Job Description
Job Description
Who We Are
Kargo creates powerful moments of connection between brands and consumers to build businesses. Every day, our 600+ employees work to radically raise the bar on what agentic AI, CTV, eCommerce, social, and mobile can do to deliver unique ad experiences across the world's most premium platforms. Taking a creative science approach to all we do, we continuously innovate solutions that outperform industry benchmarks and client expectations. Now 20+ years strong, Kargo has offices in NYC, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Sydney, Auckland, London and Waterford, Ireland.
Who We Hire
Techies who want to build the future. Creatives who want to design it better. Communicators to win business. Collaborators to build it. Data pros who turn numbers into insights. Product builders who turn ideas into innovations. Anyone eager to be on a team that doesn't stop to ask what's next, because they're already building it.
Mission
The Project Manager, Backend & SRE exists to bring predictability, clarity, and momentum to Kargo's most technically complex delivery work. This role owns the coordination layer between backend engineers, SREs, and cross-functional stakeholders — turning ambiguous technical initiatives into well-scoped, well-tracked, and reliably shipped outcomes. When this role is firing, engineering teams spend less time on coordination overhead and more time building, and stakeholders always know where things stand.
Outcomes — What Success Looks Like in 6–12 Months
- Backend and SRE initiatives are delivered on time and with visibility — Assigned projects have clear plans, tracked milestones, and stakeholder-facing status updates that don't require chasing engineers for answers
- Reliability and operational work is planned alongside feature work — On-call follow-ups, incident remediation, and technical debt are visible in sprint planning and not perpetually deprioritized in favor of new features
- Cross-team dependencies are surfaced early, not discovered late — Risks and blockers across services, systems, and teams are identified proactively and either resolved or escalated before they become delivery failures
- Incident coordination is faster and post-incident learnings stick — Communication during incidents is organized and timely; action items are tracked to completion and retrospective findings are incorporated into future planning
- Engineering teams run cleaner sprints — Ceremonies are facilitated efficiently, backlogs are refined and prioritized, and capacity is accurately accounted for — including operational load, not just feature work
Skills — Core Technical Capabilities
Required
- 3–5 years of project management experience embedded with software engineering teams — not adjacent to them, but working directly in their delivery cadence
- Experience supporting backend, platform, infrastructure, or SRE teams; comfortable with technical terminology, system dependencies, and operationally critical workflows without needing to implement them
- Strong command of Agile delivery — sprint planning, backlog refinement, retrospectives, and velocity tracking practiced consistently, not ceremonially
- Proficiency with Jira or equivalent tools for maintaining accurate project plans, timelines, and delivery artifacts
- Ability to translate complex technical work into clear, concise status updates for product and non-technical stakeholders — without losing the important details
- Strong organizational discipline and follow-through — manages multiple workstreams simultaneously without dropping threads
Preferred
- Familiarity with incident management, on-call workflows, or reliability-focused processes in a high-availability environment
- Experience in ad technology or similarly complex, backend-driven domains where operational uptime directly impacts revenue
Competencies — Behaviors We Like to See
Proactive Risk Management
- Identifies delivery risks, capacity constraints, and cross-team dependencies before they become problems — doesn't wait for engineers to surface issues
- Escalates the right things at the right time; knows the difference between a manageable blocker and one that needs leadership attention
Technical Credibility Without Technical Ego
- Earns trust with engineers by demonstrating genuine understanding of backend and SRE work — asks smart questions, respects technical constraints, and never oversimplifies
- Translates technical complexity for non-technical stakeholders accurately and confidently, without needing engineers to do it for them
Execution Ownership
- Takes full accountability for the delivery artifacts, timelines, and coordination work in their scope — doesn't wait to be asked and doesn't let things drift
- Follows through on post-incident and post-release action items until they're actually done, not just documented
Clear, Low-Drama Communication
- Keeps distributed, cross-functional teams aligned through consistent, concise updates — no one is surprised by a missed milestone or a hidden risk
- Facilitates meetings and ceremonies that are purposeful and efficient; leaves every session with clear owners, next steps, and documented outcomes
In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency laws, the anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, education, and skills.
U.S Salary Range $110,000—$130,000 USD
Our Laurels
- AdAge Best Places to Work
- ThinkLA Partner of the Year
- Built In Best Places to Work
- Cynopsis 2025 Top Women in Media - Jeannine Shao Collins
- Martech Breakthrough Awards - Best Overall Adtech Company
- Digiday Media Awards Best Event
- Cynopsis Media Impact Awards-Best CTV Platform
- Martech Breakthrough Awards-CTV Innovation
- Adweek Media Plan of the Year Awards - Best Use of Insights
Follow Our Lead
- Big Picture: kargo.com
- The Latest: Instagram (@kargomobile) and LinkedIn (Kargo)
Kargo is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace where all employees and applicants are treated with respect and dignity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or family status, national origin, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state, or federal law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.
Pursuant to applicable fair chance laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Kargo will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.