Senior Manager - Software Engineering Management - AI Engineering

Senior Manager - Software Engineering Management - AI EngineeringThis role is for a senior engineering manager who leads a high-performing team of software engineers building AI-native and cloud-native applications on the ServiceNow platform. The Senior Manager combines deep technical credibility with strong people management capabilities, fostering a culture of innovation, ownership, and continuous learning. They are responsible for team performance, career development, hiring, and execution of key business initiatives. This role requires the ability to balance people development with business results, think strategically about AI integration and platform architecture, and influence across the organization to enable team success. The ideal candidate brings experience scaling AI-native teams and a passion for building leaders.Responsibility Area: People Leadership & DevelopmentBuild, grow, and maintain a high-performing, diverse team of IC2-IC5 engineers; hire and develop talent at all levelsSet clear expectations for individual and team performance; establish metrics and goals aligned with business objectivesConduct regular 1:1s with direct reports; provide coaching, feedback, and career guidance tailored to each engineer's growth stageCreate a culture of psychological safety, learning, and ownership; encourage experimentation and learning from failuresSupport engineers through career transitions—from IC2 to IC3, IC3 to IC4, and technical-to-management pathwaysIdentify high-potential engineers and invest in their development; prepare emerging leaders for increased responsibilityAddress performance issues promptly and professionally; provide clear paths for improvement or transitionSponsor team members for growth opportunities, stretch assignments, and leadership development programsCelebrate wins and recognize contributions; foster a positive, collaborative team environmentModel vulnerability, continuous learning, and AI-native thinking; lead by example in your own growthResponsibility Area: Hiring & Team BuildingDefine hiring strategy and conduct recruitment for open positions; build a pipeline of qualified candidatesLead technical interviews and assessments for engineering candidates at all IC levels; make hiring decisionsPartner with HR and recruiting teams on job descriptions, sourcing strategies, and candidate pipeline managementEvaluate cultural fit and potential; hire for values and growth potential, not just current skillsOnboard new engineers effectively; assign mentors and ensure smooth integration into the teamBuild a team with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives; actively work to improve representationIdentify gaps in team capabilities (technical depth, domain expertise, AI/ML fluency) and address through hiring or developmentBuild relationships with external technical communities to attract and recruit top talentParticipate in employer branding and represent the organization at recruiting events and universitiesResponsibility Area: Technical Strategy & Product LeadershipWork with product, design, and cross-functional partners to define product roadmap and technical strategy aligned with business goalsEstablish technical direction for the team; make architecture and technology decisions that balance innovation, quality, and deliveryEnsure the team's technical approach stays current with AI/ML advancements and ServiceNow platform evolutionChampion AI-native thinking across the team and organization; help teammates understand how to build with AI at the coreLead architectural reviews and technical decision-making; provide guidance on complex technical trade-offsAdvocate for technical investments (refactoring, infrastructure, tooling) that improve team productivity and code qualitySet quality standards for code, testing, and security; establish practices that enable sustainable deliveryPartner with IC4/IC5 engineers to set multi-year technical roadmaps and long-term strategic initiativesRepresent the engineering team in product and executive discussions; influence organizational prioritiesResponsibility Area: Team Execution & AccountabilityDrive team delivery of committed business objectives and product initiatives; maintain accountability for resultsEstablish clear sprint goals, work-item prioritization, and delivery timelines; remove blockers for team successTrack team metrics: velocity, quality, customer satisfaction, incident response, deployment frequencyConduct regular retrospectives; identify process improvements and drive adoption of better practicesManage team capacity; balance new feature development, technical debt reduction, and customer supportEnsure team participation in on-call rotation; monitor incident response and post-incident learningReport on team progress, risks, and performance to senior leadership; provide transparent communicationEscalate critical issues or resource constraints; collaborate with peer managers to solve cross-team dependenciesFoster a culture of ownership where engineers take responsibility for quality, testing, and production outcomesLead team through organizational changes and initiatives; maintain morale and focus during transitionsResponsibility Area: Customer & Cross-Functional EngagementBuild and maintain relationships with key customers and stakeholders; understand their needs and prioritiesParticipate in customer meetings, technical escalations, and business reviews; represent engineering capabilities and constraintsWork closely with product management, customer success, and other teams; ensure alignment on priorities and capabilitiesLead customer-critical incident response; ensure timely and professional resolution of critical issuesGather customer feedback and translate into product improvements; communicate back to customers how feedback is addressedAdvocate for customers' needs within the engineering organization; ensure customer voice is heard in decision-makingBuild trust and credibility with customers through transparency, responsiveness, and technical leadershipParticipate in strategic customer discussions and technology roadmap reviewsResponsibility Area: Organizational Leadership & CultureModel the organization's values and desired behaviors; set tone for engineering culture within your team and across teamsContribute to hiring and interview training of other managers; build bench strength in people leadershipMentor junior managers or peers; contribute to manager development and leadership pipelineParticipate in engineering leadership meetings; contribute to organizational strategy and policyPromote psychological safety, inclusion, and belonging; actively work to reduce barriers for underrepresented groupsFoster knowledge sharing across the organization; encourage your team to contribute to brown bags, documentation, and communitiesLead by example in work-life balance, continuous learning, and sustainable pace; prevent burnoutEncourage your team to engage with the broader tech community (conferences, open source, speaking, writing)Responsibility Area: AI-Native Thinking & Innovation LeadershipDevelop deep understanding of AI/ML capabilities, limitations, and integration patterns; become a thought leader on AI-native developmentCoach your team on AI-native thinking—how to build systems with AI at the core, not as an afterthoughtHelp engineers understand prompt engineering, retrieval systems, agentic workflows, and responsible AI principlesEstablish practices for evaluation-driven development, hallucination detection, and model performance monitoringLead discussions on AI safety, data privacy, and responsible AI; ensure team builds with appropriate guardrailsCreate learning opportunities for the team to stay current with AI/ML advancements and frameworksIdentify opportunities to apply AI to improve internal processes and team efficiencyContribute to organizational conversations about AI strategy and responsible AI practicesStay informed about LLM advancements, new models, and emerging techniques; share insights with your teamQualifications12+ years of professional software development experience, with 5+ years in AI-native systems, cloud-native architecture, or equivalent4+ years of people management experience leading software engineers; track record of developing talent and building high-performing teams3+ years managing application development on SaaS platforms (ServiceNow, Salesforce, or similar); deep understanding of platform architecture and constraints3+ years hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, LLM integration, prompt engineering, and responsible AI practicesDemonstrated expertise in hiring, team building, and organizational development; ability to attract and develop top talentExpert-level understanding of modern software engineering practices: CI/CD, testing, security, deploymentStrong technical credibility; ability to engage in technical discussions with IC4/IC5