Senior Engineering Manager

About OpenTable:

With millions of diners, 60,000 restaurant partners and 25+ years of experience, OpenTable, part of Booking Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), is an industry leader with a passion for helping restaurants thrive. Our world-class technology empowers restaurants to focus on what matters most – their team, their guests, and their bottom line – while enabling diners to discover and book the perfect restaurant for every occasion. 

Every employee at OpenTable has a tangible impact on what we do and how we do it. You’ll also be part of a global team that includes our sister brand, KAYAK and its portfolio of global metasearch brands. Hospitality is all about taking care of others, and it defines our culture.

About Us

At OpenTable, we take pleasure in Software Development. We believe that velocity comes from a dedication to clean code and proven engineering principles. We deliver creative products through rapid, continuous development. We move fast, release frequently, and believe strongly in automated testing to help maintain our quality and velocity. We break things sometimes - and that’s fine. We learn from it. Millions of diners and thousands of restaurants around the globe use our products. If you are excited by constantly challenging engineering processes and can deliver exceptional quality in a fast paced, agile environment, we'd like to meet you. Bonus points if you love restaurants too.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Engineering Manager to join our Restaurant Platform Team, focusing on our B2B SaaS product that supplies reservations to the marketplace. This individual will be responsible for developing functionality within the platform, enabling in-product paid add-ons, and creating upselling opportunities. In this critical role, you will be responsible for leading high-performing engineering teams, driving technical excellence, fostering a culture of innovation, and ensuring the successful delivery of complex software solutions. You will balance hands-on technical guidance with strategic leadership, empowering your teams to achieve ambitious goals and contribute significantly to our product vision.

About You

We are seeking an experienced leader who is passionate about building great products and empowering engineers. The ideal candidate is a player-coach who can dive deep into technical challenges when needed, but primarily focuses on strategic direction, team growth, and fostering an environment where innovation thrives. You should be adept at navigating ambiguity, making data-driven decisions, and influencing cross-functional team members at all levels. If you are a servant leader committed to continuous improvement and have a strong bias for action, we encourage you to apply.

Responsibilities

• Leadership & Strategy:

  • Define and execute the technical roadmap in alignment with overall business objectives.

  • Provide strategic direction and technical leadership to multiple engineering teams.

  • Drive architectural decisions, ensuring scalability, reliability, and maintainability of systems.

• Team Management & Development:

  • Lead, mentor, and develop a team of highly skilled engineers and engineering managers.

  • Hold engineers to a high technical bar, and expect them to be able to speak to tradeoffs to justify their decisions.

  • Foster a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and psychological safety.

  • Conduct performance reviews, provide constructive feedback, and support career growth.

  • Recruit, interview, and onboard top engineering talent.

• Execution & Delivery:

  • Oversee the end-to-end delivery of complex projects, ensuring timely and high-quality outcomes.

  • Implement and refine agile development processes and best practices.

  • Mitigate risks, resolve impediments, and ensure clear communication across stakeholders.

• Cross-functional Collaboration:

  • Partner closely with Product Management, Design, and other functional leaders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.

  • Communicate technical concepts and project status effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.

  • Champion engineering best practices and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Experience:

  • 12+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, with at least 4 years in an Engineering Manager or Senior Engineering Manager role, leading multiple teams or complex domains.

  • Proven track record of successfully delivering large-scale, high-impact software products. You can roll up your sleeves to work with engineers if needed.

  • Proven track record of leading full stack teams with a variety of skills.

• Technical Competence:

  • Strong understanding of modern software architecture and distributed systems.

  • Proficiency in JAVA and Rest APIs and familiarity with various technology stacks.

  • Proficiency in Database technologies and Event Driven Architecture.

  • Deep understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC), CI/CD, and testing methodologies.

  • Expertise in JavaScript and JavaScript frameworks like React would be a plus.

  • Past experience of using AI tools & technologies, especially in the applied AI field.

• Leadership & Management:

  • Exceptional leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills. You empower engineers and take pride in unlocking their potential.

  • Demonstrated ability to build, motivate, and retain high-performing engineering teams.

  • Strong critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

  • Excellent communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills.

Benefits and Perks

• Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year
• Focus on mental health and well-being:
• Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth
• Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace
• Company-wide week off a year - the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!)
• No meeting Fridays
• Paid parental leave
• Generous paid vacation + time off for your birthday
• Paid volunteer time
• Focus on your career growth:
• Development Dollars
• Leadership development
• Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings
• Travel Discounts
• Employee Resource Groups
• Quarterly team offsites
• Tax optimisation options
• Generous health insurance
• Pension fund

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At OpenTable/KAYAK, we aspire to be a workplace that fosters inclusion and reflects the diverse communities we serve. Hiring people with different backgrounds and perspectives is critical to innovation and to how we deliver great experiences for our users, partners, and teams. We strive to be an open and welcoming environment so that no matter who you are, you can be yourself.

We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform job responsibilities, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation(s).