Senior Engineering Manager

Upbound

. Define and drive the long-term vision for hosted control planes and ecosystem extensibility .

Posted 11/3/2026full-timeRemote • California • United StatesSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive engineering leadership with a focus on building and scaling cloud-native infrastructure and platform engineering products. Proven ability to drive ecosystem strategy, operational rigor, and foster innovation within engineering teams.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Engineering LeadershipCloud-Native InfrastructureKubernetes ExpertiseEcosystem-Driven Product GrowthControl Plane Architecture

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

APIsSDKsDeclarative SystemsExtensibility FrameworksSaaS Control PlanesDistributed SystemsMulti-Tenant ArchitecturesCrossplaneProduction Services ReliabilityPerformance Standards

Soft Skills

Strategic ThinkingTechnical DepthInnovationOwnership CultureCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

KubernetesCrossplaneCloud ProvidersMarketplace PlatformsInternal Developer Platforms

Industry Keywords

Ecosystem ExtensibilityControl Plane ExperienceProduction ExcellenceUptime SLAsAI-Native Infrastructure

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudDistributed SystemsKubernetes

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Define and drive the long-term vision for hosted control planes and ecosystem extensibility
Ensure Marketplace, UXP, APIs, and Extensions operate as a cohesive control plane experience
Shape how platform engineering teams compose infrastructure through Crossplane-powered abstractions
Drive reliability, scalability, and production-grade control planes at scale
Own the strategy for Upbound Marketplace as the distribution layer for Crossplane providers, extensions, and control plane building blocks
Grow and strengthen the provider ecosystem, including ISVs, cloud providers, and platform partners
Enable extension frameworks for customers and partners to build on Upbound control planes
Ensure ecosystem experiences are intuitive, secure, and enterprise-ready
Lead managers and managers-of-managers across multiple teams
Scale engineering organization structure to support product velocity and ecosystem expansion
Establish operational rigor including roadmap planning, delivery predictability, uptime SLAs, and production excellence
Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and deep technical craftsmanship
Partner with Product, GTM, Alliances, and Customer Success to align ecosystem strategy with revenue goals
Translate enterprise customer needs into scalable control plane capabilities
Represent engineering in executive-level conversations around ecosystem expansion and AI-native infrastructure

Requirements

What you’ll need

10+ years of engineering leadership experience, including leading managers of managers
5+ years building or scaling cloud-native, infrastructure, or platform engineering products
Deep familiarity with Kubernetes and the Cloud Native ecosystem
Experience building SaaS control planes or distributed systems at scale
Strong understanding of APIs, SDKs, declarative systems, and extensibility frameworks
Proven experience growing ecosystem-driven products (marketplaces, providers, plugins, or integrations)
Track record of delivering reliable production services with strong uptime and performance standards
Ability to operate strategically while diving deep technically
Experience with Crossplane and/or Kubernetes is a plus
Background in platform engineering or internal developer platforms is a plus
Experience building multi-tenant control plane architectures is a plus
Startup experience in high-growth infrastructure companies is a plus
Passion for programmable infrastructure and AI-native systems is a plus

Benefits

Comp & perks

Opportunity to shape systems and strategies driving predictable, scalable growth
Work with cutting-edge cloud technologies
Direct impact on how revenue is generated and scaled
Product-led company embracing usage-based models