Engineering Manager (Player-Coach) – AI, React, TypeScript, AWS
Worldwide
Position Details -Job Title: Engineering Manager -Employment Type: Full-Time -Location: Remote (Canada & United States) -Reports To: Chief Technology Officer (CTO) -Start Date: Early August 2026 (Mid-July preferred) Compensation Canada: CAD $63–65/hour United States: USD $55–60/hour About the Role: This is an execution and people leadership role reporting to the CTO. The team comprises approximately 7 engineers — a mix of full-time staff and embedded external developers — split across two workstreams: the existing Builder product and the AI Builder. The successful candidate will: -Unify a currently fragmented Landing Page Builder group into one coherent unit with a shared sprint board and delivery cadence -Bring real Scrum discipline to delivery — story sizing, sprint commitments, burndowns, and retrospectives -Manage a hybrid team of engineers and embedded vendor developers through a legacy-to-AI-native product transition, including clean vendor offboarding and knowledge transfer -Balance parallel workstreams — maintaining the existing Builder while shipping the AI Builder — without starving either -Lead the team's adoption of agentic engineering workflows and tooling -Partner with the CTO, VP of Product, peer Engineering Managers, and the Director of Data & AI/ML Engineering to keep engineering a credible voice in roadmap conversations What We Need to See in Candidates: -5–8 years of engineering experience, with 3+ years managing teams of 8 or more in a SaaS environment -Proven experience leading a team through a legacy-to-modern product transition — parallel workstreams, deprecation planning, shipping new product alongside active maintenance -Demonstrated experience shipping AI-powered or agentic features that are actually in production (not just POCs) -Experience managing hybrid teams of full-time staff and embedded vendor or contractor developers, with accountability for standards, knowledge transfer, and clean offboarding -Solid technical depth — this is a hands-on "player coach" role, with 30–40% of time spent on feature delivery, code review, and pairing with the team -Hands-on experience with the stack: React, Tailwind, GraphQL, AWS, Postgres, DynamoDB, TypeScript (Python, GrapesJS, MySQL, Ruby, Java, Clojure, OpenTofu, and Radix are valuable pluses) -Modern engineering discipline: CI/CD maturity, code review culture, observable velocity, and delivery predictability. Comfortable working alongside a CTO in a clear division of responsibilities — executing on direction, and pushing back credibly when needed -A genuine track record of developing senior engineers into technical leaders Culture Fit We are looking for someone who: -Moves with urgency and doesn't wait for permission -Treats AI as a real capability multiplier rather than a buzzword -Measures success by how much they unblock and upskill others -Builds momentum without leaving people behind -Stays calm under uncertainty — the roadmap and team composition are still being shaped, and this candidate thrives in that environment -Is decisive on people and process without requiring consensus Submission Requirements: Please include the following for every candidate: Full resume A short 2–3-minute video introduction covering the candidate’s relevant experience and response to the pre-screening question: "Tell me about a time you led an engineering team through a legacy-to-modern product transition while managing a hybrid team of full-time and vendor developers. How did you split attention between keeping the legacy product stable and shipping the new one, and what is an AI-powered or agentic feature you helped get into production?" Please add the link under Additional Background Material on the submission. Important Note: The candidate must be in the US and Canada. Proposals without a Loom video will not be considered.
- More than 30 hrs/weekHourly
- 6+ monthsDuration
- ExpertExperience Level
$55.00
-
$60.00
Hourly- Remote Job
- Ongoing projectProject Type
Skills and Expertise
Activity on this job
- Proposals:20 to 50
- Last viewed by client:3 hours ago
- Interviewing:4
- Invites sent:0
- Unanswered invites:0
About the client
- United StatesSherman Oaks12:40 PM
- $1.1K total spent7 hires, 0 active
- 23 hours
- Tech & ITMid-sized company (10-99 people)
Explore similar jobs on Upwork
How it works
Create your free profileHighlight your skills and experience, show your portfolio, and set your ideal pay rate.
Work the way you wantApply for jobs, create easy-to-by projects, or access exclusive opportunities that come to you.
Get paid securelyFrom contract to payment, we help you work safely and get paid securely.
About Upwork
- 4.9/5(Average rating of clients by professionals)
- G2 2021#1 freelance platform
- 49,000+Signed contract every week
- $2.3BFreelancers earned on Upwork in 2020
Find the best freelance jobs
Growing your career is as easy as creating a free profile and finding work like this that fits your skills.
Trusted by