Engineering Manager - QA and SRE Function (Inbox)
Location: Skopje
A better internet, where privacy is the default, is possible. Building this better internet might seem daunting or even unthinkable, but at Proton, this is what we do every day.
Proton was founded in 2014 by a group of scientists who met at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Our first product, Proton Mail, is now the world’s largest encrypted email service. Subsequent Proton products, such as Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, and Proton Drive, give our users full control over how and with whom their data is shared.
Today, Proton makes privacy universally accessible. Journalists from outlets like The Guardian and The New York Times, some of the world’s largest organizations, and people in more than 180 countries have signed up for over 70 million accounts. Our diverse and dynamic team is made up of more than 400 members representing over 40 different nationalities. While we are based in Geneva, Switzerland, we have offices in Zurich, Prague, London, Vilnius, Skopje, Taipei, and many more employees working remotely around the world.
Join one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies to help us solve challenging problems and build new products that will reach hundreds of millions of people. We want to create more than just one of the world’s most impactful tech companies; we want to create a new internet that serves the interests of all people. We need you, your voice, your ideas, and your ambition to make it happen.
Purpose of the role
As a Engineering Manager for Inbox QA, you will be responsible for co-designing and operationalizing the quality and observability strategy of the organization responsible for Proton's Mail and Calendar products. You will be matrix managing a team of 7+ QA engineers working across the Mobile, Desktop, Web and Backend teams, working in partnership with the manager of the teams and the Director of Engineering. What are we looking for, in a nutshell: a strategic thinker with a solid background in engineering quality. Someone who believes in leading through others and developing talent at scale. In the Inbox organization, we believe that a psychologically safe environment is critical to fostering innovation, collaboration, and growth. We are rooted in science, and according to both academic research and empirical evidence, teams that feel safe to take risks and express their ideas are more likely to be innovative and perform better: you will play a key role in helping us create such an environment across the entire organization.
What you will do
Leadership, line-managing and coaching
- Matrix management of the QA engineers working within the various Inbox teams.
- Supporting your reports in developing career progression plans that are aligned with the individual’s aspirations and the needs of the organization.
- Mentoring and coaching in both technical and behavioral skills.
- Leading by example, modelling those behaviors that promote ownership, collaboration, open communication, and a growth mindset.
- Fostering a strong relationship with cross-functional stakeholders, including customer support, product management and design.
- Strategic Planning, Metrics, and Reporting
- In partnership with the Engineering Director: translating the Inbox's vision for Quality, Monitoring and Incident Response into strategic plans.
- Translating the business unit's quality goals into roadmaps and milestones, identifying key metrics to track and report on.
- Operationalization and capacity planning (In partnership with team managers and QA)
- In partnership with peer managers: translating our overall objectives into meaningful team-level goals, keeping in mind the different nature, needs and states of our mobile, desktop and web applications and backend services.
- In partnership with peer managers: capacity and resource planning to ensure successful execution of the quality roadmap.
Job requirements
- Extensive experience in QA Automation of frontend applications (Mobile, Web), and familiarity with Desktop and backend testing.
- Hands-on experience with, or at least knowledge and interest in - monitoring, observability and incident response tools and processes for web applications.
- Demonstrable experience, or at least vocational interest, in managing, mentoring and supporting individuals and teams.
- A growth mindset.
- A strategic, long-term thinker with a pragmatic mindset: you will be happy to define and own the balancing act between progressing towards our strategic goals and achieving short-term wins.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills. Ability to build strong relationships with cross-functional stakeholders and influence at all levels of the organization.
What will success look like in...
...3 month's time
- You have taken over the management of reports from the current engineering managers.
- The business unit has an actionable quality strategy aligned with the BU's objectives.
- You have a good understanding of the state of quality and motoring practises in the various teams.
- The teams and reports have goals and objectives in place that support the strategy.
Bonus points: you have identified opportunities for early wins / tactical improvements to our quality posture.
...6 month's time
- There is a framework in place that allows us to track and report progress on the execution of the QA strategy.
- We have qualitative and quantitative metrics we can use to understand what has been working and iterate on what has not.
- There is a noticeable improvement in some of the key metrics identified as early wins for customer satisfaction.
- We can notice a shift in the mindset of the teams: ownership of the quality of our products, growth mindset, engagement with the direction of travel and career progression.
Why should you join Proton?
- Be part of a movement - Proton is not just a product or service but a community-driven movement united by a shared vision of online freedom. Our services are open source, audited, and supported by community contributions. We give back to our community by maintaining core encryption libraries and by supporting other organizations furthering the same goals as us. Proton is free, open source, neutral, independent, and community first, while remaining financially sustainable.
- Work with smart and dedicated people - Our team is diverse, collaborative, and tight-knit with people coming from all walks of life, including many of the world’s top academic institutions and organizations, such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Cambridge, and ETH.
- Join a strong brand - Our encrypted email service - Proton Mail - has grown to be a staple of online security and privacy. Proton has been featured in multiple popular television and film productions, such as Mr. Robot, Knives Out, Sounds of Metal, and more.
- Grow with us - We’re one of Europe’s fastest-growing startups, doubling in size every year. Our growth gives you limitless career and educational opportunities as well as the opportunity to work side-by-side with many world-leading experts in their fields.
- Have your voice heard - We value your opinion and encourage you to speak up and share your ideas and thoughts. At Proton, no problem is someone else’s problem. We collectively strive to do the right thing and be the undisputed best in the world at everything we do.
- Benefits – these vary by location and type of contract but expect support on your vacation, parental leave, refreshment if working from the office, learning and development opportunities, equity for shared success, flexible working hours and remote work, company events and team building activities.
