Systems Engineering Manager

Modal Labs; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Modal Labs in New York City is hiring an Engineering Manager to lead a group of highly experienced engineers. This hands-on leadership role splits time between technical contribution and people management as the team tackles distributed computing, large-scale data handling, and performance optimization.

You will set direction, remove blockers, and foster a strong engineering culture, collaborating across teams and mentoring engineers to move fast while delivering impactful systems.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years of industry experience, including 3 years in a leadership role.
• Experience building high-performance distributed systems at a large scale.
• Strong background in cloud infrastructure.
• Proficient in systems-level languages (Rust, C, C++, Java).
• Strong knowledge of Linux kernel, file systems, containers, etc.

Responsibilities

• Lead a group of experienced engineers, balancing hands-on contribution with people management.
• Set direction, remove blockers, and foster a strong engineering culture.
• Collaborate with teams to tackle complex systems challenges in distributed computing and data handling.
• Mentor engineers to move fast and make sound technical decisions.

Skills

Leadership

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

OS foundations

Tools

Rust

C

C++

Java

Job description

About Us:

Modal provides the infrastructure foundation for AI teams. With instant GPU access, sub-second container startups, and native storage, Modal makes it simple to train models, run batch jobs, and serve low-latency inference. We have thousands of customers who rely on us for production AI workloads, including Lovable, Scale AI, Substack, and Suno.

We're a fast-growing team based out of NYC, SF, and Stockholm. We've hit 9-figure ARR and recently raised a Series B at a $1.1B valuation. Our investors include Lux Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Amplify Partners, and Elad Gil.

Working at Modal means joining one of the fastest-growing AI infrastructure organizations at an early stage, with many opportunities to grow within the company. Our team includes creators of popular open-source projects (e.g. Seaborn, Luigi), academic researchers, international olympiad medalists, and experienced engineering and product leaders with decades of experience.

The Role:

We’re looking for an Engineering Manager to lead a group of highly experienced engineers. This is a hands‑on leadership role where you’ll spend roughly half your time on technical contribution and half on people management, depending on the need. You’ll work closely with the team to set direction, remove blockers, and foster a strong engineering culture as they tackle complex systems challenges in distributed computing, large‑scale data handling, and performance optimization.

Who You Are

We think you are an experienced engineering leader who thrives close to the work and enjoys building alongside their team when needed. You earn trust through technical depth, communicate with clarity, and help great engineers move fast and make sound decisions. You thrive in a fast paced environment, you are pragmatic, calm under pressure, and focused on impact.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of industry experience, including 3 years experience in a leadership role
• Experience building high-performance distributed systems at a large scale
• Strong background in cloud infrastructure
• Strong knowledge of low-level operating system foundations (Linux kernel, file systems, containers, etc.)
• Proficient in systems-level languages such as Rust, C, C++, or Java