Manager, Developer Relations

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States, +1 more country.

📋 Description

• Oversee the Developer Relations Engineering team and its strategic direction at Tailscale.

• Lead a high-performing team of Developer Relations Engineers by setting expectations, fostering technical ownership, and providing coaching and feedback.

• Create integrations, sample applications, open-source initiatives, demonstrations, workshops, reference architectures, tutorials, and developer tools.

• Actively participate in significant technical projects, including developing prototypes, conducting code reviews, debugging integrations, and delivering working demos.

• Represent the technical perspective through videos, presentations, demos, workshops, and community involvement.

• Guarantee that the work of Developer Relations Engineering is technically sound, engaging, pertinent, and consistent with product positioning.

• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Growth, Content, Sales, and Customer Success teams on launches, educational initiatives, developer feedback, and product strategies.

• Recognize developer workflows and ecosystem opportunities, assisting in their validation and prioritization.

• Serve as the senior DevRel liaison for major launches and strategic initiatives.

• Define, monitor, and report on metrics related to audience growth, engagement, product activation, integration adoption, and contributions to the self-serve funnel.

• Leverage developer insights and performance data to prioritize initiatives and illustrate the value of investments.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of 6 years of pertinent experience in Developer Relations, developer advocacy, engineering, or a similar domain.

• At least 2 years of experience in managing, coaching, or leading technical contributors and scaling a DevRel or comparable function.

• A robust foundation in software engineering, including production-level coding, code reviews, APIs, developer tools, and technical debugging.

• Proven experience in developing developer-facing technical projects such as integrations, SDK examples, reference applications, open-source tools, demos, workshops, or developer infrastructure from concept to launch and iteration.

• Ability to convert product and company priorities into a clear technical roadmap.

• Strong program management capabilities, encompassing planning, prioritization, delegation, and proactive risk communications.

• Excellent instincts for developer-product interactions.

• Proficient written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly and engagingly explain complex technical concepts.

• Experience in cross-functional collaboration with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Growth, Sales, or Customer Success teams.

• Capability to balance hands-on execution with team leadership and the development of long-term programs.

• Familiarity with public codebases and developer ecosystems, including GitHub workflows, pull requests, issue discussions, technical feedback, and external developer collaboration.

• Experience in defining and reporting on DevRel engineering metrics, program performance, or contributions to product and business outcomes.

• Comfort in navigating ambiguous, fast-paced environments.

• Must have experience using Tailscale.

• Preferred: Experience with developer-focused infrastructure, networking, security, or open-source products.

• Preferred: Knowledge of Tailscale, WireGuard, networking concepts, identity-based access, or Zero Trust architecture.

• Preferred: Experience supporting product-led growth or self-serve adoption.

• Preferred: Background in conference speaking, technical videos, or leading developer workshops.

• Preferred: Experience managing agencies, contractors, program budgets, or external contributors.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equity incentive plan.

• Comprehensive health, vision, and dental benefits with no waiting period.

• Flexible remote-first work environment.

• Virtual and in-person social events.

• Corporate co-working program.

• Employer-matched retirement contributions, matching employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to 0.75% of eligible compensation annually.

• Annual company retreat and team off-sites.

• $1,500 USD annually allocated for professional development.

• Opportunities for mentorship, coaching, and internal promotions.

• Flexible paid time off program.

• Choice of company-owned laptop between Mac or PC.

• Monthly reimbursement for home internet expenses.

• $500 USD allowance for home office/workstation customization.

• Paid parental leave top-ups: 20 weeks for birthing parents and 16 weeks for non-birthing parents.

• Variable commission available for quota-based roles (not specified as applicable to this role).