Engineering Manager

Pelago•New York, NY

8h•$215,000 - $225,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Pelago is the world’s leading virtual clinic for Substance Use Management. Our program provides guidance, support and treatment for members seeking to overcome their tobacco, alcohol and opioid use. From unhealthy habits to active substance use disorders, Pelago delivers a personalized solution based on individual health, habits, genetics, and goals, providing care for members wherever they might be on the substance use spectrum. Pelago's suite of virtual services ranges from education, to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to comprehensive medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Pelago enables employers and health plans to deliver accessible, affordable, and effective treatment for substance misuse. Pelago has scaled to helping hundreds of employers and health plans and has already helped more than 750,000 members manage their substance use better. We have recently closed our Series C and raised over $151m from leading global investors. If you are passionate about making an impact on the health of others, join us and make it happen! About Pelago Engineering: Our engineering team operates as empowered, outcome-oriented problem solvers, working in close partnership with product, design, and clinical teams to improve member outcomes at scale. As AI transforms how software is built, we are intentionally evolving our development lifecycle so we spend less time on mechanical implementation and more time on system design, judgment, and impact. How We Work: Outcome-driven: Engineers are given problems to solve, not just features to build. Success is measured by learning, impact, and outcomes—not velocity alone AI-native: We use AI across the SDLC to accelerate implementation, testing, and review. Engineers focus on defining intent, validating behavior, and designing resilient systems High autonomy, high accountability: Teams have real ownership over their domains. With autonomy comes responsibility for quality, safety, and results Cross-functional by default: Engineers partner deeply with Product, Design, Data, and Clinical. Discovery, experimentation, and delivery are shared responsibilities Quality and safety matter: We build in a regulated, member-impacting domain. Reliability, observability, and correctness are first-class concerns Overview of the Role: Pelago is looking for an Engineering Manager to lead and grow a high-performing team building AI-native products that improve outcomes for people living with substance use challenges. We believe the best leaders are also builders. In this role, you’ll lead from the front: pairing with engineers, architecting systems, and setting a high bar for technical excellence and curiosity across the team. You won’t just tell the team what to do; you’ll be in the trenches with them, prototyping, debugging, and helping turn ambitious product ideas into robust, user-facing features. You’ll foster a high-autonomy, high-accountability culture where engineers thrive, and you’ll help Pelago scale secure, reliable AI systems that patients and providers can trust. This is a hybrid role with a high-collaboration rhythm (3 days/week in our NYC office).

Requirements

Experience leading one or more engineering teams with accountability for technical execution, delivery, and quality across architecture, development, and production in fast-paced environments where speed and quality both matter.
Proven success guiding teams through the end-to-end delivery of complex, user-facing, AI-native products, from system design and technical decision-making through production and iteration.
Demonstrated ability to hire, mentor, and develop engineers across multiple career stages, fostering high-performing teams with strong ownership and accountability.
Strong technical judgment, with a track record of making sound tradeoffs around experimentation, technical debt, and long-term scalability.
Deep experience partnering cross-functionally with Product, Design, Data, and Clinical to align technical execution with user, clinical, and business outcomes.
Experience operating in high-growth, high-urgency environments, with a bias toward action, iteration, and forward momentum.
Strong judgment balancing speed and quality in fast-moving product cycles with meaningful technical complexity.

Responsibilities

Lead and grow a high-autonomy, high-accountability engineering team, mentoring engineers and fostering a culture of ownership, curiosity, and excellence.
Lead from the front as a hands-on builder, pairing with engineers to prototype, debug, and deliver robust, user-facing product experiences.
Drive end-to-end execution of AI initiatives, from rapid experimentation through secure, reliable production deployment with a high bar for quality and trust.
Help grow and strengthen our NYC engineering presence while collaborating closely with our London team, serving as a culture carrier and talent magnet as Pelago scales globally.
Shift the team from output to outcomes, framing ambiguous problem spaces, running fast learning loops, and ensuring work is measured by real member and business impact—not just shipped features.
Set technical direction and raise engineering standards, focusing reviews and decision-making on architecture, system behavior, and long-term scalability rather than implementation minutiae.
Champion an AI-native engineering culture, integrating modern AI tools (code generation, intelligent automation, AI-assisted testing) to accelerate velocity and dramatically increase team productivity.

Benefits

Generous and meaningful equity package
Full Medical, Dental, & Vision coverage
401k Plan
Unlimited PTO Policy, 10 paid holidays, & company wide “Me Time” Days
Paid maternity, paternity & new parent leave
Flexible working environment
Annual Learning and Development stipend to support continued learning and career development
Wellness Reimbursement Program
Access to Reproductive & Family Planning Care
Substance Use Support for employees and family members