Staff Software Engineering Manager, YouTube

Google; San Bruno (CA); On-site; USD 189,000 - 284,000; Full time

Job summary

Google’s YouTube division seeks a Staff Software Engineering Manager in San Bruno, CA to lead multiple teams and drive large-scale projects. You will influence product strategy, mentor engineers, and manage budgets while delivering impactful systems at scale.

You will oversee complex engineering efforts across sites, shaping technical direction and coordinating with stakeholders. The role emphasizes leadership, architecture, and hands-on coding when needed.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software development in languages such as Python, C, C++, Java, or JavaScript.
• 3 years in a technical leadership role overseeing strategic projects.
• 2 years of people management experience.

Responsibilities

• Set and communicate team priorities that support broader goals; align strategy and decisions.
• Set clear expectations with individuals based on level and role; provide feedback and coaching.
• Develop the mid-term technical vision and roadmap for one or more teams.
• Design, guide and vet systems designs and write product or system development code to solve ambiguous problems.
• Review code from other engineers and ensure best practices.

Skills

8+ years software development

3 years technical leadership

2 years people management

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Master's or PhD in CS or related field

Job description

Staff Software Engineering Manager, YouTube

YouTube

San Bruno, CA, USA

Advanced

Experience owning outcomes and decision making, solving ambiguous problems and influencing stakeholders; deep expertise in domain.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience with software development in one or more programming languages (e.g., Python, C, C++, Java, JavaScript).
• 3 years of experience in a technical leadership role; overseeing strategic projects, with 2 years of experience in a people management, supervision/team leadership role.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field.
• 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization.

About the job

Like Google's own ambitions, the work of a Software Engineer goes beyond just Search. Software Engineering Managers have not only the technical expertise to take on and provide technical leadership to major projects, but also manage a team of Engineers. You not only optimize your own code but make sure Engineers are able to optimize theirs. As a Software Engineering Manager you manage your project goals, contribute to product strategy and help develop your team. Teams work all across the company, in areas such as information retrieval, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking, security, data compression, user interface design; the list goes on and is growing every day. Operating with scale and speed, our exceptional software engineers are just getting started -- and as a manager, you guide the way.

With technical and leadership expertise, you manage engineers across multiple teams and locations, a large product budget and oversee the deployment of large-scale projects across multiple sites internationally.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $189,000-$284,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Set and communicate team priorities that support the broader organization's goals. Align strategy, processes, and decision-making across teams.
• Set clear expectations with individuals based on their level and role and aligned to the broader organization's goals. Meet regularly with individuals to discuss performance and development and provide feedback and coaching.
• Develop the mid-term technical vision and roadmap within the scope of your (often multiple) team(s). Evolve the roadmap to meet anticipated future requirements and infrastructure needs.
• Design, guide and vet systems designs within the scope of the broader area, and write product or system development code to solve ambiguous problems.
• Review code developed by other engineers and provide feedback to ensure best practices (e.g., style guidelines, checking code in, accuracy, testability, and efficiency).

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Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.

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