Engineering Manager

Company Overview

Ripik.ai is a fast-growing industrial AI Software as a Service (SaaS) start-up founded by IIT D / BITS alumni with extensive experience at McKinsey, IBM, Google, and others. It is backed by prominent venture capital funds such as Accel and Venture Highway, along with over 25 distinguished angels, including 14 unicorn founders. Ripik.ai specializes in building patented full-stack software for automating decision-making on factory floors, currently deployed at more than 15 of the largest enterprises in India across various sectors including steel, aluminum, cement, pharma, paints, and consumer goods. It stands out as one of India's few AI product start-ups partnered with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), and is recognized as a preferred AI partner for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and NASSCOM.

Job Summary

The Engineering Manager will lead a cross-functional team of backend and frontend engineers, owning the complete product engineering lifecycle for Ripik's industrial AI SaaS platform. This role focuses on real-time decision automation on factory floors, involving architectural design, hands-on development, and production operations at scale. The ideal candidate will possess strong technical skills in Java, proficient management experience, and an ability to drive agile practices in a fast-paced startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Backend Architecture & Hands-on Development:

  • Design and develop the backend platform utilizing Java 21+ and Spring Boot 4.x, including RESTful and gRPC APIs, microservices, and event-driven pipelines.
  • Architect systems for scale and reliability, integrating high-throughput streams from industrial IoT sensors using message brokers like Kafka or RabbitMQ.
  • Make essential technology decisions regarding security, repository abstractions, and ORM, ensuring a clean and well-documented codebase.
  • Implement observability solutions using structured logging, distributed tracing, and metrics to maintain high service reliability.

• Full-Stack Product Delivery:

  • Lead the development of features from conception through to production, ensuring cohesive integration with both backend services and frontend applications.
  • Ensure quality and efficiency of the CI/CD pipeline, automating testing processes and quality gates.
  • Collaborate with the AI/Data Science teams to integrate machine learning model outputs into the platform.

• Team Leadership & Scrum Management:

  • Mentor and develop a cross-functional team, running agile ceremonies and ensuring predictable delivery while remaining adaptable to changing priorities.
  • Enforce engineering best practices, oversee thorough code reviews, and actively participate in team hiring and onboarding.

Qualifications

• Educational Background:

  • B.Tech or M.Tech in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline.

• Professional Experience:

  • 8–10 years of software engineering experience with a strong backend focus, including at least 2 years in a leadership role (Tech Lead, Engineering Lead, or Engineering Manager).
  • Deep expertise in Java (17+) and the Spring ecosystem, with a solid understanding of microservices architecture and database technologies.

• Technical Skills:

  • Proficiency in designing and building RESTful APIs and event-driven systems.
  • Strong experience with cloud deployment (AWS/ Azure/ GCP) and CI/CD tools (Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions).
  • Understanding of system design fundamentals, including database optimization and high-availability patterns.

• Soft Skills:

  • Excellent communication skills with an ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in industrial IoT and integration with factory-floor protocols (OPC-UA, MQTT, Modbus).
• Familiarity with scripting in Python for data pipelines and collaboration with data science teams.
• Knowledge of AI/ML serving infrastructure and performance engineering.

Experience

• A minimum of 8–10 years of total software engineering experience is required, with relevant experience in technical leadership roles.

Environment

• The typical work environment is fast-paced and dynamic, reflecting the nature of a start-up. The location specifics are not mentioned.

Salary

• Salary details are unspecified.

Growth Opportunities

• Significant opportunities for career advancement and personal growth within a high-growth, venture-backed AI start-up, along with international exposure and mentoring from experienced leaders.

Benefits

• Company benefits are not specified.