Senior Manager, Software Engineering (REMOTE)

Leadout Capital; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Leadout Capital seeks an experienced Senior Engineering Manager to lead the Foundations team, the core platform underpinning all product engineering. You will hire and grow the team from 7 to 12 engineers, set growth plans, and ensure high standards in delivery, reliability, and operational discipline.

You will shape technical strategy and architecture for cloud infra, databases, deployment pipelines, and observability, while maintaining on-call discipline and incident response.

Qualifications

• Experience leading platform/infrastructure teams in high-growth environments.
• Deep technical fluency in cloud infra (AWS preferred), Kubernetes, IaC, CI/CD, and observability.
• Strong software engineering background with Go, Python, TypeScript, or Ruby.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the Foundations team from 7 to 12+ engineers with a high hiring bar.
• Drive architectural direction for platform and infra initiatives with a focus on reliability and scalability.
• Own on-call, incident response, and deployment/release management discipline.

Skills

Platform leadership

Cloud infrastructure

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Observability

Go

Python

TypeScript

Ruby

PostgreSQL

Communication

Tools

Terraform

Docker

AWS

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Senior Engineering Manager to lead our Foundations team — the team that owns the infrastructure and platform the rest of engineering builds on. From cloud infrastructure and databases to deployment pipelines, observability, and production operations, Foundations is responsible for keeping Qualified running reliably at scale while accelerating every product team that builds on top of it. You will grow the team from 7 to 12 engineers and drive its continued growth beyond that, while raising the bar on delivery, reliability, and technical direction. We're looking for a leader who combines deep platform and infrastructure fluency with people leadership, operational rigor, and a strong sense of urgency and accountability.

What You'll Do

Lead and Grow the Team: Hire and develop exceptional talent, growing the team from 7 to 12 and beyond while owning a high technical and cultural hiring bar. Ensure every engineer has a clear leveling path and growth plan, and handle underperformance directly, quickly, and professionally. Build a High-Trust, High-Standards Culture: Maintain an environment where engineers feel both supported and challenged. Be visibly engaged day-to-day in team channels, standups, and decision-making. Set a tone of urgency, accountability, and attention to detail; detect morale or performance issues early and act immediately. Model reliability through strong communication, follow-through, and consistent presence. Drive Delivery and Execution: Commit to quarterly goals with clear milestones and drive accountability to achieve them. Establish and maintain predictable delivery timelines, and stay actively engaged in day-to-day operational channels to make quick decisions and unblock the team. Set Technical Strategy and Architecture: Drive clear architectural direction for platform and infrastructure initiatives, guiding engineers with a detailed understanding of these domains. Provide decision frameworks for tradeoffs between speed, cost, and reliability, and proactively shape the roadmap around resiliency, scalability, and efficiency. Own Reliability and Operational Excellence: Ensure strong on-call and incident response discipline, continuously improve platform resiliency, and maintain oversight of deployment and release management with accountability at every stage.

What We're Looking For

• Experience managing platform, infrastructure, or foundational engineering teams in high-growth environments.
• Deep technical fluency across cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred), Kubernetes, infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD, and observability — you can guide architectural decisions in these domains with credibility and detail.
• Strong software engineering background with proficiency in languages such as Go, Python, TypeScript, or Ruby — this team builds software, not just operates systems.
• Experience operating SQL and RDBMS in production at scale (PostgreSQL preferred).
• A track record of operational excellence: building on-call programs, driving incident response discipline, and owning deployment and release management.
• Proficiency in agentic, AI-assisted development practices, with the ability to drive their adoption across a team.
• A "driver" mindset: proactive, outcomes-oriented, and unafraid to roll up your sleeves when needed.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, especially in cross-functional leadership settings.

Why Join Qualified

• Platform Impact at Scale: As a key leader, you'll own the team and technical direction behind the infrastructure that every product team at Qualified builds on — shaping the reliability, scalability, and velocity of the entire engineering organization.
• High-Growth Environment: Join us at a pivotal stage where you can establish best practices that will scale with our rapid growth and expansion.
• Cutting-Edge AI: Lead a team operating the platform behind AI-powered B2B products, and drive agentic engineering practices that define how modern platform teams work.
• Close Leadership Collaboration: Partner with engineering and product leadership to ensure platform strategy is integrated into strategic decision-making.

If you're ready to take on a high-visibility role where you'll build the team behind the platform and help shape the future of our AI-powered products, we'd love to hear from you.