams, owning the end-to-end technical strategy, architecture, and execution of these applications.</span><span> </span></p> <p><span>The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, driving engineering excellence, scalability, and innovation across the product portfolio.</span><span> </span></p> <p><span>The role involves working closely with Product Managers and senior technical staff to deliver product priorities, address technical debt, and advance an overarching architectural vision. The Senior Manager, Application Engineering will be instrumental in ensuring the delivery of high-quality software while cultivating a culture of continuous improvement and learning within the teams.</span><span> </span></p> <p><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li><span>Define and own the technology roadmap for Application Engineering, ensuring the architecture, scalability, and reliability of systems align with EC business and product objectives.</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Lead multiple software engineering teams, through direct management of Engineering Managers, to deliver high-performance, secure, and resilient SaaS applications.</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Partner with senior engineers and architects to evolve system design and architectural vision, modernizing legacy components, and implementing best practices for distributed, cloud-native applications (e.g., microservices, containerization, event-driven design).</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Oversee end-to-end software delivery — from planning and design through development, testing, deployment, and monitoring — ensuring high availability, low latency, and exceptional product quality.</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Champion engineering standards, code quality, and design principles (e.g., SOLID, clean architecture, domain-driven design). </span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Promote automation across build, test, and deployment pipelines.</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Drive process optimization, developer productivity, and operational excellence through metrics such as lead time, deployment frequency, MTTR, and code quality indicators.</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Work closely with Product Management, Architecture, and DevOps teams to align engineering priorities with business outcomes. </span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Balance feature delivery with technical debt reduction and platform sustainability.</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Coach, mentor, and grow engineering leaders and ICs, fostering a culture of learning, accountability, and innovation. Identify skill gaps and champion career progression and technical mastery within the teams.</span><span> </span></li> </ul> <p><span> </span></p> <p><strong><span>Technical Skills / Competencies</span></strong><span> </span><span> </span></p> <ul> <li><span>Proven expertise in </span><strong><span>SaaS product development</span></strong><span>, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure (preferably AWS, GCP, or Azure).</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Good understanding of </span><strong><span>modern application stacks</span></strong><span> (Java, Kotlin, or Node.js; React or similar front-end frameworks).</span><span> </span></li> <li><span>Experience leading teams practicing </span><strong><s