Senior Manager - Software Engineering Management - AI Engineering

ServiceNow•Santa Clara, CA

23h•$201,300 - $352,300•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for a senior engineering manager who leads a high-performing team of software engineers building AI-native and cloud-native applications on the ServiceNow platform. The Senior Manager combines deep technical credibility with strong people management capabilities, fostering a culture of innovation, ownership, and continuous learning. They are responsible for team performance, career development, hiring, and execution of key business initiatives. This role requires the ability to balance people development with business results, think strategically about AI integration and platform architecture, and influence across the organization to enable team success. The ideal candidate brings experience scaling AI-native teams and a passion for building leaders.

Requirements

12+ years of professional software development experience, with 5+ years in AI-native systems, cloud-native architecture, or equivalent
4+ years of people management experience leading software engineers; track record of developing talent and building high-performing teams
3+ years managing application development on SaaS platforms (ServiceNow, Salesforce, or similar); deep understanding of platform architecture and constraints
3+ years hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, LLM integration, prompt engineering, and responsible AI practices
Demonstrated expertise in hiring, team building, and organizational development; ability to attract and develop top talent
Expert-level understanding of modern software engineering practices: CI/CD, testing, security, deployment
Strong technical credibility; ability to engage in technical discussions with IC4/IC5 engineers; hands-on coding experience still valued
Deep proficiency in Python, Java, and JavaScript; understanding of ServiceNow scripting and platform APIs
Track record of delivering significant business results through engineering teams; ability to drive accountability and execution
Experience scaling teams and organizations; demonstrated ability to work at multiple levels of complexity
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills; ability to influence across technical and non-technical stakeholders
Strong coaching and mentoring skills; ability to develop engineers across all career stages
Experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies; ability to adapt to team and organizational needs
Demonstrated understanding of data security, compliance, and responsible AI practices
Strong emotional intelligence; ability to navigate difficult conversations and build trust
Experience with performance management, feedback delivery, and difficult personnel decisions
Passion for building inclusive, psychologically safe teams where all engineers can thrive
Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, business, or related field
Experience leading teams through organizational change, technical migrations, or strategic initiatives
Active engagement with engineering and AI/ML communities; thought leadership through speaking, writing, or open source is a plus
Experience working with diverse teams and commitment to building inclusive organizations

Nice To Haves

MBA or management certification is a plus; however, demonstrated people leadership capability is more important
Track record of developing talent into senior engineering leadership roles or managers

Responsibilities

Build, grow, and maintain a high-performing, diverse team of IC2-IC5 engineers; hire and develop talent at all levels
Set clear expectations for individual and team performance; establish metrics and goals aligned with business objectives
Conduct regular 1:1s with direct reports; provide coaching, feedback, and career guidance tailored to each engineer's growth stage
Create a culture of psychological safety, learning, and ownership; encourage experimentation and learning from failures
Support engineers through career transitions—from IC2 to IC3, IC3 to IC4, and technical-to-management pathways
Identify high-potential engineers and invest in their development; prepare emerging leaders for increased responsibility
Address performance issues promptly and professionally; provide clear paths for improvement or transition
Sponsor team members for growth opportunities, stretch assignments, and leadership development programs
Celebrate wins and recognize contributions; foster a positive, collaborative team environment
Model vulnerability, continuous learning, and AI-native thinking; lead by example in your own growth
Define hiring strategy and conduct recruitment for open positions; build a pipeline of qualified candidates
Lead technical interviews and assessments for engineering candidates at all IC levels; make hiring decisions
Partner with HR and recruiting teams on job descriptions, sourcing strategies, and candidate pipeline management
Evaluate cultural fit and potential; hire for values and growth potential, not just current skills
Onboard new engineers effectively; assign mentors and ensure smooth integration into the team
Build a team with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives; actively work to improve representation
Identify gaps in team capabilities (technical depth, domain expertise, AI/ML fluency) and address through hiring or development
Build relationships with external technical communities to attract and recruit top talent
Participate in employer branding and represent the organization at recruiting events and universities
Work with product, design, and cross-functional partners to define product roadmap and technical strategy aligned with business goals
Establish technical direction for the team; make architecture and technology decisions that balance innovation, quality, and delivery
Ensure the team's technical approach stays current with AI/ML advancements and ServiceNow platform evolution
Champion AI-native thinking across the team and organization; help teammates understand how to build with AI at the core
Lead architectural reviews and technical decision-making; provide guidance on complex technical trade-offs
Advocate for technical investments (refactoring, infrastructure, tooling) that improve team productivity and code quality
Set quality standards for code, testing, and security; establish practices that enable sustainable delivery
Partner with IC4/IC5 engineers to set multi-year technical roadmaps and long-term strategic initiatives
Represent the engineering team in product and executive discussions; influence organizational priorities
Drive team delivery of committed business objectives and product initiatives; maintain accountability for results
Establish clear sprint goals, work-item prioritization, and delivery timelines; remove blockers for team success
Track team metrics: velocity, quality, customer satisfaction, incident response, deployment frequency
Conduct regular retrospectives; identify process improvements and drive adoption of better practices
Manage team capacity; balance new feature development, technical debt reduction, and customer support
Ensure team participation in on-call rotation; monitor incident response and post-incident learning
Report on team progress, risks, and performance to senior leadership; provide transparent communication
Escalate critical issues or resource constraints; collaborate with peer managers to solve cross-team dependencies
Foster a culture of ownership where engineers take responsibility for quality, testing, and production outcomes
Lead team through organizational changes and initiatives; maintain morale and focus during transitions
Build and maintain relationships with key customers and stakeholders; understand their needs and priorities
Participate in customer meetings, technical escalations, and business reviews; represent engineering capabilities and constraints
Work closely with product management, customer success, and other teams; ensure alignment on priorities and capabilities
Lead customer-critical incident response; ensure timely and professional resolution of critical issues
Gather customer feedback and translate into product improvements; communicate back to customers how feedback is addressed
Advocate for customers' needs within the engineering organization; ensure customer voice is heard in decision-making
Build trust and credibility with customers through transparency, responsiveness, and technical leadership
Participate in strategic customer discussions and technology roadmap reviews
Model the organization's values and desired behaviors; set tone for engineering culture within your team and across teams
Contribute to hiring and interview training of other managers; build bench strength in people leadership
Mentor junior managers or peers; contribute to manager development and leadership pipeline
Participate in engineering leadership meetings; contribute to organizational strategy and policy
Promote psychological safety, inclusion, and belonging; actively work to reduce barriers for underrepresented groups
Foster knowledge sharing across the organization; encourage your team to contribute to brown bags, documentation, and communities
Lead by example in work-life balance, continuous learning, and sustainable pace; prevent burnout
Encourage your team to engage with the broader tech community (conferences, open source, speaking, writing)
Develop deep understanding of AI/ML capabilities, limitations, and integration patterns; become a thought leader on AI-native development
Coach your team on AI-native thinking—how to build systems with AI at the core, not as an afterthought
Help engineers understand prompt engineering, retrieval systems, agentic workflows, and responsible AI principles
Establish practices for evaluation-driven development, hallucination detection, and model performance monitoring
Lead discussions on AI safety, data privacy, and responsible AI; ensure team builds with appropriate guardrails
Create learning opportunities for the team to stay current with AI/ML advancements and frameworks
Identify opportunities to apply AI to improve internal processes and team efficiency
Contribute to organizational conversations about AI strategy and responsible AI practices
Stay informed about LLM advancements, new models, and emerging techniques; share insights with your team