Sr Mgr, Product Engineering

W. W. Grainger; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 166,000 - 224,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

PTO 18 days

Company holidays 6

401(k) company match

Employee discounts

Tuition reimbursement

Student loan refinancing

Financial counseling

Maternity support

Nursing benefits

Parental leave 14 weeks

Parental leave 4 weeks

Job summary

W.W. Grainger, Inc. seeks a Senior Engineering Manager to lead cross-functional software and quality engineering teams (up to 20 people) within the Grainger Technology Group in a hybrid Chicago setting (8 days onsite per month).

You will report to the Director of Engineering, Product Information Management, and guide the organization toward scalable, AI-enabled delivery. The role emphasizes people-first leadership, roadmap ownership, and collaboration with Product, Architecture, and Machine

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in a technical role.
• 3+ years of people management or team leadership.
• Experience leading engineers across product, architecture, and ML domains.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple cross-functional teams supporting PIM domains and supplier systems.
• Shape and drive the roadmap in partnership with Product, Architecture, and ML teams.
• Ensure modern, resilient PIM systems delivering measurable business impact.
• Mentor engineers across levels and build a high-performing, inclusive culture.
• Champion DevOps, CI/CD, and cloud-native practices to improve delivery velocity.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cross-functional teams

AI/ML collaboration

People management

Cloud & DevOps

Education

Bachelor's in CS/Engineering or related

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

W.W. Grainger, Inc. is a leading broad line distributor with operations primarily in North America and Japan. At Grainger, We Keep the World Working®by serving more than4.6 million customersworldwide with maintenance, repair andoperating(MRO) products and value-added solutions delivered through innovative technology and deep customerexpertise. Known for its commitment to service and purpose-driven culture, the Company reported2025 revenue of$17.9 billion. For more information, visitwww.grainger.com.

Compensation

The anticipated base pay compensation range for this position is $146,200 - $243,600 for a Chicago based role. This role is eligible for an incentive target of up to 20%, based on the achievement of individual and company performance objectives in accordance with the current terms of the incentive program which are subject to change.

Sponsorship

This position is not eligible for any form of sponsorship now or in the future. Individualsrequiringsponsorship (e.g.OPT or H1B visa status) should not apply. Only individuals authorized to work in the United States now and for the foreseeable future will be considered for this position

Rewards and Benefits

With benefits starting on day one, our programs provide choice and flexibility to meet team members' individual needs, including:

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment and 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist to support your emotional wellbeing.
• 18 paid time off (PTO) days annually for full-time employees (accrual prorated based on employment start date) and 6 company holidays per year.
• 6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required.
• Employee discounts, tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.
• Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents.

For additional information and details regarding Grainger’s benefits, please click on the link below:

The pay range provided above is not a guarantee of compensation. The range reflects the potential base pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual base pay compensation will depend, in part, on factors such as geographic work location and relevant experience and skills.

The anticipated compensation range described above is subject to change and the compensation ultimately paid may be higher or lower than the range described above.

Grainger reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion at any time, consistent with applicable law.

This role will join the Grainger Technology Group (GTG) in the department of Product Engineering. GTG builds powerful digital capabilities and advances technology-driven outcomes. It focuses on delivering compelling, value-added MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) solutions by investing in three core areas: Team Member Tools, Information Assets, and Customer Experiences. These areas are built and improved through cycles of experimentation and innovation

As a Senior Engineering Manager, you will oversee cross-functional, distributed teams of software and quality engineers (up to 20 people), fostering a collaborative environment across engineering, product, architecture and machine learning. The ideal candidate is a proven problem solver, an innovator, and a results-driven leader who thrives in fast-paced settings. You bring a modern technical perspective, a people-first leadership style and a passion for building scalable systems.

This highly visible role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact at Grainger. You will report to the Director of Engineering, Product Information Management, and work on a hybrid schedule based in downtown Chicago (8 days per month onsite).

What You’ll Do:

Own Your Respective PIM Domains

• Lead multiple cross-functional team supporting our supplier gather systems and syndication touchpoints.
• Identify and drive the building and support of a unified foundation of shared components that enable product teams to move faster with confidence across all of PIM.
• Support the integration of and deployment of Machine Learning models into current platform capabilities within PIM and supplier gather assets.
• Shape the roadmap in close partnership with Product, Architecture, and Machine Learning.
• Ensure Grainger’s PIM systems are modern, resilient, and delivering measurable business impact.

Lead and Develop Engineering Teams

• Manage and mentor a group of engineers of all levels.
• Build a strong, inclusive, and high-performing culture grounded in psychological safety, continuous learning, and technical excellence.
• Drive clear goals, accountability, and autonomy for your teams.
• Support hiring, onboarding, career growth, and succession planning.

Improve Systems and Execution

• Strengthen agile practices, engineering quality, observability, and operational rigor.
• Use metrics to assess system health, delivery velocity, and customer outcomes.
• Partner with peers across the organization to remove blockers, align strategy, and prioritize wisely.
• Champion your teams’ DevOps, CI/CD, and cloud-native best practices (containers, serverless, IaC, etc.).

You Have:

• 7+ years of work experience in a technical capacity
• 3 or more years of people management or team leadership.
• A bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related study or equivalent project-related experience. Master's degree preferred.
• Ability to weigh multiple facets to make strong decisions in an enterprise environment with a diverse set of stakeholders
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to conduct effective performance conversations.
• You bring a track record of putting AI and machine learning to work inside your teams, championing agentic development tools, AI-assisted coding, and automation that lift delivery velocity and engineering quality.
• You have partnered closely with Machine Learning teams to integrate and deploy models into platform capabilities, turning ML potential into shipped, measurable business impact.
• You lead engineers through AI adoption with a people-first approach, building a culture of continuous learning that turns emerging AI capabilities into practical, scalable team practices.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills ensuring effective collaboration with team members, stakeholders, and vendors. Experience working with onshore/offshore contractors and managing vendors

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible work environment that includes both providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process as well as throughout the course of one’s employment, should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, including, but not limited to use of our website, any part of the application, interview or hiring process, please advise us so that we can provide appropriate assistance.