Software Engineering Manager at Gathern · Riyadh

About us:

At Gathern, we’re not just a platform, we’re the homegrown Saudi success story that built and leads the alternative hospitality sector across the Kingdom. As the largest peer-to-peer vacation rental marketplace in Saudi Arabia, Gathern enables travelers to explore the country through authentic stays hosted by local residents while directly supporting Saudi Vision 2030 by boosting tourism, empowering communities, and expanding accommodation supply. Backed by our SAR 270 million Series B funding round led by Sanabil Investments (PIF-owned) and valuing Gathern at over SAR 1 billion! We’re entering an exciting new chapter of growth, innovation, and regional expansion as we prepare for a future Tadawul listing.

With 5M+ users , guests from 150+ nationalities , a network of 72,000+ hospitality units , and more than SAR 2 billion paid to 33,000+ Saudi hosts, Gathern stands as one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the Kingdom, holding a 44% national market share and 53% in Riyadh!

This is your opportunity to join a company that’s redefining travel and **shaping the future of tourism in Saudi Arabia!**We are looking for an Engineering Manager who combines strong technical expertise with excellent leadership and operational discipline. You will lead engineering teams, ensure successful delivery of complex projects, optimize processes, elevate performance, and drive technical excellence across the organization. You will play a critical role in shaping engineering culture, scaling systems, improving execution, and aligning technical initiatives with business strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Technical Leadership & Delivery

• Deliver high-quality software on schedule while maintaining strong engineering standards.
• Drive system design, architecture, and technical decision-making.
• Ensure technical excellence, innovation, scalability, and reliability across all systems.
• Implement and refine development processes, workflows, and engineering tools.
• Identify risks early, build mitigation plans, and ensure delivery continuity.
• Allocate engineering resources effectively and manage budgets.
• Improve operational efficiency through best practices and optimized workflows.

2. People Management & Team Development

• Build, mentor, and develop high-performing engineering teams.
• Conduct performance reviews, set measurable goals, and define success metrics.
• Establish a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Support career growth, learning, coaching, and capability development.
• Facilitate strong cross-functional collaboration with Product, QA, Cloud, and Business teams.

3. Operations, Governance & Compliance

• Oversee governance frameworks that ensure transparency, accountability, and alignment.

• Promote compliance with regulatory, security, and organizational requirements.

• Document and maintain best practices, processes, and operational playbooks.

• Implement reporting mechanisms to track engineering performance and progress.

• Provide timely updates on team delivery, challenges, risks, and business-impact issues.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.

• 8+ years of professional experience in software engineering, including leadership roles.

• Strong technical background with hands-on understanding of software development, architecture, and modern engineering practices.

• Proven people management experience: hiring, mentoring, building teams, and performance management.

• Excellent communication and collaboration with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Solid experience with Agile/Scrum, project management, and engineering process improvement.

• Strategic thinking, strong problem-solving skills, and ability to align engineering with business goals.

• Comprehensive medical insurance provided to support your wellbeing.

• Fast career growth in a company scaling rapidly across Saudi and the region.

Important Note to Applicants:

To ensure a smooth and efficient recruitment process for everyone, we kindly ask all candidates to complete the application questions thoroughly. We review your answers carefully, as they help us understand your experience and expectations clearly from the very beginning and avoid unnecessary back-and-forth later.

Applications submitted without properly completed questions may unfortunately be deprioritized. Thank you for taking the time to fill them in thoughtfully.