diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7317db866..a15b0a0dc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Added
 
 - `load_stac`/`metadata_from_stac`: add support for extracting actual temporal dimension metadata ([#567](https://github.com/Open-EO/openeo-python-client/issues/567))
+- `MultiBackendJobManager`: add `cancel_running_job_after` option to automatically cancel jobs that are running for too long ([#590](https://github.com/Open-EO/openeo-python-client/issues/590))
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/openeo/extra/job_management.py b/openeo/extra/job_management.py
index 1c1bbb392..acdf90827 100644
--- a/openeo/extra/job_management.py
+++ b/openeo/extra/job_management.py
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         poll_sleep: int = 60,
         root_dir: Optional[Union[str, Path]] = ".",
+        *,
         cancel_running_job_after: Optional[int] = None,
     ):
         """Create a MultiBackendJobManager.
@@ -133,8 +134,11 @@ def __init__(
                 - get_job_metadata_path
 
         :param cancel_running_job_after [seconds]:
-            A temporal limit for long running jobs to get automatically canceled.
-            The preset is None, which disables the feature.
+            Optional temporal limit (in seconds) after which running jobs should be canceled
+            by the job manager.
+
+        .. versionchanged:: 0.32.0
+            Added `cancel_running_job_after` parameter.
         """
         self.backends: Dict[str, _Backend] = {}
         self.poll_sleep = poll_sleep
@@ -143,7 +147,7 @@ def __init__(
         # An explicit None or "" should also default to "."
         self._root_dir = Path(root_dir or ".")
 
-        self.cancel_running_job_after = (
+        self._cancel_running_job_after = (
             datetime.timedelta(seconds=cancel_running_job_after) if cancel_running_job_after is not None else None
         )
 
@@ -242,7 +246,6 @@ def _normalize_df(self, df: pd.DataFrame) -> pd.DataFrame:
             ("memory", None),
             ("duration", None),
             ("backend_name", None),
-            ("backend_name", None),
         ]
         new_columns = {col: val for (col, val) in required_with_default if col not in df.columns}
         df = df.assign(**new_columns)
@@ -483,18 +486,15 @@ def on_job_cancel(self, job: BatchJob, row):
     def _cancel_prolonged_job(self, job: BatchJob, row):
         """Cancel the job if it has been running for too long."""
         job_running_start_time = rfc3339.parse_datetime(row["running_start_time"], with_timezone=True)
-        current_time = rfc3339.parse_datetime(rfc3339.utcnow(), with_timezone=True)
-
-        if current_time > job_running_start_time + self.cancel_running_job_after:
+        elapsed = datetime.datetime.now(tz=datetime.timezone.utc) - job_running_start_time
+        if elapsed > self._cancel_running_job_after:
             try:
                 _log.info(
-                    f"Cancelling job {job.job_id} as it has been running for more than {self.cancel_running_job_after}"
+                    f"Cancelling long-running job {job.job_id} (after {elapsed}, running since {job_running_start_time})"
                 )
-
                 job.stop()
-
             except OpenEoApiError as e:
-                _log.error(f"Error Cancelling long-running job {job.job_id}: {e}")
+                _log.error(f"Failed to cancel long-running job {job.job_id}: {e}")
 
     def get_job_dir(self, job_id: str) -> Path:
         """Path to directory where job metadata, results and error logs are be saved."""
@@ -515,21 +515,25 @@ def ensure_job_dir_exists(self, job_id: str) -> Path:
             job_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
 
     def _track_statuses(self, df: pd.DataFrame):
-        """tracks status (and stats) of running jobs (in place). Optinally cancels jobs when running too long"""
+        """
+        Tracks status (and stats) of running jobs (in place).
+        Optionally cancels jobs when running too long.
+        """
         active = df.loc[(df.status == "created") | (df.status == "queued") | (df.status == "running")]
         for i in active.index:
             job_id = df.loc[i, "id"]
             backend_name = df.loc[i, "backend_name"]
+            previous_status = df.loc[i, "status"]
 
             try:
                 con = self._get_connection(backend_name)
                 the_job = con.job(job_id)
                 job_metadata = the_job.describe()
-
-                previous_status = df.loc[i, "status"]
                 new_status = job_metadata["status"]
 
-                _log.info(f"Status of job {job_id!r} (on backend {backend_name}) is {new_status!r}")
+                _log.info(
+                    f"Status of job {job_id!r} (on backend {backend_name}) is {new_status!r} (previously {previous_status!r})"
+                )
 
                 if new_status == "finished":
                     self.on_job_done(the_job, df.loc[i])
@@ -543,7 +547,7 @@ def _track_statuses(self, df: pd.DataFrame):
                 if new_status == "canceled":
                     self.on_job_cancel(the_job, df.loc[i])
 
-                if self.cancel_running_job_after and new_status == "running":
+                if self._cancel_running_job_after and new_status == "running":
                     self._cancel_prolonged_job(the_job, df.loc[i])
 
                 df.loc[i, "status"] = new_status