Engineering Manager

Compass•Seattle, WA

12d•$194,130 - $215,700

About The Position

At Compass, our mission is to help everyone find their place in the world. Founded in 2012, we’re revolutionizing the real estate industry with our end-to-end platform that empowers residential real estate agents to deliver exceptional service to seller and buyer clients. As the Engineering Manager for the Staff AI Enablement Team, you will lead the execution engine of our lean AI Engineering Hub. While our Tier 1 Platform Team builds foundational AI primitives, your team’s mission is Business Integration & Deep Automation. You will partner directly with Compass’s highest-volume operations departments—such as Finance, Legal, HR, and Brokerage Operations—to build deep, programmatic AI workflows that streamline back-office operations and secure millions in operational savings. You will manage a lean, agile, and high-performing squad consisting of core full-time Compass engineers and a flexible pool of strategic contractors. This is an execution-focused role where you will translate business needs into technical requirements, unblock development velocity, and ensure that our integrations are secure, performant, and built upon our centralized platform foundation. If you are a collaborative leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about solving real business problems with cutting-edge AI, we want to hear from you.

Requirements

Technical Background: 8+ years of software engineering experience, with a solid understanding of software design patterns, APIs, and modern cloud backend architectures.
People Management Experience: 3+ years of experience directly managing software engineering teams, with a track record of hiring, developing, and motivating engineering talent.
Familiarity with the AI/LLM Ecosystem: Practical understanding of building applications using Generative AI, including prompt orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), LLM APIs, and vector databases.
Operational Execution Skills: Proven ability to manage a team's backlog, protect developers from over-commitment, make resource trade-offs, and predictably ship software.
Experience with Hybrid Team Models: Demonstrated capability in directing and reviewing the work of both internal FTEs and external agency contractors, ensuring quality standards remain high.
Strong Communication & Stakeholder Empathy: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex technical constraints into clear business terms for stakeholders.
Security & Compliance Awareness: Solid understanding of data security concepts, specifically managing secure IAM permissions, protecting data privacy, and shielding PII.

Responsibilities

Lead Execution: Own the day-to-day agile development processes of the enablement squad. Successfully prioritize deliverables, manage planning, and resolve blockers to maintain high team productivity.
Nurture and Develop Talent: Directly manage, mentor, and grow a hybrid team of full-time software engineers and contractors. Provide clear performance standards, support technical skill development, and guide career pathing.
Partner with Business Stakeholders: Collaborate closely with corporate departments to deeply understand their workflows, and translate ambiguous operational requests into clear, structured, and phased integration specifications.
Deliver on AI Automations: Lead the implementation of robust, testable, and maintainable AI-driven integrations utilizing centralized platform primitives (agent orchestration, LLM gateways, and IAM guardrails).
Champion Engineering Excellence: Enforce high-quality development practices on your team, including rigorous code reviews, automated testing, and comprehensive system documentation.
Manage Operational Metrics: Monitor and optimize integration-specific metrics (e.g., API latency, token consumption, and automation success rates). Establish necessary logging, telemetry, and sustainable incident support processes.
Bridge Communication Gaps: Drive clear and concise business and technical discussions, writing high-quality project plans, technical specifications, and postmortems to keep both engineering and non-technical partners aligned.