Job Description:

Here at Rakuten Kobo Inc. we offer a casual working start-up environment and a group of friendly and talented individuals. Our employees rank us highly in terms of commitment to work/life balance. We realize that for our people to be innovative, creative and passionate they need to feel valued and supported. We believe in rewarding all our employees with competitive salaries, performance based annual bonuses, stock options and training opportunities.

If you’re looking for a company that inspires passion, personal, and professional growth – join Kobo and come help us on our mission of making reading lives better.

The Role:

Rakuten Kobo is looking for a passionate Software Engineering Manager to lead a talented development team in creating exceptional outcomes for our organization and our customers. You’ll have the exciting opportunity to shape the browsing experience for our readers around the world. This team owns the product details page in particular, a crucial touchpoint for our customers in exploring our digital content. Your leadership and technical expertise will be integral in driving the delivery of delightful, performant, and accessible user experiences.

As an Engineering Manager, you will be a strategic leader, guiding the technical direction for the browsing experience and fostering a high-performing team. You will be instrumental in growing your direct reports, cultivating a culture of ownership and accountability, and empowering your team to deliver impactful initiatives. Your leadership will be crucial in partnering with cross-functional colleagues to translate business objectives into technical solutions, balancing short-term delivery with long-term technical excellence. You will be attentive to enhancing your team’s processes with a focus on quality and efficiency, while also spearheading improvements to the reliability and the observability of your team's systems.

Reporting to the Senior Software Engineering Manager, you will play a pivotal role in championing the success of your team. This is a remote position based in Toronto, Canada.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of software and quality assurance engineers focused on establishing and enhancing the browsing experience for our readers around the world.
• Actively participate in the technical delivery of initiatives from planning through to post-release monitoring, providing technical leadership at every stage.
• Mentor and coach team members, seeking opportunities for their professional growth and development as well as providing timely and actionable feedback.
• Establish trust and cultivate a collaborative atmosphere where individuals are encouraged to be their authentic selves and reach their full potential.
• Continuously enhance and evolve team processes to achieve optimal outcomes. Leverage data driven insights to identify and mitigate any bottlenecks.
• Work closely with cross-functional colleagues in Product, Design, Marketing, and Architecture to guide initiatives from conception to production.
• Balance business needs with technical excellence, especially in terms of product objectives, technical debt, code maintainability, and team health.
• Coordinate effectively across teams and with fellow engineering managers to ensure seamless collaboration and successful delivery of larger initiatives.

Desired Experience

To be successful in this role, comparable experience or aptitude with the following is preferred:

• 2+ years of experience in a leadership role within a software engineering team.
• 6+ years of experience as a software engineer, actively contributing to codebases.
• Experience in managing individuals, connecting regularly via 1:1 meetings, identifying growth opportunities, providing feedback, and conducting performance reviews.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively and build strong relationships across all organizational levels.
• Passionate about fostering a culture of learning and technical excellence through knowledge sharing, mentorship, pair programming, and meticulous code reviews.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, with a focus on iterating quickly and improving continuously. Familiar with Agile methodologies, such as Kanban and Scrum.
• Excellent understanding of web and accessibility standards, including interactivity, responsiveness, performance, security, and cross-browser compatibility.
• Knowledge of software implementation best practices, including object-oriented programming, architectural patterns, and system design principles.
• Familiar with testing strategies and techniques (unit, integration, end-to-end tests).

Bonus points for the following:

• Familiarity with front-end development frameworks, ideally React and Next JS. Knowledge of CSS, including libraries such as Tailwind and Styled Components.
• Familiarity with the .NET technology stack. Knowledge of relational and non-relational databases, including Entity Framework, RavenDB and MSSQL.
• Experience with test automation using Selenium or Playwright.
• Expertise with design systems, preferably React Aria, and Storybook.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, leveraging GitHub Workflows and Argo CD.
• Familiar with communication protocols, including HTTP, RPC, and WebSockets.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration, using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Familiar with message brokers and streaming platforms, such as RabbitMQ and Kafka.

The Perks:

• Flexible hours and hybrid remote working environment
• Subsidized in-office lunches
• Four extended long weekends in the summer
• Full benefits starting from your first day
• Paid Volunteer days, unlimited sick days, and 3% RRSP matching
• Work From Anywhere Program for up to 3 months (90 days)
• Monthly commuting allowance for those who are hybrid
• Lifestyle spending account
• Talent and development training budget
• Free Kobo device + free weekly e-book or audiobook
• Weekly Kobo Tech University sessions
• Maternity/paternity leave top up
• Dog friendly office

About Rakuten Kobo Inc.
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is the world’s digital bookseller created by and for booklovers. Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group, Inc. and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo’s millions of worldwide users can read anytime, anywhere, and on any device. With a mission to make reading lives better for all, Rakuten Kobo connects readers to stories using thoughtful and personalized curation of eBooks and audiobooks, and the best dedicated eReaders and apps for reading. With the singular focus of making reading lives the best they can be, Kobo’s open platform allows people to fit reading into more moments in their busy lives. To learn more about Rakuten Kobo, visit www.kobo.com.

Rakuten Kobo Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially.  

Rakuten Kobo would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.  

#RKIND

Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially. 

Rakuten would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.

Beware of fraudulent job offers claiming to be from Rakuten. Rakuten does not send unsolicited job offers or request money during the recruitment process. Learn more: https://rakutenemploymentalert.com/

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the Compensation (base salary + discretionary bonus) for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for stock options, health, vision, dental insurance, RRSP matching, Personal Time Off (PTO), Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.

CAD $144,812.00 - 194,812.00 annually