About this role.
NetBox Labs seeks a hands-on Engineering Manager to lead a software engineering squad building network-management and observability products, including open-source offerings. The manager will own delivery across planning, design, implementation, testing, and release while remaining technically engaged through code reviews, design discussions, and occasional coding. Core responsibilities include Agile execution, removing blockers, partnering with product, coaching engineers, and maintaining secure, high-quality development practices. The role emphasizes direct communication, accountability, and collaboration with open-source contributors in a remote, async-first environment.
Role DNA
A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.
Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
4/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
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Core skills
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Sample interview questions
I set clear operating rhythms for one-on-ones, planning, and stakeholder updates, then reserve focused technical time for architecture reviews, high-risk pull requests, and unblockers. I avoid becoming the default implementer; instead, I use technical involvement to improve decisions, mentor engineers, and remove constraints while keeping ownership with the team.
I would make the risk visible early, validate the remaining work and dependencies, and identify the smallest valuable release scope. With product and the team, I would prioritize must-have outcomes, remove blockers, assign clear owners, and communicate trade-offs and revised confidence levels rather than waiting for the deadline to pass.
I build quality into the delivery process through clear acceptance criteria, automated testing, peer review, CI/CD guardrails, secure coding practices, and pragmatic observability. I track recurring defects and operational signals, then invest in systemic improvements rather than relying on late-stage manual checks.
I would give direct, specific feedback tied to observed behavior and its impact on team outcomes, then align on measurable improvement goals. I would listen for underlying causes, provide support such as pairing or communication coaching, and follow up consistently while holding the engineer accountable for progress.
I would maintain transparent contribution guidelines, respectful communication channels, and clear ownership boundaries between community and commercial priorities. I would incorporate valuable community feedback into planning, recognize contributors, and ensure roadmap commitments, security needs, and release processes remain clear and sustainable.
At NetBox Labs, our mission is to make it easier to build and manage complex networks. As a product company, we do that by developing innovative software for network professionals delivered on-premises and in the cloud.
We believe in the power of community and collaboration, and we are looking for a hands-on, player-coach Engineering Manager to lead one of our talented teams. These teams build our core software applications including NetBox and NetBox Add-ons, SDKs, and Plugins, and our observability suite including Diode, Diode Agents and SDKs, and Orb. Much of this development is open source and done in collaboration with our community, but also spans source-available and proprietary software. This role reports to the Director of Engineering.
In this role you will:
Lead a squad of engineers day-to-day while staying hands-on: reviewing code, jumping into design discussions, and occasionally shipping code yourself to unblock the team or model best practices.
Drive execution relentlessly — break down ambiguous problems into clear plans, set sprint goals, remove blockers fast, and hold the team accountable to deadlines.
Own the software development lifecycle for your team’s projects, from planning and design through implementation, testing, and release.
Run effective sprint planning, stand-ups, and retros using GitHub and internal tools, helping engineers break work into well-scoped, executable pieces.
Champion modern, secure software development practices and keep quality bars high without slowing the team down.
Partner closely with product managers to translate customer and community problems into shippable plans, pushing back with data when scope or timelines don’t add up.
Coach and mentor engineers individually — give direct, timely feedback, help them grow technically, and build a strong bench for future hiring.
Foster a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing within the team.
Act as a liaison between your team and the broader tech community, supporting open-source contributors and guiding community-facing initiatives where relevant.
Report progress transparently to engineering leadership, flagging risks early rather than after they’ve become problems.
Stay close enough to the code and the architecture to make credible calls on technical trade-offs, while trusting your engineers to own the details of implementation.
You will work closely with:
Director of Engineering to coordinate cross-functional initiatives and ensure your team’s work runs smoothly in our commercial products.
Product team to understand customer and community problems and turn them into a stellar user experience.
Peer engineering managers to plan cross-functional projects, clarify ownership, surface dependencies, and clear blockers together.
Qualifications:
2+ years of experience as an Engineering Manager or Team Lead, ideally in a player-coach capacity where you’re still writing code or reviewing PRs regularly.
A track record of driving projects to completion on tight timelines, with a strong bias toward action and unblocking your team over process for its own sake.
Strong technical background sufficient to review designs and code, and earn credibility with senior engineers.
Experience with Agile methodologies, DevOps, and CI/CD in a fast-moving environment.
Proficiency with GitHub for code management, project tracking, and collaboration.
Solid understanding of software security principles and practices.
Experience with open-source software development and community engagement is a plus.
Excellent, direct communication skills — comfortable giving and receiving fast feedback in a remote, async-first environment.
Proven ability to coach engineers and help them grow, while still being the person who rolls up their sleeves when the team needs it.
It would be fantastic if you have the following background:
Networking industry experience.
Familiarity with Python, Django, Go, gRPC, or OpenTelemetry.
Knowledge of cloud platforms and services (e.g., AWS, Azure).
Familiarity with containerization and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
Understanding of data privacy regulations and compliance requirements.
About NetBox Labs:
NetBox Labs helps companies build and manage complex networks. We help customers accelerate network automation by delivering open, composable products and supporting the network automation community.
NetBox Labs is the commercial steward of open source NetBox, the world’s most popular network source of truth, and Orb, the next-generation open source network observability platform. Our products include NetBox Enterprise, a fully supported self-managed NetBox with advanced features, and NetBox Cloud, a secure, scalable, and reliable SaaS edition of NetBox.
NetBox powers thousands of companies, and NetBox Labs is backed by investment from Notable Capital (formerly GGV), Grafana Labs CEO Raj Dutt, Flybridge, IBM, Salesforce Ventures, and Mango Capital.
Our culture and values:
We own and solve problems with high attention to detail.
Our open source contributors, users, customers & team are all part of our community. When our community wins, we win.
We prioritize simplicity and think twice before adding complexity
Clear communication helps keep our team aligned and collaborating smoothly.
NetBox Labs is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We believe diverse teams build better software, and we welcome applicants of every race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, and veteran status. If you need accommodation at any point in the process, just let us know.
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