Engineering Manager, Core Applications Platform

Company: Copia Automation

Location: New York City (HQ)

About Copia Automation:
Copia Automation builds the version control and change management platform for industrial automation. Our customers operate in critical sectors like oil & gas and manufacturing, where the code running on PLCs, SCADA systems, and HMIs has direct safety implications. We bring modern software engineering practices to operational technology teams.

The Role:
We are hiring an Engineering Manager to establish and lead a brand-new Core Applications Platform team. This team will design, build, and own the shared, full-stack application capabilities that all product teams at Copia depend on. Reporting to the VP of Engineering, you will lead a group of full-stack software engineers, partnering closely with Product, Design, and other Engineering leaders. You will mentor and grow your team while remaining technically involved through architectural input, code reviews, and occasional contributions.

This is an ideal role for a hands-on line manager excited by building a new team from scratch and shaping the engineering organization's product development practices. You should be comfortable collaborating through ambiguity while driving predictable velocity.

What You'll Do:

• Build and Lead the Team: Establish a new squad of approximately four senior full-stack engineers, managing hiring, onboarding, and growth through 1:1s and performance feedback. Foster a culture of high standards and psychological safety.
• Set the Charter and Direction: Define team ownership, engagement models, and translate high-level goals into a clear roadmap and delivery milestones in partnership with Engineering leadership, Product, and Design.
• Treat Internal Product Teams as Customers: Understand their pain points, prioritize ruthlessly, and ship reusable, well-documented capabilities, measuring adoption and impact.
• Drive Technical Direction: Oversee the architecture of shared full-stack platforms (frontend, backend, APIs, multi-tenant primitives) ensuring scalability. Provide architectural input, code reviews, and hands-on contributions.
• Own Operational Quality: Be responsible for on-call practices, incident response runbooks, and engineering standards (CI/CD, ADRs, testing) to empower product teams.

What You'll Need:

• 5+ years of professional full-stack software engineering experience.
• 1-2 years of formal or informal people-leadership experience (tech lead, team lead, or direct management).
• Strong technical foundation across the stack (frontend, backend, APIs, data) with the judgment to design reusable capabilities.
• Experience delivering products/capabilities with engineers as end-users (internal platforms, SDKs, design systems, shared services, developer tools).
• Demonstrated ability to coach engineers on technical growth, scope, and career development.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Sound judgment regarding prioritization, scope, and trade-offs.
• Empathy, humility, and high standards.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice to Haves:

• Experience starting a new team from scratch.
• Experience building shared application platforms, frameworks, design systems, or internal SDKs.
• Familiarity with our stack or adjacent technologies: TypeScript/Node.js, React, Go, Python, PostgreSQL, AWS, Datadot.
• Experience with multi-tenant architecture, identity/authn/authz patterns, feature flags.
• Experience establishing or improving engineering practices (incident response, on-call, ADRs, code review standards, career ladders).
• Background in B2B SaaS, developer tools, industrial automation, OT/IT, manufacturing software, or IoT.

Compensation:
$172,000 - $226,000 per year

Benefits:

• Competitive base salary.
• Meaningful equity in an early-stage, venture-backed company.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Unlimited PTO and company holidays.
• 401(k) plan.
• Commuter benefits and in-office lunches (NYC HQ).
• Hybrid work environment with relocation assistance available.
• A high-trust, high-ownership culture.