At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a dynamic product engineering team while still coding and shaping the future of our product.
- Company: Join a cutting-edge AI research company focused on innovative solutions and team collaboration.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, unlimited vacation, flexible hours, and comprehensive health benefits.
- Other info: Be part of a small, agile team with significant growth opportunities and a supportive culture.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in AI safety while growing your leadership skills in a fast-paced environment.
- Qualifications: Strong engineering background with people management experience and a passion for coding.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
We are building Watcher, a coding agent security product. Watcher is deployed in production and monitors billions of agent tokens per month across engineering teams at agent-building scale-ups and multinational enterprises. We are now hiring our first dedicated Engineering Manager to lead the product engineering team. We are looking for a strong hands-on engineer who still ships code, and can own both the people management and the execution of the product engineering team. This is a player-coach role. Today, you will spend most of your time managing and coordinating, but still ship code. As the team grows, you’ll transition towards 100% leadership and management. The team is small today and is growing fast, so you will have significant say in shaping the team, the process, and the product, and your scope will grow with the team. You will report directly to Marius (CEO), who will own Watcher’s product direction and roadmap.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Execution and delivery management (~40%)
- Own the team's planning and tracking. Turn goals and customer commitments into concrete, well-scoped tickets with clear owners.
- Run the operating rhythm (planning, standups or async equivalents, retros).
- Track dependencies between product engineering, monitoring research, and infrastructure/security work, and proactively resolve conflicts.
- Translate between researchers and product engineers. Turn research outputs (new monitors, backtesting results) into scoped, prioritized engineering work.
- Track customer commitments (integration timelines, requested features, incident follow-ups) and coordinate releases, testing, documentation, and customer communication.
- Surface risks and slippage early, and proactively give Marius (CEO) an accurate, always-current picture of status.
- People management (~30%)
- Directly manage the product engineers. Run regular 1on1s, give direct and actionable feedback, and own their growth, performance, and wellbeing.
- Own performance management end to end. Set clear expectations, recognize strong work, and address underperformance early and honestly.
- Drive hiring for the team. Own the pipeline together with ops, run interview loops, close candidates, and onboard new engineers so they ship in their first weeks.
- Protect the team's focus. Shield engineers from thrash, keep meetings minimal, and make sure priorities are stable enough to execute against.
- Hands-on engineering (~30%)
- Ship code yourself. Features, bug fixes, internal tooling, and prototypes, primarily in Python and TypeScript.
- Set the technical bar, make architecture decisions, review code and establish norms, and release and incident processes.
- Build tooling that makes the team faster, including AI-assisted tooling for your own job (status reporting, ticket triage, ramp-up docs).
JOB REQUIREMENTS
Must-haves
- Strong engineering background. You worked as a software engineer for at least 4 years before managing. You still ship production code today.
- People management experience. You have hired, onboarded and managed small teams of engineers directly, or you have been a tech lead who de facto did this for at least 2 years.
- Execution ownership. You have run delivery for a multi-person engineering effort, turning goals into tickets, tracking them to completion, and being accountable for the outcome.
- High agency. You see what the team needs and do it without being asked.
- Direct communication. You give and take blunt feedback, address problems with people early and kindly.
- Startup pace. You are excited about a fast-moving environment, comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities.
- Comfortable leveraging AI heavily for management, coordination, and coding work.
Strong nice-to-haves
- Experience coordinating between research and engineering, or shipping products with an ML/research component.
- Customer-facing delivery experience, e.g. enterprise integrations, deployment projects, or technical account work.
BENEFITS
- This role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits.
- Flexible work hours and schedule.
- Unlimited vacation.
- Unlimited sick leave.
- Up to 6 months of paid parental leave.
- Comprehensive health, dental and vision insurance.
- Retirement savings with competitive employer matching.
- Lunch, dinner, and snacks are provided for all employees on workdays.
- Paid work trips, including staff retreats, business trips, and relevant conferences.
- A yearly $1,000 (USD) professional development budget.
- Relocation support and visa fees (if applicable).
LOGISTICS
- Time Allocation: Full-time.
- Location: This is an in-person role working out of our London or San Francisco office.
- Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas in both the UK and US.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The product team consists of product engineers and research scientists. Marius Hobbhahn (CEO) advises the team. Furthermore, you will interact with our other SWEs and researchers.
HOW TO APPLY
Please complete the application form with your CV. The provision of a cover letter is neither required nor encouraged.
Engineering Manager (Product) employer: Apollo Research
At Apollo Research, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration. Our London office provides a vibrant environment where engineers can thrive, with benefits such as unlimited vacation, flexible working hours, and a strong focus on professional development. As an Engineering Manager, you'll have the unique opportunity to shape a growing team while remaining hands-on in coding, ensuring both personal and team growth in a fast-paced, supportive setting.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Engineering Manager (Product)
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Apollo Research or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Apollo Research.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Apollo Research.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Apollo Research that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Engineering Manager (Product)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Apollo Research.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Apollo Research and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Apollo Research
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Apollo Research uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
