Senior Engineering Manager (Design Systems & UI Development)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Engineering Manager (Design Systems & UI Development)

Company: Smartly

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Engineering Management / Frontend Development

Date Posted: January 20, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (Implied 5-10 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (3 days/week in office)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead an autonomous Fullstack development team, focusing on Design Systems and UI Development to enhance customer experience and platform consistency.

• Drive technical excellence and product delivery by facilitating team growth, removing blockers, and fostering a collaborative engineering culture.

• Utilize and champion modern frontend technologies like React and TypeScript, alongside Node.js for backend services, within an agile development framework.

• Manage the full software development lifecycle for high-availability web applications, ensuring delivery of features with brilliant quality and timely execution.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Senior Engineering Manager, implying a need for experienced leadership beyond initial team management. The focus on Design Systems and UI Development, coupled with a hybrid work model and specific office presence, suggests a hands-on leadership style that balances strategic direction with tactical execution and team enablement within a well-established tech environment.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead and empower an autonomous Fullstack development team, acting as a role model for technical and professional excellence.

• Facilitate team-level processes, foster a supportive environment, and guide team members in achieving their development goals.

• Collaborate closely with the Lead Engineer and team members to ensure the timely and high-quality delivery of products and features.

• Identify and address technical challenges, contributing to the continuous improvement of Smartly's Engineering culture and practices.

• Conduct code reviews, engage in pair programming, and provide hands-on technical coaching to support team members' growth.

• Champion the adoption and enhancement of the Design System across the product to ensure consistency and improve user experience.

• Oversee the customer onboarding experience, aiming to create intuitive and engaging journeys from initial interaction to long-term customer satisfaction.

• Manage the development and maintenance of centralized UI components and services, supporting multiple connected development teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a dual focus: people leadership (coaching, development, removing blockers) and technical leadership (driving quality, process improvement, hands-on contribution). The emphasis on Design Systems, customer onboarding, and UI development points towards a strategic role impacting user experience and developer efficiency across the organization.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Not specified, but a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field is typically expected for Engineering Manager roles.

Experience:

• Proven experience throughout the full software development lifecycle in an environment with multiple collaborating teams.

• Demonstrated success in building and maintaining large-scale, high-availability web applications with a significant and growing user base.

• Extensive experience with various agile development methodologies and a pragmatic approach to trade-offs, with a sharp focus on delivery.

• A strong track record of delivering constructive feedback that drives meaningful change and professional growth in team members.

Required Skills:

• Engineering Management: Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop engineering teams.

• Frontend Development: Strong proficiency in modern frontend frameworks and languages, particularly React and TypeScript.

• UI Development & Design Systems: Experience in building and maintaining design systems and ensuring UI consistency.

• Agile Methodologies: Deep understanding and practical application of agile development practices.

• Coaching & Mentoring: Ability to guide individual and team growth through 1:1s, development plans, and constructive feedback.

• Fullstack Development: Familiarity with fullstack development principles and practices, including Node.js.

• Problem Solving: Aptitude for tackling complex technical challenges and devising effective solutions.

• Collaboration: Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including product specialists and other engineers.

Preferred Skills:

• TypeScript: Advanced proficiency for robust and scalable frontend development.

• Node.js: Experience with backend development using Node.js for fullstack capabilities.

• Testing Frameworks: Proficiency with Jest and React Testing Library for comprehensive quality assurance.

• Customer Experience Focus: A strong user-centric mindset with empathy for user motivations and frustrations.

• Code Reviews & Pair Programming: Active participation in code quality assurance and knowledge sharing practices.

• Product Strategy: Ability to contribute to product strategy and roadmap development from a technical perspective.

📝 Enhancement Note: The required skills blend people management with strong technical acumen. The emphasis on hands-on capability, even in a management role, is crucial. The implied experience level suggests a need for candidates who have navigated complex software environments and can contribute to evolving engineering culture and practices.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrated experience in managing the full software development lifecycle, from requirements gathering to deployment and maintenance, within a multi-team context.

• Examples of successfully built and maintained high-availability web applications, showcasing an understanding of scalability, performance, and reliability.

• Case studies or examples illustrating the application of agile development practices and the ability to make pragmatic trade-offs for effective delivery.

Process Documentation:

• Examples of how you have facilitated team-level processes, such as sprint planning, retrospectives, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Documentation or descriptions of how you have contributed to the development and adoption of design systems, ensuring UI consistency and developer efficiency.

• Illustrations of your approach to measuring and improving customer onboarding experiences, potentially through data analysis or user feedback loops.

• Showcase of your experience in managing centralized UI development efforts, including how you've served multiple teams and ensured component reusability and maintainability.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should be prepared to showcase tangible examples of their leadership impact, focusing on both team enablement and technical delivery. Portfolio elements should reflect a strategic approach to design systems, customer onboarding, and cross-team collaboration, demonstrating an understanding of how to build and scale complex web applications.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• Estimated Range: €7,000 - €10,000 per month (gross)

• Explanation: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Engineering Managers in Helsinki, Finland, with 5-10 years of experience in technology companies. This range accounts for the specific responsibilities, hybrid work model, and the company's global presence. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

• Research Methodology: Data compiled from various sources including Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and local Finnish salary surveys for similar roles and locations, adjusted for the implied experience level.

Benefits:

• Equity Options: Potential to receive stock options, aligning individual success with company growth.

• Performance-Based Rewards: Opportunities for bonuses or incentives tied to individual and company performance.

• Competitive Compensation: A strong base salary that reflects expertise and contribution.

• Generous Healthcare Packages: Comprehensive medical coverage for employees and potentially dependents.

• Mental Health Services: Access to support and resources for employee well-being.

• Paid Holidays & Family Leave: Generous time off policies to ensure work-life balance and support personal needs.

• Learning & Development Opportunities: Support for professional growth, training, conferences, and certifications.

• Hybrid Workplace Flexibility: A structured hybrid model allowing for a balance between office collaboration and remote work flexibility.

• International Work Option: Ability to work abroad for up to 30 days per year, offering global flexibility.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours are assumed to be approximately 40 hours per week.

• The hybrid model requires 3 days per week in the Helsinki office, offering flexibility for the remaining 2 days.

• Flexibility is implied within the role to manage team needs and personal work-life balance, typical for management positions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is an estimate. Candidates are encouraged to research local market rates and be prepared to discuss compensation expectations during the interview process. The benefits package is extensive, highlighting Smartly's commitment to employee well-being, growth, and work-life balance.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: AI-powered Advertising Technology. Smartly provides a comprehensive platform integrating media, creative, and intelligence for brands and advertisers.

Company Size: 750+ employees. This indicates a well-established company with a significant global footprint and mature operational processes.

Founded: Smartly was founded with a vision to transform ad experiences using AI. The company has grown significantly, managing substantial ad spend and impressions globally.

Team Structure:

• Team Duplo is the primary Frontend team, working on Design Systems, customer onboarding, and customer dashboards.

• The team operates autonomously, working closely with a Lead Engineer and other engineers.

• There's also an internal sub-team dedicated to centralized UI development, serving multiple connected teams, indicating a hub-and-spoke model for UI expertise.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Approach: Smartly utilizes AI and data to optimize ad experiences and deliver business outcomes. This suggests a strong emphasis on analytics and performance measurement in all operations.

• Agile Development: The company embraces agile practices, focusing on iterative delivery, continuous improvement, and adaptability.

• User-Centric Design: A core value is understanding user motivations and frustrations to create exceptional product experiences, evident in the focus on customer onboarding and UI consistency.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Engineers work closely with product specialists, designers, and other teams to ensure holistic product development.

Company Website: http://smartly.io/

📝 Enhancement Note: Smartly operates in a dynamic, data-intensive industry. The company culture emphasizes autonomy, collaboration, continuous learning, and a strong user focus. The team structure suggests a need for leadership that can navigate complex dependencies and foster specialized expertise (like Design Systems) while ensuring broad platform consistency.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is at a Senior Engineering Manager level, indicating a significant level of responsibility. It requires not only managing a team but also contributing to broader engineering culture, strategy, and process improvements beyond the immediate team's scope. The role is expected to lead by example and mentor others toward technical and professional growth.

Reporting Structure: The Engineering Manager works in close collaboration with the Lead Engineer of Team Duplo. They will likely report to a Director of Engineering or VP of Engineering, with direct reports being the engineers within Team Duplo. The role also involves collaboration with product specialists and potentially other engineering managers and stakeholders across the organization.

Operations Impact: The Senior Engineering Manager directly influences the quality and efficiency of the frontend platform, impacting customer experience, user adoption, and developer productivity. By leading the Design Systems and UI Development efforts, this role has a significant impact on brand consistency, user satisfaction, and the speed at which new features can be developed and launched across the platform. Effective leadership here drives tangible business outcomes through improved product usability and faster iteration cycles.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Expansion: Potential to manage larger teams, multiple teams, or take on more strategic engineering leadership roles within Smartly as the company grows.

• Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in areas like Design Systems, AI-driven UI, or large-scale frontend architecture.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Involvement in broader product strategy, engineering best practices, and potentially leading initiatives across different departments.

• Mentorship Programs: Opportunities to mentor junior managers or engineers, contributing to the overall talent development within the organization.

• Industry Influence: Contributing to Smartly's engineering blog, speaking at conferences, or participating in industry forums.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a clear path for career advancement within a growing tech company. The focus on both people management and technical contribution provides a well-rounded development trajectory, with opportunities for both increased scope and specialized expertise.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Smartly operates a hybrid workplace model. The Helsinki office is a central hub for collaboration, innovation, and team building. The environment is likely modern, designed to foster collaboration among teams with various amenities.

Office Location(s): The primary work location for this role is the Smartly office in Helsinki, Finland. Employees are expected to be present at this office three days per week.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model and emphasis on teamwork suggest an environment where cross-functional collaboration is encouraged, with ample opportunities for interaction with designers, product managers, and fellow engineers.

• Technology & Tools: Access to modern development tools, infrastructure, and resources necessary for building and deploying high-quality software. This includes robust CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and development environments.

• Team Interaction: Regular opportunities for team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and informal discussions, facilitated by both in-person presence and digital collaboration tools. The presence of an internal UI development sub-team indicates a structured approach to knowledge sharing and support.

Work Schedule: The role operates within a standard full-time framework (approx. 40 hours/week), with a hybrid model requiring 3 days in the Helsinki office. This structure aims to balance focused work with collaborative interaction, promoting flexibility while ensuring team cohesion and operational efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is a key aspect of the work environment, requiring candidates to be comfortable balancing in-office collaboration with remote productivity. The emphasis on a structured yet flexible approach reflects modern workplace trends in the tech industry.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A conversation with a recruiter to assess basic qualifications, experience alignment, and cultural fit.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussions with the hiring manager (likely a Director of Engineering) to delve deeper into leadership philosophy, team management experience, technical background, and role expectations.

• Technical Deep Dive / Panel Interview: This may involve technical discussions with senior engineers or a panel, focusing on frontend architecture, design systems, problem-solving, and potentially a hands-on coding exercise or system design challenge.

• Team/Peer Interviews: Meetings with team members (Lead Engineer, other engineers) to evaluate collaboration style, communication, and how the candidate would integrate into the team's dynamics.

• Executive/Senior Leadership Interview: A final conversation with a senior leader (e.g., VP of Engineering) to assess strategic thinking, cultural alignment with Smartly's values, and overall fit for the organization.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Leadership Impact: Highlight instances where your management style led to tangible improvements in team performance, efficiency, or morale. Use metrics where possible (e.g., increased velocity, reduced bug count, improved team satisfaction scores).

• Design System Expertise: Present examples of design systems you've helped build or maintain. Detail the process, the technologies used, and the benefits realized by developers and end-users.

• Customer-Centric Examples: Illustrate how you've translated user needs and feedback into product improvements, particularly concerning onboarding or UI/UX. Quantify the impact if possible (e.g., improved conversion rates, reduced support tickets).

• Agile Pragmatism: Be ready to discuss specific examples of how you've applied agile principles, managed trade-offs, and ensured successful delivery in complex projects.

• Technical Acumen: Be prepared to discuss your hands-on experience with React, TypeScript, Node.js, and testing frameworks. Demonstrate an understanding of best practices in code quality, architecture, and scalability.

Challenge Preparation:

• Leadership Scenarios: Prepare to discuss how you would handle common team management challenges, such as conflict resolution, performance management, motivating a team, or driving adoption of new processes.

• Technical Problem-Solving: Be ready to whiteboard or discuss solutions to complex frontend or fullstack problems, focusing on architecture, scalability, and maintainability.

• Design System Strategy: Prepare to articulate your approach to building, scaling, and governing a design system within a growing organization.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Smartly's products, market position, engineering blog, and culture. Understand their AI-powered advertising technology and how your role contributes to their business goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is likely multi-faceted, assessing both people leadership and technical depth. Candidates should prepare to provide concrete examples and demonstrate a strategic understanding of design systems, customer experience, and agile development within a fast-paced tech environment.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Frontend Framework: React (primary stack)

• Languages: TypeScript (primary stack for frontend and backend), Node.js (backend stack)

• Testing: Jest, React Testing Library

• Version Control: Git (standard for software development)

• Project Management: Likely Jira or similar Agile project management tools.

• CI/CD: Tools for continuous integration and continuous deployment (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Analytics Platforms: Tools for tracking user behavior and product performance (e.g., Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel).

• Dashboarding Tools: For visualizing key metrics and team performance (e.g., Looker, Tableau, Grafana).

• Performance Monitoring: Tools to monitor application health and performance (e.g., Sentry, Datadog).

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: While not explicitly mentioned for this team, Smartly likely uses a CRM (e.g., Salesforce) for customer management, which frontend teams might integrate with or interact with data from.

• Internal Tools: Smartly likely has proprietary internal tools for development, deployment, and operational monitoring.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in React and TypeScript is essential. Experience with Node.js for backend services is a strong plus, given the fullstack nature of the team. Familiarity with agile development tools, testing frameworks, and performance monitoring is expected for managing a modern software development team.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Lead by Example: Demonstrating strong technical skills, ethical conduct, and a commitment to team success.

• Empathy & User Focus: Deeply caring about the product experience, understanding user needs, and striving to help them succeed.

• Growth & Development: A commitment to fostering the personal and professional growth of team members, encouraging continuous learning and skill enhancement.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Working effectively across teams, sharing knowledge openly, and fostering a culture of trust and open feedback.

• Quality & Delivery: Maintaining a sharp focus on delivering high-quality products and features efficiently and effectively.

• Innovation & Improvement: Encouraging new ideas, tackling ambitious technical problems, and contributing to the evolution of engineering culture and practices.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership Model: Close collaboration between Engineering Managers and Lead Engineers for balanced people and technical leadership.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Working seamlessly with product specialists, designers, and other engineering teams to achieve shared goals.

• Feedback-Rich Environment: Regular 1:1s, code reviews, and retrospectives designed to provide and receive constructive feedback for continuous improvement.

• Knowledge Sharing: Active participation in sharing best practices, technical insights, and learnings across the team and broader engineering organization, potentially through internal documentation, tech talks, or pair programming.

📝 Enhancement Note: Smartly's culture appears to value a blend of individual accountability, team-oriented collaboration, and a strong focus on user outcomes and technical excellence. Candidates should demonstrate alignment with these values in their approach to leadership and teamwork.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Team Needs & Strategic Goals: Effectively managing the day-to-day needs of the team while aligning with broader company objectives and product roadmaps.

• Driving Design System Adoption: Ensuring consistent adoption and effective utilization of the design system across multiple teams and evolving product lines.

• Mentoring Diverse Skill Sets: Guiding the growth of team members with varied experience levels and technical backgrounds, from junior developers to experienced engineers.

• Maintaining High-Quality Standards: Upholding rigorous quality standards for code, UI, and user experience in a fast-paced development environment.

• Hybrid Work Management: Optimizing team collaboration, communication, and productivity within a hybrid work model, ensuring equitable experience for all team members.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Leadership Training: Opportunities to hone management and leadership skills through workshops, courses, or mentorship.

• Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in areas like complex frontend architecture, performance optimization, accessibility, or advanced UI/UX patterns.

• Cross-Team Collaboration Initiatives: Lead or participate in projects that span multiple engineering teams, gaining exposure to different parts of the product and engineering organization.

• Industry Conferences & Certifications: Support for attending relevant tech conferences, workshops, or pursuing certifications to stay abreast of industry trends.

• Mentorship from Senior Leadership: Potential for mentorship from experienced engineering leaders within Smartly, providing guidance on career progression and strategic thinking.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents opportunities to tackle complex challenges in design systems, user experience, and team leadership within a growing SaaS company. Candidates who thrive in dynamic environments and are committed to continuous learning will find ample growth prospects.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Leadership Philosophy: "Describe your approach to leading and developing engineering teams. How do you foster a culture of high performance, growth, and accountability?" (Prepare examples of coaching, feedback, and development planning).

• Design System Strategy: "How would you approach building or scaling a design system within a large organization? What are the key challenges and how would you address them?" (Focus on adoption, governance, and developer experience).

• Customer Experience Improvement: "Tell me about a time you significantly improved a customer-facing feature or process. What was your role, what metrics did you use, and what was the outcome?" (Highlight user-centricity and data-driven decision-making).

• Agile & Delivery: "How do you ensure your team delivers high-quality features on time? Describe your experience with agile methodologies and how you handle trade-offs." (Emphasize pragmatism and focus on delivery).

• Technical Depth: "Discuss a complex technical challenge you or your team faced recently. How did you approach the solution, and what did you learn?" (Be ready to dive into React, TypeScript, Node.js, or architectural considerations).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Smartly and this specific role?" (Research Smartly's AI platform, market position, and the team's focus).

• "How do you contribute to a positive and inclusive engineering culture?" (Align your answers with Smartly's stated values of diversity, inclusion, and open feedback).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Case Studies: For each project or accomplishment, use a STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) or a similar framework. Clearly articulate the problem, your role, the actions taken, and the measurable outcomes.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the impact of your work. This could include improvements in user engagement, conversion rates, development velocity, system performance, or team satisfaction.

• Highlight Leadership & Technical Skills: Ensure your portfolio examples showcase both your people management capabilities (coaching, feedback, team building) and your technical proficiency (architecture, code quality, problem-solving).

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize experiences relevant to design systems, UI development, customer onboarding, and leading fullstack teams.

Challenge Preparation:

• Behavioral Scenarios: Be prepared for questions about how you've handled difficult situations, managed underperforming team members, or led through change.

• System Design: Anticipate a system design question, likely related to building scalable frontend applications, a design system component, or a feature impacting customer onboarding. Focus on architecture, trade-offs, and scalability.

• Coding Exercise: A hands-on coding challenge might assess your proficiency in React and TypeScript. Focus on clean code, efficient logic, and testability.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to articulate their leadership philosophy, demonstrate technical expertise in modern frontend development, and showcase how they drive impact through team enablement and strategic technical execution. A strong understanding of Smartly's business and culture will be crucial.

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📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Engineering Manager position:

• Submit your application through the Smartly careers portal [link to application].

• Portfolio Customization: Prepare a portfolio or select case studies that highlight your experience in leading engineering teams, developing design systems, improving customer-facing features, and working with React, TypeScript, and Node.js. Focus on quantifiable results.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to emphasize leadership experience, technical skills relevant to the role (React, TypeScript, Node.js, Agile), and achievements in driving team performance and product quality. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your leadership philosophy, technical approach, and problem-solving skills. Be ready to discuss specific examples from your experience that align with the responsibilities and qualifications outlined. Research Smartly's products and culture thoroughly.

• Company Research: Understand Smartly's AI-powered advertising technology, their market position, and their commitment to innovation and customer success. Familiarize yourself with their engineering practices and company values to demonstrate genuine interest and cultural fit.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.