We are seeking an Engineering Manager to join our Enterprise engineering pillar to lead the Performance & Architecture (P&A) team. P&A is responsible for the worker process that serves as the backend of every user-facing Airtable base. This is the deepest backend team that sits within product engineering, and it is one of the most intersectional teams in the company - its work touches nearly every part of the Airtable product.

P&A's mission is to make Airtable fast and reliable at scale. The team's current initiative, "100x," is a ground-up rewrite in Rust of the proprietary in-memory database behind every base that will let Airtable bases function well at dramatically higher scale while improving development velocity across engineering. You'll be joining at a pivotal moment: your decisions will shape the architecture that backs every Airtable base for years to come.

Please note: while we employ a hybrid working model at Airtable (flexible in working from the office or elsewhere), we are looking to hire candidates at this level who are based in San Francisco and open to coming into the office ~2-3 times/week for team collaboration.
What you'll do

• Lead, manage, and grow a team of high-functioning systems engineers responsible for the core backend of every Airtable base.
• Engage directly with our largest enterprise customers, including in pre- and post-sales contexts. You'll be tapped when high-stakes accounts hit performance or scale challenges, and you'll work alongside AEs and Solutions Consultants to land and implement major deals.
• Partner closely with senior and staff ICs on deeply technical decisions across backend product initiatives, and to hold your own technically with the most senior engineers on the team.
• Partner with engineering leaders to drive technical decisions and initiatives, building products in a high-quality and sustainable way.
• Nurture a team of passionate and capable engineers: multiply the impact of senior engineers and coach and grow early-career engineers.
• Drive operational excellence and implement processes that help the team scale and stay productive, while preserving the agility our dynamic environment demands.

Who you are

• 5+ years of experience as an engineer (previously in a staff or TL-level IC position) AND 4+ years as a manager, or a similar combination.
• A systems background, with a genuine interest in improving product performance and the end-user experience - not just low-level performance for its own sake.
• Direct experience working with enterprise customers or large, third-party partners, including holding challenging technical conversations and helping sophisticated customers understand a broad, highly technical product. Experience supporting large, complex customers through technical issues is a strong plus.
• Strong experience working closely with Product Managers to define products, manage tradeoffs, and drive adoption.
• Experience navigating and reasoning about large systems.
• A strong operational instinct and experience leading teams through incidents and on-call.
• Experience leading high-performing engineering teams in a fast-paced environment, and growing and mentoring engineers.
• Experience managing, organizing, and prioritizing multiple projects and work streams.
• A deep appreciation for understanding the Airtable product end to end - the role demands fluency across the entirety of what we build.

Compensation awarded to successful candidates will vary based on their work location, relevant skills, and experience.

Our total compensation package also includes the opportunity to receive benefits, restricted stock units, and may include incentive compensation. To learn more about our comprehensive benefit offerings, please check out Life at Airtable.

For work locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York City, and Los Angeles, the base salary range for this role is:

$281,000-$365,700 USD

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