Engineering Manager (Remote - India-based)

The Role

We are looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to support the continued growth and development of our engineering organisation.

The role combines people leadership, delivery management, process improvement, and hands-on software engineering. You will help engineers and teams perform at their best, while remaining close enough to the work to understand the practical challenges they face.

We expect approximately 20% to 40% of your time to be spent coding and building. This may include contributing to product development, creating internal tools, improving technical foundations, producing prototypes, or working alongside engineers on particularly difficult problems.

This is not a role for someone who has moved entirely away from software development. You should have at least 10 years of hands-on engineering experience and still enjoy building useful things.

What Success Looks Like in Year One

Engineers you manage are receiving consistent, effective support and have greater clarity on expectations and their development. Performance concerns are being addressed fairly and promptly. Delivery is becoming more predictable without unnecessary process overhead. You are a visible, credible presence in the codebase, and the teams you work with trust your technical judgement as much as your management.

What You’ll Own

• People leadership: line managing software engineers, supporting their development and progression, setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, and handling performance concerns fairly and consistently
• Delivery and team health: working with engineering and product leaders to monitor capacity, surface risks early, help teams remove blockers, and improve predictability without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy
• Engineering management practice: developing and improving how engineering management works at Vestd, including onboarding, succession planning, retention and ways of working
• Hands-on engineering: contributing directly to software development for approximately 20% to 40% of your time, including production software, internal tools, prototypes or technical improvements that solve real problems
• Technical credibility: coaching engineers, contributing to technical decisions, and maintaining the standards you expect from others by staying close to the work

What We’re Looking For

Essential Elements of This Role

• At least 10 years of hands-on software engineering experience, with a strong track record of designing, building, shipping and maintaining production software.
• Recent, practical development experience and the ability to contribute effectively to a modern codebase today, not just historically.
• Proven experience managing software engineers in a growing technology organisation.
• Strong technical judgement and the credibility to coach engineers and challenge technical decisions constructively.
• Experience handling difficult conversations, performance concerns and career development.
• A pragmatic approach to process: introduces structure where it helps, avoids bureaucracy where it does not.
• Familiarity with PHP and Laravel, or experience with a comparable backend framework and a genuine willingness to work comfortably in that environment.
• Impeccable attention to detail and a high degree of accuracy
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• You must be comfortable with working in a remote-first environment

Nice to Have

• Recent hands-on PHP and Laravel experience
• Experience managing engineering managers or technical leads
• Experience working with distributed or remote engineering teams
• Background in fintech, SaaS or a regulated environment
• Experience helping an engineering organisation scale its management practices
• Experience building internal tooling, prototypes or early-stage product

Culture Fit

• Thrives in a startup environment, ready to tackle diverse challenges with enthusiasm
• Adaptable - open to taking on responsibilities beyond the defined role as needed
• Passionate about contributing to a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Embraces technology to improve processes and drive efficiency

Benefits

What You Can Expect

Our culture is our backbone, and we take team happiness seriously. Vestd strives to be as principled as possible, aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8 for ‘Decent work and economic growth.’

We offer:

• A flexible environment to help you achieve the best work/life balance
• An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) after the qualifying period
• Monthly recognition scheme
• Support with home working equipment
• A personal training and development budget
• Private medical insurance after the qualifying period
• Team retreats twice a year, including overnight stays
• 25 days annual leave plus one extra day per year of service (up to five days)

Vestd is a great place to work, offering autonomy, a supportive team, and meaningful contributions to a mission-driven organization.