Engineering Manager - SaaS & Voice AI

Role : Engineering Manager - SaaS & Voice AIAbout the Role : We are looking for an Engineering Manager to lead a team of 4 - 6 engineers working across our SaaS product and Voice AI platform.This is a hands-on working manager role - not a pure people-management position and not a hands-off strategic role. You will be expected to balance three responsibilities : 40% Technical Leadership : - Architecture reviews, design decisions, engineering quality standards, release discipline, and cross-functional technical strategy.30% People Leadership : - 1 : 1s, career development, hiring, performance management, team calibration, coaching, and protecting team focus.30% Hands-on Engineering : - Continue contributing to code, particularly on complex technical problems, prototypes, integrations, technical spikes, and team unblocking.Key Responsibilities : 1. Own Engineering Delivery : - Lead the engineering team and take ownership of end-to-end delivery.- Break down initiatives into executable technical tasks and sequence work effectively.- Remove technical and execution blockers.- Ensure projects are delivered against committed timelines without compromising engineering quality or team sustainability.- Proactively communicate risks, dependencies, and changes in priorities.2. Set the Technical Bar : - Lead architecture and technical design discussions across the product stack.- Establish and maintain standards for code quality, testing, observability, reliability, and production readiness.- Drive effective code review practices and engineering discipline.- Promote strong development, testing, deployment, and release practices.- Identify technical risks and scalability challenges before they become production issues.3. Grow and Develop the Team : - Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 4 - 6 engineers.- Conduct regular and meaningful 1 : 1 discussions.- Provide clear, timely, and constructive feedback.- Support engineers in defining and achieving their career-development goals.- Manage performance effectively and handle difficult conversations when required.- Participate in hiring, onboarding, talent assessment, and team development.- Build a culture of ownership, accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.4. Contribute Technically : - Remain hands-on and contribute directly to engineering work.- Design and review architecture across web applications, backend services, and AI/Voice integrations.- Write code for complex or high-impact problems.- Develop prototypes and technical spikes where required.- Support the team in troubleshooting and resolving challenging technical issues.- Help engineers move forward when they are blocked on critical technical problems.5. Partner with the CTO : - Work closely with the CTO to translate product and business priorities into technical plans.- Provide technical recommendations and highlight key trade-offs early.- Align engineering priorities with product and business objectives.- Take ownership of execution and ensure follow-through on technical initiatives.- Communicate technical challenges, risks, and opportunities effectively to leadership.6. Build the Engineering Operating Rhythm : - Establish effective engineering processes that enable the team to scale.- Drive sprint planning, retrospectives, release planning, and technical reviews.- Establish an effective release cadence.- Drive incident reviews and continuous improvement.- Strengthen engineering practices around production support, on-call, monitoring, and reliability.- Ensure processes add value rather than becoming unnecessary administrative activities.Required Skills & Experience : - 1.5 - 6+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 1 - 2 years in a Lead Engineer, Tech Lead, Engineering Manager, or similar engineering leadership role.- Strong programming skills with depth in at least two of the following technologies : Node.js, Python, React.- Comfortable working with and reviewing code in the third technology.- Strong understanding of software architecture, system design, scalability, performance, and reliability.- Ability to assess technical designs, identify critical assumptions, and anticipate potential system or scalability issues.- Demonstrated experience conducting 1 : 1s, providing performance feedback, coaching, and developing engineers.- Experience owning engineering delivery and working toward committed timelines.- Ability to communicate technical trade-offs, risks, and delivery challenges clearly and transparently.- Ability to work across multiple product areas, including SaaS and Voice AI, without requiring deep specialization in both from day one.- Strong communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and stakeholder-management skills.Good to Have : - Working knowledge of Go.- Experience with real-time or voice systems, including WebRTC, streaming pipelines, or similar technologies.- Experience with LLM, ASR, and TTS integrations.- Previous experience working in a startup or early-stage technology environment.- Experience as a founding engineer, early engineering leader, or first Engineering Manager.- Track record of hiring engineers and developing them into strong technical or people leaders.- Experience with observability, on-call, production support, incident management, and incident reviews.- Experience establishing engineering practices and processes within a growing organization.Candidate Profile : We are looking for an engineering leader who genuinely enjoys both technology and people leadership.You should be someone who can : - Think strategically about architecture while remaining close to the technology.- Lead and develop engineers while maintaining strong technical credibility.- Take ownership of delivery and commitments.- Make pragmatic technical decisions in a fast-moving environment.- Step into complex technical problems when required.- Build engineering processes and culture as the organization grows.This is a hands-on Engineering Manager role. Candidates looking to move completely away from coding and technical contribution may not be the right fit for this position.Key Skills : - Engineering Management, Technical Leadership, Software Architecture, System Design, Node.js, Python, React, Go, SaaS, Voice AI, WebRTC, LLM, ASR, TTS, Backend Development, Code Review, Agile, Team Management, People Development, Observability, On-call, Incident Management (ref:hirist.tech)