Platform Engineering Leader: Scale Reliable Backend Systems

Rippling; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 207,000 - 345,000; Full time

Job summary

Rippling, based in San Francisco, seeks a Senior Engineering Manager to lead a platform team responsible for foundational backend systems and shared capabilities across products.

You will guide architectural decisions, balance long-term platform investments with near-term needs, and collaborate with product leaders to deliver scalable, reliable services.

You will mentor engineers, foster ownership, and raise the bar for code quality, security, and operational excellence across the organization.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience building backend platforms or distributed systems.
• 4+ years of engineering management leading high-performing teams.
• Experience building shared platforms, infrastructure, frameworks, or services used by other engineering teams.
• Strong technical depth in backend architecture and experience operating highly available systems at scale.
• Strong architectural judgment and the ability to balance long-term investments with near-term business needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a high-performing engineering team building foundational systems and shared platform capabilities.
• Define your team’s technical strategy and roadmap in partnership with engineering and product stakeholders.
• Drive the design, development, and operation of scalable, reliable, and highly performant backend systems.
• Partner with teams across Rippling to understand their needs and deliver capabilities that support multiple products.
• Lead complex initiatives from technical planning through delivery and adoption.
• Maintain a high bar for architecture, code quality, reliability, security, and operational excellence.
• Hire, mentor, and develop engineers, creating clear opportunities for growth and increasing technical ownership.
• Build a culture of accountability, collaboration, and thoughtful technical decision-making.
• Influence architectural decisions across teams and help evolve Rippling’s platform as the business scales.

Skills

Backend architecture

Distributed systems

Engineering management

Cross-team collaboration

Technical leadership

System design

Hiring and mentoring

Strategic planning

Communication

Job description

Rippling, based in San Francisco, seeks a Senior Engineering Manager to lead a platform team responsible for foundational backend systems and shared capabilities across products.

You will guide architectural decisions, balance long-term platform investments with near-term needs, and collaborate with product leaders to deliver scalable, reliable services.

You will mentor engineers, foster ownership, and raise the bar for code quality, security, and operational excellence across the organization.