Engineering Manager, Calc Engine — Superhuman Docs
About The Position
Superhuman Docs' tables started as a custom, in-memory database designed to run in a browser tab. Our customers have pushed it beyond its limits, and as a result we’re making big changes to our storage and calc engine. This team owns the full vertical: the formula language and its grammar, the AST parser, the execution planner that determines what to compute and when, execution optimization that keeps millions of concurrent user applications responsive, and the performance infrastructure that makes it all work under real-world load. You’ll lead the small team building it while staying hands-on in the code yourself. The hard part is building a database building block for non-technical users who are converting their rituals & processes into production software. This means we have to deliver a product that’s cost-sensitive, enterprise-grade, and never predictably accessed.
Requirements
- You’ve worked on the internals of a database system — query optimization, query planning, SQL execution, storage-engine internals (B-Trees, LSM Trees, etc.), or HTAP (hybrid transactional/analytical processing) systems. You don’t need to have built one from scratch; owning a piece of one (a query or storage engine inside a larger system) counts.
- 2-3+ years as an EM or tech lead managing a small team (~5), staying close to the code. This is a player-coach role — roughly half management, half hands-on — not a step away from engineering.
- You want to build a real product, not just go deep on infrastructure for its own sake.
Nice To Haves
- TypeScript
- SQLite
- Operational Transforms
- WebSockets
- OPFS
- React
Responsibilities
- Invalidation, execution, and query planning for the calc engine
- Architectural decisions to scale the infrastructure as usage and document complexity grow
- Technical direction alongside a small team (~5 engineers) — reviewing code and designs, giving fast feedback, and still writing code yourself
- Performance: profiling, benchmarking, and closing the gap between “correct” and “fast” at scale
- Coordination with the teams building on top of the calc engine
Benefits
- Excellent health care (including a wide range of medical, dental, vision, mental health, and fertility benefits)
- Disability and life insurance options
- 401(k) and RRSP matching
- Paid parental leave
- 20 days of paid time off per year
- 12 days of paid holidays per year
- two floating holidays per year
- flexible sick time
- Generous stipends (including those for caregiving, pet care, wellness, your home office, and more)
- Annual professional development budget and opportunities
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
