Engineering Manager - Mobile

Engineering Manager - MobileLocation: Porto (Portugal), Remote

Annual Salary: Up to €100,000

About Twinkl

We're here to help those who teach. It's what brings us to work every day. At Twinkl, we’ve been providing educators across the world with high quality, trusted teaching and learning resources for over a decade now. They’re all written and checked by our wonderful team of experienced educators, and there are hundreds of thousands of resources to download, with new ones added daily.

About the Mobile Apps Team & Digital Products Area

The digital products area is dedicated to creating innovative and engaging digital experiences for children and educators. We are committed to enriching the lives of users through interactive and educational applications that inspire creativity, learning, and fun. It’s within this area that the Mobile Apps Team sits. Its main responsibility is to develop and scale our primary React Native application, while providing ongoing maintenance and support for our existing native apps.

We are seeking an experienced Mobile Engineering Manager with a strong technical background to lead the development of our core React Native application and manage a portfolio of existing mobile apps. You will work closely with engineers to ensure our mobile apps are scalable, maintainable, and leverage React Native to drive cross-platform efficiency while ensuring our legacy native apps remain stable and performant. In this role, you will coach and mentor engineers, fostering their professional growth and building a high-performing team. Additionally, you will champion best practices in development, performance optimisation, and testing, driving high standards across the team.

Ongoing projects/how you’ll spend your day:

• Lead a High-Performing Mobile Engineering Team and Foster Cross-Platform Harmony: Guide a team of skilled Mobile Engineers, providing technical leadership, mentorship, and career development.
• Scale and Upskill a team of Mobile Engineers: Drive the professional growth of mobile engineers by providing training and leadership, promoting a culture of excellence, and implementing upskilling programs to ensure the team stays ahead of industry trends.
• Manage Projects and Deliver High-Quality Mobile Products: Oversee project timelines, resource allocation, and deliverables to ensure alignment with business goals. Identify and mitigate risks early to maintain project momentum.
• Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams to Shape the Mobile Roadmap: Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Design teams to establish the mobile product roadmap. Guide architectural decisions and define a robust technical strategy.
• Tech Culture: As we grow our tech team at Twinkl, you will play an important role in scaling our technology, delivery processes, and overall tech culture. Help drive initiatives that strengthen how we work, foster a collaborative and innovative environment, and lead the implementation of technological solutions that can scale efficiently to meet the needs of our growing user base.
• Optimise and Elevate Mobile Development Standards: Ensure that our mobile applications are scalable, high-performing, and secure by implementing robust development processes. Drive continuous improvement by advocating for automation, rigorous testing, and code quality standards. Embrace new technologies and best practices to enhance efficiency, while maintaining a strong focus on delivering secure and reliable applications.

To succeed in the role, you will:

• Be a Mobile Technology Leader: Serve as a key leader and reference point for mobile development at Twinkl. Bring extensive experience in the React Native ecosystem and Mobile Engineering in general, guiding the team towards best practices in architecture, scalability, and performance. Act as a mentor and technical authority, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous learning. Drive the adoption of React Native and modern mobile tools, ensuring high-quality delivery on the new platform while keeping existing native apps secure.
• Be a problem solver: Possess strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and remove obstacles that hinder team progress. Manage delivery timelines effectively by anticipating challenges, proactively developing solutions, and ensuring smooth execution of projects. Approach challenges with a positive, strategic mindset, seeking innovative ways to optimise app performance, streamline processes, and enhance the user experience at scale.
• Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration: Lead collaboration across teams, working effectively with product managers, designers, engineers, and other stakeholders. Communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing, to share the vision, provide constructive feedback, and document processes for clarity and alignment.
• Show Leadership and Mentorship: Act as a mentor and role model for mobile engineers, guiding their technical growth and fostering a culture of ownership and accountability. Take the lead on key projects, setting high standards for quality, performance, and best practices in mobile engineering.
• Drive Adaptability and Resilience: Thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, adeptly managing shifting priorities and requirements. Instil adaptability and resilience within the team, promoting flexibility and a growth-oriented mindset.

You’ll work with:

• The technology team: product, engineering, design, UXR and Data.

We're interested in people that have:

• A degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent practical experience with a proven track record will be considered in place of a formal degree.
• Strong tech expertise in mobile development with 5+ years of hands-on experience.
• Technical expertise in React Native with a proven track record of shipping cross-platform apps.
• Proven track record of actively supporting team career development by managing engineers’ performance through mentorship and coaching.
• Experience leveraging Continuous Integration and Automated Testing to maximise value for our customers.
• Experience with Agile software development methodologies and managing the challenges of short release cycles in native app development.
• Knowledge of backend APIs and their specificities, including authentication and best practices for securely and efficiently using them in mobile applications.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.