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Engineering Manager II - Backend, Recommendations Ecosystem

Location
Palo Alto, California
Department
Engineering
Job Type
Full Time
Focus

Our Mission:

Launched in 2012, Tinder® revolutionized how people meet, growing from 1 match to one billion matches in just two years. This rapid growth demonstrates its ability to fulfill a fundamental human need: real connection. Today, the app has been downloaded over 630 million times, leading to over 97 billion matches, serving approximately 50 million users per month in 190 countries and 45+ languages - a scale unmatched by any other app in the category. In 2024, Tinder won four Effie Awards for its first-ever global brand campaign, “It Starts with a Swipe”™

Our Values:

One Team, One Dram Value Image

One Team, One Dream

We work hand-in-hand, building Tinder for our members. We succeed together when we work collaboratively across functions, teams, and time zones, and think outside the box to achieve our company vision and mission.

Own It Value Image

Own It

We take accountability and strive to make a positive impact in all aspects of our business, through ownership, innovation, and a commitment to excellence.

Never Stop Learning Value Image

Never Stop Learning

We cultivate a culture where it’s safe to take risks. We seek out input, share honest feedback, celebrate our wins, and learn from our mistakes in order to continue improving.

Spark Solutions Value Image

Spark Solutions

We’re problem solvers, focusing on how to best move forward when faced with obstacles. We don’t dwell on the past or on the issues at hand, but instead look at how to stay agile and overcome hurdles to achieve our goals.

Embrace Our Differences Value Image

Embrace Our Differences

We are intentional about building a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members. By leveraging different perspectives and other ways of thinking, we build better experiences for our members and our team.

The Role:

Tinder brings people together. With tens of millions of users, hundreds of millions of downloads, 2 billion swipes per day, 20 million matches per day and a presence in every country on earth, our reach is expansive—and rapidly growing.

At Tinder, we are passionate about building software to bring our growing global user base one swipe closer to a new adventure! We empower all team members to contribute solutions - this is not a top down organization. We feel it is important to learn from one another and grow as a team.

We are currently seeking an exceptional Backend Engineering Manager to lead our Recommendations Ecosystem team. You will play a pivotal role in shaping the algorithms and business logic that power Tinder’s core user experience: who users see, and who sees them. You and your team’s work will directly influence millions of connections, drive user engagement, boost retention, and fuel Tinder’s revenue growth.

As the Engineering Manager, you’ll lead a talented team of up to five backend engineers to push the boundaries of innovation. Together, you’ll run high-impact experiments to unlock new insights and optimize key business metrics, enhance our experimentation platform, and shape our observability systems to ensure the health of the recommendation ecosystem. Your leadership will enable us to connect millions of global users more seamlessly than ever before. Come join us if you’re passionate about cutting-edge technology, love driving measurable impact, and want to help millions of people around the world find love!

Where you’ll work:


This is a hybrid role and requires in-office collaboration twice per week. Our offices are located in Palo Alto, California

What You'll Do

  • Lead a team of 5 backend engineers to create the optimal Tinder experience for members.
  • Define and own platform objectives and key metrics, developing a strategic roadmap for your team.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional/platform teams to execute the roadmap, delivering high-quality results promptly.
  • Drive technical, design and product discussions with teams across the organization to define and scope requirements.
  • Establish the technical direction for the team and lead the team to achieve it.
  • Mentor and coach your team members to help them reach their full potential.
  • Recruit and assemble a world-class backend team.

What You'll Need

  • 7+ years of professional experience building scalable backend services.
  • 2+ years of experience leading backend engineering teams.
  • Significant experience with Java and/or Scala, Node.js, Typescript.
  • Cloud platform experience: AWS, GCP or Azure
  • Proven experience leading a team in building and shipping scalable distributed backend systems.
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
  • Ability to inspire and motivate the team to exceed expectations.
  • Experience running iterative A/B tests

Nice To Have

  • Experience with recommendations systems and ML serving infrastructure
  • Experience with experimentation methodologies, two-sided marketplaces
  • High scale data pipeline: Flink, Kafka, Spark, Hadoop, Kubernetes
  • Comfortable working with legacy code and implementing effective strategies for improvement.
  • Experience collaborating within a small team while working interdependently within a cross-functional organization

Salary Range:

$230,000
-
$250,000
a year

Factors such as scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, job-related skills, internal peer equity, as well as market and business considerations may influence base pay offered. This salary will be subject to a geographic adjustment (according to a specific city and state), if an authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting.

We don’t just

accept

difference, we

celebrate

it

We strive to build a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members around the world, and we value unique perspectives and backgrounds. Even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications, we invite you to apply and show us how your skills could transfer. Tinder is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace where we welcome people of all sexes, gender identities, races, ethnicities, disabilities, and other lived experiences.

Learn more about inclusion at Tinder
Right Arrow

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact employeebenefits@matchgroup.com.

We don’t just

accept

difference, we

celebrate

it

We strive to build a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members around the world, and we value unique perspectives and backgrounds. Even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications, we invite you to apply and show us how your skills could transfer. Tinder is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace where we welcome people of all sexes, gender identities, races, ethnicities, disabilities, and other lived experiences.

Learn more about inclusion at Tinder
Right Arrow

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please speak to your Talent Acquisition Partner directly.

Ready to make sparks fly at Tinder?

Apply for this role

What life is like on the

Engineering

team

"It's a very collaborative environment, people genuinely help each other and the leadership team is always reachable no matter what level they are in."
Vijaya Vangapandu
,
Distinguished Software Engineer

Our hottest benefits for full time employees

Our hottest benefits for interns

Parental Leave

100% paid parental leave (including for non-birthing parents) and family forming benefits

Plan for the Future

100% 401(k) employer match up to 10%, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

Personal Growth

Mentorship through our MentorMatch program, access to 6,000+ online courses through Udemy, and an annual $3,000 stipend for your professional development

Give back

Time off to volunteer and charitable donations matched up to $15,000 annually

Investment in your wellness

Access to mental health support via Modern Health, paid concierge medical membership, pet insurance, fitness membership subsidy, and commuter subsidy

Unlimited PTO

With no waiting period and 10 annual wellness days

Stories from Life at Tinder

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Engineering Manager II - Backend, Recommendations Ecosystem