Forward Deployed Engineering Manager

SAP SE; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,000,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Job summary

SAP SE is seeking a senior engineering leader in Bengaluru to oversee AI-focused teams, coach engineers, and drive delivery quality across customer engagements.

You will collaborate with product, data, and go-to-market groups to ensure realistic plans, manage risks, and foster a culture of responsible AI and innovation.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in a customer-facing or delivery context.
• Strong foundation in AI/ML, data engineering, or software engineering with credibility to guide tech decisions.
• Ability to manage delivery across multiple workstreams while balancing quality and customer expectations.
• Excellent coaching and feedback skills with a focus on team growth and wellbeing.
• Aptitude to navigate ambiguity and prioritize in fast-moving, customer-embedded environments.
• Experience applying AI agents within delivery teams and customer settings.
• Strong collaboration with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience contributing to hiring, onboarding, and shaping engineering culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of engineers and AI practitioners, coaching and guiding career growth.
• Own team performance and delivery quality across engagements to meet technical standards and business goals.
• Manage multiple concurrent workstreams, balancing quality, speed, and customer expectations.
• Set priorities with tech leads and managers, ensuring realistic, well-resourced delivery plans.
• Act as primary contact for delivery risks and escalations, maintaining team health and cohesion.
• Build strong relationships with customer stakeholders and internal product, data, and GTM teams.

Skills

Team leadership

AI/ML expertise

Delivery management

Stakeholder comms

Hiring & onboarding

Ambiguity handling

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical coaching

Agentic AI context

Tools

SAP AI technologies

Job description

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We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging - but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong.

In this role, you will:

• Lead and develop a team of engineers and AI practitioners, providing regular coaching, feedback, and career growth support.
• Own team performance and delivery quality across assigned customer engagements, ensuring work meets technical standards and business objectives.

What you bring

• Proven experience managing engineering teams in a customer-facing or delivery-focused context, with a track record of building engaged and high-performing teams.
• Strong technical foundation in AI, machine learning, data engineering, or software engineering - with the credibility to support and guide your team's technical decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to manage delivery across multiple concurrent workstreams, balancing quality, speed, and customer expectations.
• Strong coaching and feedback skills, with a genuine commitment to the growth and wellbeing of the people you lead.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, manage competing priorities, and make decisions under pressure in fast-moving, customer-embedded environments.
• Proven ability to work in an Agentic AI context - understanding how AI agents are applied within delivery teams and customer environments.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills - effective with both technical team members and non-technical business stakeholders.
• Experience contributing to hiring, onboarding, and team culture in engineering organizations.
• Familiarity with SAP AI technologies and enterprise AI deployment realities is an advantage.

What you'll build

• Collaborate with technical leads and senior managers to set team priorities, manage workloads, and ensure delivery plans are realistic and well-resourced.
• Act as the primary point of contact for your team on delivery risks, technical escalations, and team health - resolving issues proactively.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with customer stakeholders and internal partners across product, data, and go-to-market teams.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and integration of new team members, contributing to a diverse and inclusive team culture.
• Champion engineering best practices, responsible AI principles, and continuous improvement within the team.
• Represent team insights, blockers, and successes to senior leadership, ensuring the team's voice and needs are heard and actioned.

Where you belong

You will be part of a growing AI and industry expert team serving customers across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. We are building an environment where great engineers are led by managers who genuinely invest in them. We value people leaders who are present, direct, and deeply committed to their team's success - not just delivery metrics. You will thrive here if you are energized by developing people, building team culture, and helping your team deliver meaningful AI outcomes for some of the world's most important enterprises.

Bring out your best

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP's culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone - regardless of background - feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Location: Bangalore, KA, IN, 562149

Employment Type: Regular Full Time

Expected Travel: 0 - 10%

Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid