Technical Manager – Backend

THE COMPANY

Singlife Philippines is a mobile-first life insurance company on a mission to make financial independence achievable for every Filipino.

Through modern technology, we provide insights, guidance, and solutions—all via mobile devices—so Filipinos can get the right financial protection when they need it. From emergencies and loss of income to high medical bills and future goals like education or retirement, Singlife ensures money is there when it matters most.

As a subsidiary of Singlife Singapore, we combine the agility of a start-up with the strength of a trusted regional brand. Through our growing portfolio of partnerships, including trusted platforms like GCash, AUB's HelloMoney, and Hello Pag-IBIG, we're making meaningful insurance more accessible to the wider market.

At Singlife, we're not just building products. We're democratizing access to financial protection, one Filipino at a time.

OVERVIEW

The Technical Manager – Backend Engineering is responsible for leading the design, development,

maintenance, and continuous improvement of backend systems and services. This role oversees the implementation of scalable and secure server-side applications using JavaScript and NodeJS while ensuring alignment with business objectives, architecture standards, and engineering best practices.

The Technical Manager will collaborate closely with Product Managers, Solution Architects, developers, and cross-functional stakeholders to deliver high-quality solutions in a fast-paced environment. The role also involves mentoring engineering teams, driving technical excellence, optimizing development processes, and ensuring system reliability, scalability, and security across the software development lifecycle.

RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

• Lead the design, development, enhancement, and maintenance of backend systems and services.

• Manage and mentor backend engineers, promoting technical growth and engineering best practices.

• Collaborate with Project Managers, Solution Architects, and developers to deliver scalable and reliable solutions aligned with business requirements.

• Ensure the development of clean, reusable, maintainable, and high-performing code.

• Drive automation initiatives to improve development efficiency, deployment, and operational processes.

• Oversee application performance optimization, system enhancements, and continuous improvement activities.

• Identify technical bottlenecks, system vulnerabilities, and production issues, and ensure timely resolution.

• Establish and enforce coding standards, security practices, and development frameworks

• Review system architecture and technical designs to ensure scalability, maintainability, and compliance with enterprise standards.

• Support the implementation and management of RESTful APIs and cloud-based/serverless architectures.

• Ensure applications are properly tested, validated, and optimized across supported platforms and

environments.

• Participate in planning, estimation, technical decision-making, and delivery management activities.

• Stay updated on emerging technologies, tools, and industry trends to continuously improve engineering capabilities.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of experience in technical leadership roles

• Prior experience in Insurtech is a plus

• Strong hands-on experience in JavaScript and NodeJS backend development

• Proven experience leading or managing engineering teams in an agile environment

• Extensive experience working with RESTful APIs and backend service integrations

• Strong familiarity with AWS infrastructure and serverless technologies

• Solid understanding of software architecture, scalability, and data security principles

• Experience implementing engineering best practices, CI/CD pipelines, and development automation

• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving capabilities

• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced and dynamic environment

• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and collaboration skills

• Strong leadership, mentoring, and decision-making abilities

• Passion for continuous learning and adoption of new technologies and tools