Lead Physical Access Engineer

About Us

Think about your last hotel stay. Did you skip the front desk line with mobile check-in? Message the staff for extra pillows? Order a late-night snack with a tap on your phone? Then you’ve likely run into Canary in the wild.

Canary Technologies is the leading agentic AI platform for hotel and guest management, powering the digital infrastructure for more than 20,000 hotels in 125+ countries. The world's most renowned hospitality brands, including Marriott International, Four Seasons and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, partner with us to increase revenue, improve operations and elevate the guest experience.

We’ve executed the largest deployment of autonomous AI systems in hospitality, building technology that fundamentally redefines how guests and hotels interact. It’s made us one of the top-funded hotel technology companies in the world, with nearly $200M raised to date.

Canary has been recognized as a 2024 and 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ company, Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company, and swept the 2026 HotelTechAwards, including Best Place to Work, #1 Guest Experience Platform, and the Hotelier’s Choice Award. We’re scaling our team to bring innovation to life faster than ever.

We're growing quickly, and we're looking for people who are passionate about their work, want to grow with us and are ready to take on more responsibility along the way. We value rigor and velocity in equal measure: high standards, fast pace, real ownership. If that's the environment you're looking for, this is the place for you.

Come join us! Let’s shape the future of hospitality together.

About the Role

We're looking for a Lead Engineer to own Canary's Physical Access product — Mobile Key and the integrations that let hotel guests unlock doors from their phones across a wide range of lock vendors. You'll lead a pod of engineers, set the bar as a hands-on IC, and own the architecture of a system that has to be reliable, secure, and low-latency at the moment of guest arrival. You'll partner closely with Product to expand lock-vendor coverage and deepen the Mobile Key experience, and collaborate with the Arrivals and Kiosk teams where the guest journey connects. The systems you own directly gate physical entry, so discipline around security, reliability, and operational excellence is essential.

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What You’ll Do

• Directly manage a pod of engineers responsible for Canary's Physical Access product, including Mobile Key and lock-vendor integrations
• Set an example as an IC in terms of both the quality and velocity of code that you ship
• Own the architecture and its evolution across mobile-key issuance, lock-vendor integrations, and the encoder/BLE paths that unlock doors
• Drive measurable improvements in unlock reliability, latency, and vendor coverage by deeply understanding how hotels and guests use the product
• Partner closely with Product Managers to inform roadmap and prioritization for the Physical Access surface area
• Independently mentor and advise engineers in the pod, build engineering execution plans, break down work, and assign it across the team
• Directly manage the people on your pod — conduct 1:1s, performance reviews, and team ceremonies to maintain the health of the pod and its members
• Run pod processes autonomously and escalate appropriately when required
• Participate in hiring and interviewing for the Physical Access team and broader engineering org

What We’re Looking For

• 8+ years of a strong engineering background
• 2+ years of proven experience managing successful engineering teams
• Solid knowledge of developing backend applications
• Hands-on experience integrating with third-party hardware or vendor APIs — IoT, access control, payments, telephony, or similar
• Strong demonstrated ability to ship high-quality products that operate reliably at scale
• Self-motivated, collaborative, and diligent work ethic
• Excellent communication skills. You love being part of a diverse team, building consensus, and establishing credibility
• Comfort with ambiguity and eager to embrace ownership and accountability
• Bonus: experience with mobile (iOS/Android), BLE/NFC, or hardware/lock-vendor integrations

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Perks & Benefits

We work hard to make Canary a fun, rewarding, and high-energy place to work. Here’s how we take care of our flock:

Time Off

• Unlimited PTO: Take the time you need to truly rest and recharge.
• Holidays + Canary Days: Standard holidays plus monthly company-wide days off for a guaranteed long weekend.
• Birthday Holiday: A dedicated day off to celebrate you!

Travel & Office Flexibility

• Office Exchange: A travel stipend to visit the team in person at our SF, NY, or Dallas hubs.
• Canary Hotel Experience: Staying at a Canary hotel? We’ve got you covered with a credit toward your stay.
• Preferred Hotels Discount: Enjoy a minimum 30% off the best available rate at select partner hotels globally.

Growth & Community

• Self Improvement Club: A monthly budget to help you smash your personal goals.
• Professional Development: Level up your career with a dedicated learning stipend to fuel your skills and cross-functional connection.
• Referral Program: Help us grow the flock and score a cash bonus for successful hires.

Canary Technologies is an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote talent regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other protected characteristic.