Senior Manager, Developer Relations

About the Role

Tailscale is looking for an experienced Senior Manager, Developer Relations to build and scale Developer Relations as a strategic growth program. You will be accountable for how Tailscale earns trust with technical audiences, helps developers get more value from Tailscale, and contributes to meaningful business outcomes.

This is a senior player-coach role that combines team leadership, program strategy, and hands-on developer advocacy. You’ll lead the DevRel team, develop repeatable programs across content, video, events, workshops, community, and technical projects and integrations, and ensure our work reflects both the needs of developers and Tailscale’s company priorities.

This role partners closely with Product, Engineering, Growth, Content, Sales, Customer Success, and the broader Marketing team. You’ll be responsible for creating a clear roadmap, expanding the number of people who can represent Tailscale publicly, and building the systems and measurement practices needed for DevRel to operate effectively at scale.

We’re looking for someone with strong technical credibility, excellent judgment, and a track record of turning developer insight into programs that build awareness, education, product adoption, and long-term trust.

Key Responsibilities

• Own Tailscale’s Developer Relations function end-to-end, including its strategy and roadmap, aligning programs and priorities with Tailscale’s positioning, product strategy, and business goals.
• Build and lead a high-performing DevRel organization. Manage, coach, hire for, and develop the DevRel team by setting clear expectations, delegating meaningful ownership, and helping team members grow. In this role, we expect you to hire and develop both senior and junior technical talent.
• Build and scale repeatable DevRel programs across technical content, product integrations, YouTube, talks, demos, workshops, events, community, and other developer-facing channels. You will own the portfolio of DevRel investments and will have to manage resourcing and priorities across this portfolio to deliver developer and business impact. 
• Serve as a visible technical voice for Tailscale through hands-on work such as videos, presentations, demos, integrations, workshops, and community engagement. It is important you maintain strong personal technical credibility and selectively serve as a public technical voice for Tailscale through high-leverage engagements. 
• Develop new technical voices and contributors both inside and outside Tailscale so Tailscale’s DevRel presence extends beyond any one individual.
• Lead community-focused technical initiatives that identify unmet developer needs, support strategic partnerships, and enable emerging use cases.
• Maintain a clear, shared DevRel roadmap and activity calendar with defined owners, timelines, audiences, and intended outcomes.
• Ensure DevRel work is technically accurate, engaging, relevant to its intended audience, and aligned with current product positioning.
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Growth, Content, Sales, and Customer Success to coordinate launches, educational initiatives, and developer feedback. Influence product strategy by identifying developer workflows and ecosystem opportunities where Tailscale can create differentiated value, and work with Product and Engineering leaders to validate and prioritize those opportunities. Act as the senior DevRel partner for major launches and strategic bets.
• Define, track, and regularly report on DevRel performance, including audience growth, engagement, product activation, integration adoption, and contribution to the self-serve funnel.
• Use qualitative developer insight and performance data to prioritize programs, improve execution, and demonstrate the value of DevRel investments.
• Manage DevRel budgets, vendors, tools, capacity planning, and resourcing while balancing quality, speed, and business impact.

What We Are Looking For

• 8+ years of relevant experience in Developer Relations, developer advocacy, engineering, or a related field
• 4+ years of experience managing, coaching, or leading technical contributors and scaling a DevRel or similar function
• Strong technical foundation and the ability to communicate credibly with developers, engineers, and technical decision-makers
• Experience building and operating multi-channel DevRel programs rather than relying on individual content creation alone. Demonstrated ability to make portfolio-level tradeoffs. 
• Proven ability to translate company and product priorities into a clear DevRel strategy, roadmap, and execution plan. Track record of connecting DevRel strategy to measurable product or business outcomes. 
• Strong program management skills, including planning, prioritization, delegation, and proactive risk communication
• Strong product instincts and experience creating developer-facing content such as technical videos, demos, talks, workshops, tutorials, or written content that meaningfully resonates with a technical audience
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly and engagingly
• Experience with and joy for collaborating cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Growth, Sales, or Customer Success teams
• Ability to balance hands-on execution with team leadership and long-term program development
• Strong judgment about audience, channel, technical depth, and the level of polish required for different initiatives
• Experience defining and reporting on DevRel metrics, program performance, or contribution to product and business outcomes
• Comfortable operating in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment and creating clarity through direct communication and documented plans
• Low ego, high horsepower with a “yes, and” mindset to collaboration
• You have tried and used Tailscale.

Nice to Have

• Experience leading DevRel for a developer-focused infrastructure, networking, security, or open-source product
• Deep familiarity with Tailscale, WireGuard, networking concepts, identity-based access, or Zero Trust architecture
• Experience supporting product-led growth or self-serve adoption
• Experience building technical integrations, example applications, community tools, or open-source projects
• Established experience speaking at conferences, hosting technical videos, or facilitating developer workshops
• Experience developing new public-facing technical voices within a team or company
• Familiarity with measuring developer journeys from content engagement through signup, activation, and paid conversion
• Experience managing agency partners, contractors, program budgets, or external contributors
• Experience working in a fast-paced startup or scale-up environment

As a company, we strive to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices within our team across all roles and all levels. Tailscale's compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. The salary range displayed on each job posting represents the target range for a new hire's base salary. Individual offers may vary based on experience and skill set.