Engineering Manager, Public Sector Applications

Ditto is redefining how data moves at the edge. Our mission is to make it seamless for developers to build resilient, real-time applications, regardless of network conditions. Whether you're in a stadium, airplane, or remote military base, Ditto's peer-to-peer sync engine ensures devices stay connected and data stays consistent, even without internet. With more than $145 million in funding and trusted by organizations like Chick-fil-A, Delta Airlines, and the U.S. military, Ditto powers mission-critical experiences across aviation, retail, travel, hospitality, defense, and more. As a globally distributed, fast-growing startup, we’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the wide range of perspectives needed to solve the world’s hardest connectivity problems.

As a Software Development Manager, you'll lead a team of engineers who design, build, and ship software that integrates our platform's data synchronization capabilities directly into the tools and environments where our users work. You'll be accountable for the team's delivery, technical direction, and growth — owning meaningful outcomes end-to-end, with a particular focus on mobile and integration work that meets users where they are.

You'll also serve as a key feedback loop into our broader product and engineering organization, translating what your team learns from real-world usage into clear technical insights and product priorities. This role is well-suited to a hands-on engineering leader who is comfortable moving fast, navigating ambiguity, and developing engineers and systems in parallel to deliver reliable software.

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  Lead a Team Delivering ATAK Plugins: Guide your team through the design, development, and field deployment of custom ATAK (Android Team Awareness Kit) plugins that integrate our platform's data synchronization capabilities directly into the warfighter's primary situational awareness tool.

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  Own Android-Native Integration Delivery: Set the technical direction for performant Android applications and services that run on tactical end-user devices, ensuring reliable operation in disconnected, intermittent, and low-bandwidth (DIL) environments.

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  Drive Integration Architecture: Own the end-to-end integration design between our platform and the broader TAK ecosystem, partnering with engineers and stakeholders to define data contracts, API boundaries, and synchronization patterns that enable seamless interoperability with third-party systems and services.

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  Develop the Team and Resolve Issues in Real-Time: Coach and grow engineers while acting as an escalation point for rapidly diagnosing and resolving application, integration, and data-flow issues as they arise on end-user devices in live operational environments.

• Clearance Eligible Requirement: Must be eligible to obtain a Secret clearance (Due to federal security clearance requirements, U.S. Citizenship is strictly required for this role).

• 7+ years of engineering experience building, shipping, and maintaining production applications. You should have deep technical strength in at least one area and the credibility to lead engineers working in it.

• 2+ years of engineering management experience leading engineers, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and shipping product through a team. Comfort guiding engineers working on Android, Kotlin/Java, and the practical challenges of mobile hardware.

• Prior experience leading or building ATAK plugins, or deep familiarity with the TAK ecosystem, including CoT messaging, TAK Server integration, and the plugin architecture.

• Strong integration design skills, including the ability to define clean API contracts, design data synchronization patterns, and architect loosely coupled systems that interoperate reliably across organizational and technical boundaries.

• A highly adaptable, problem-solving mindset, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, move fast, and balance team health, immediate delivery, and long-term technical fidelity.

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal. As the leader of the team operating closest to the field, you must be able to translate complex, edge-case technical realities and user workflows into clear priorities for your team, peer engineering leaders, and product partners.

• Experience leading teams shipping software built on CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types) or local-first software architectures to manage complex data synchronization without a central server.

• Experience overseeing cross-platform mobile development efforts or strategies for maintaining parity between Android and other platform targets.

• Familiarity with tactical networking concepts, including how mobile devices operate over constrained, mesh, or MANET radio networks.

• Experience overseeing work involving SQLite, Realm, or other embedded databases and offline-first data persistence strategies for mobile applications.

• Direct experience leading or supporting teams operating at the tactical edge, including deploying and supporting software on end-user devices in field exercises or operational environments.

• Previous experience working directly with SOCOM, DoD, or federal customers, with an understanding of navigating secure or classified network environments.

• A background in backend or systems development (e.g., Go, Rust, Python) in addition to Android, enabling you to credibly guide your team on integration middleware or data translation work.

At Ditto, we know game-changers don’t always come wrapped in a “perfect” resume. Years of experience? Every single bullet point checked? Meh. That’s not what drives us.

What does matter?

• Grit.

• Curiosity.

• Adaptability.

• And a genuine spark for what we’re building.

So if you’re fired up about our mission but not sure you tick every box - hit that apply button anyway. Use your application to show us how you’ll make an impact here.

We’re always on the lookout for exceptional humans who want to grow, stretch, and build something meaningful with us.

Ditto is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Ditto is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know.