Engineering Manager

Sierra Studio

1d•Remote

About The Position

Sierra Studio is an AI engineering studio and startup incubator that transforms customer ideas into reality. Based in Los Angeles, with teammates globally, we develop a wide range of software products, from web and mobile applications to advanced AI and large language models. As an Engineering Manager, you will lead one or more project teams, taking full ownership of end-to-end delivery while remaining closely involved with the code. Your responsibilities will include setting technical direction, mentoring and developing engineers, and collaborating with product, design, and clients to deliver high-quality products. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will dedicate more time to leading than a typical engineer, but will still be actively engaged in the codebase. As an early leader in a startup environment, you will also play a key role in shaping our engineering culture and development practices.

Requirements

Experience leading project teams and owning delivery end to end
Track record of mentoring and growing engineers
Strong communication skills — you can align a team, manage stakeholders, and give clear feedback
Experience turning vague asks into phased plans a team can execute
Fluent communication in English, written and verbal (our clients are US-based)
You’re still hands-on — a senior engineer who leads by example and stays close to the code
Strong architecture and technical decision-making across a project’s stack
Ability to run and support multiple projects at the same time
Experience with prompt engineering, RAG, and agentic patterns
Backend: Either Python (e.g. FastAPI) or TypeScript experience
Growth mindset: Ability to quickly learn new skills in the AI space
Uses AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code, etc.) to supercharge the team’s workflow

Nice To Haves

Experience building products with LLMs
Curiosity about new developments in AI
Experience partnering closely with product and design, and comfort shaping the "what" alongside the "how."
Consulting or client-facing experience integrating new systems into enterprise-owned infrastructure.
Comfort working through customer IT, security review, and change-management processes to get things live.

Responsibilities

Lead projects: Own the delivery of one or more client or internal projects, from scoping to shipping
Grow the team: Mentor engineers, give feedback, and help them level up
Stay technical: Architect solutions, review code, and jump in hands-on where it matters most
Hiring: Help us grow the team and interview future teammates
Client partnership: Work directly with founders and stakeholders to turn ideas into production products