Shape engineering leadership within a design-led team as the first Engineering Manager embedded in Upstream Studios. You'll lead a dedicated group of engineers building and maintaining the Pajamas Design System and the GitLab documentation platform—core infrastructure used company-wide. This role is central to defining how engineering integrates within a creative organization, setting standards that influence product quality and developer experience.
Leadership & Team Development
Grow and mentor a team of skilled engineers, fostering a culture of ownership, continuous learning, and technical excellence. You'll establish engineering practices from the ground up within a new organizational function, helping define how software craftsmanship supports design innovation and content delivery at scale.
Technical Strategy & Execution
Own architectural decisions for critical platforms, including component libraries, design tokens, and the documentation site’s backend infrastructure. Drive improvements in performance, reliability, accessibility, and localization. Champion scalable solutions that balance innovation with long-term maintainability, ensuring systems meet the needs of a global user base.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with Product Design and Technical Writing to turn creative and content requirements into robust, reusable technical implementations. Help bridge disciplines by translating design principles into engineering outcomes and promoting shared understanding of platform capabilities and constraints.
Quality & Advocacy
Champion engineering rigor across the organization—addressing technical debt, enforcing security practices, and improving platform resilience. Promote the strategic importance of well-maintained systems, ensuring teams recognize the value of consistency, efficiency, and accessibility in both design and documentation.
Required Expertise
- Proven experience leading platform or infrastructure engineering teams with a focus on team health and technical excellence
- Deep understanding of design systems, including component architecture, design tokens, accessibility standards, and contribution workflows
- Professional background with JavaScript (Vue.js), Hugo, docs-as-code, Git, Elasticsearch, Ruby, or Go
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and large-scale, multi-lingual content platforms
- Strong communication skills for asynchronous, remote collaboration
- Familiarity with AI tools as part of daily engineering workflows
- Passion for open source, developer productivity, and inclusive engineering cultures
Work Environment
This is a fully remote role in a global, asynchronous organization. You’ll operate in a fast-moving, agile environment where clarity, initiative, and adaptability are essential. Success depends on clear documentation, proactive communication, and alignment with company values.
Culture & Values
The company emphasizes inclusion, continuous learning, and high performance. Every team member is expected to contribute to knowledge sharing and integrate AI tools into their workflow to enhance productivity. Leadership opportunities are accessible to those who demonstrate impact, collaboration, and alignment with core principles.
