Senior Manager, Developer Relations

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

📋 Description

• Oversee Tailscale's Developer Relations function, strategy, and roadmap.

• Create and manage a high-performing DevRel organization; coach, hire, and nurture technical talent.

• Develop and expand programs across technical content, product integrations, YouTube, presentations, demos, workshops, events, community, and developer-facing channels.

• Act as a prominent technical voice through videos, presentations, demonstrations, integrations, workshops, and community involvement.

• Cultivate technical voices and contributors both inside and outside of Tailscale.

• Lead community-driven technical initiatives by identifying developer needs, supporting partnerships, and enabling emerging use cases.

• Maintain a collaborative DevRel roadmap and activity calendar, detailing owners, timelines, audiences, and expected outcomes.

• Ensure that DevRel efforts are technically sound, engaging, relevant, and consistent with product positioning.

• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Growth, Content, Sales, and Customer Success on launches, education, feedback, and product strategy.

• Identify opportunities within developer workflows and ecosystems, assisting in their validation and prioritization.

• Serve as a senior DevRel partner for significant launches and strategic initiatives.

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

• Leverage developer insights and performance data to prioritize initiatives and showcase the value of DevRel.

• Oversee DevRel budgets, vendors, tools, capacity planning, and resource allocation.

⛳️ Requirements

• 8+ years of relevant experience in Developer Relations, developer advocacy, engineering, or a related area.

• 4+ years of experience in managing, coaching, or leading technical contributors and scaling a DevRel or similar function.

• Strong technical background with the capability to communicate credibly with developers, engineers, and technical decision-makers.

• Experience in building and operating multi-channel DevRel programs and making portfolio-level trade-offs.

• Ability to translate company and product priorities into a clear DevRel strategy, roadmap, and execution plan.

• Proven track record of linking DevRel strategy to measurable product or business outcomes.

• Strong program management abilities, including planning, prioritization, delegation, and proactive risk communication.

• Product instincts and experience in creating developer-facing technical videos, demos, talks, workshops, tutorials, or written content.

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

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

• Ability to balance hands-on execution with team leadership and long-term program development.

• Good judgment regarding audience, channel, technical depth, and necessary polish.

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

• Comfortable working in an ambiguous, fast-paced environment and creating clarity through direct communication and documented plans.

• Low ego, high drive, with a collaborative “yes, and” mindset.

• Experience with Tailscale.

• Nice to have: experience with developer-focused infrastructure, networking, security, or open-source products.

• Nice to have: familiarity with Tailscale, WireGuard, networking concepts, identity-based access, or Zero Trust architecture.

• Nice to have: experience in product-led growth or self-service adoption.

• Nice to have: technical integrations, example applications, community tools, or open-source projects.

• Nice to have: experience in conference speaking, technical videos, or developer workshops.

• Nice to have: experience in developing public-facing technical voices within a team or company.

• Nice to have: experience in measuring developer journeys from content engagement through signup, activation, and paid conversion.

• Nice to have: experience managing agency partners, contractors, program budgets, or external contributors.

• Nice to have: experience in fast-paced startup or scale-up environments.

🏝️ Benefits

• An inclusive and flexible environment where you can be your authentic self.

• A competitive total compensation package that includes an equity incentive plan.

• Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period, including health, vision, and dental coverage for you and your family.

• A remote-first work environment.

• Opportunities for virtual and in-person social events.

• A corporate co-working program.

• Employer-funded retirement contributions that match employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum annual employer contribution equal to 0.75% of eligible compensation.

• An annual company retreat and team off-sites.

• $1500 USD annually for professional development.

• Opportunities for mentorship, coaching, and internal promotions.

• A flexible paid time off program.

• A company-owned laptop (Mac or PC).

• Monthly reimbursement for home internet expenses.

• A $500 USD workstation customization allowance.

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