Engineering Manager - London

About InstaLILY

InstaLILY is an AI products and infrastructure company that puts execution at the frontier of enterprise AI. That work begins with Lily™, the world's first AI Forward Deployed Engineer, which learns how a business works, builds the software it needs, and goes live in days. It does not leave when the work ships; it stays and keeps the software working as the business changes. Lily runs wherever the work happens, in the cloud, on-premise, or at the edge, through InstaLILY's Small Data Center, built with NVIDIA technology. Founded in 2023 by Amit Shah and Sumantro Das, InstaLILY has raised nearly $100 million from Energize Capital, Insight Partners, and Home Depot Ventures. Headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, London, and Toronto, InstaLILY serves leading companies across construction, industrial distribution, logistics, healthcare, and other operationally intensive industries.

How We Work

We work in small teams with real ownership: clear problems, direct access to the customers whose work you're changing, and room to ship. Your code runs in live production systems inside billion-dollar operations, so you see your impact directly. People who do well here want that proximity to the work. We're growing fast, and the people who join now shape what this company becomes. Everything runs on three principles: Customers, Culture, and Code.

About the Role

As the founding Engineering Manager for the London office, you will also be the sole Lead Engineer in the UK, leading the technical direction and a team of engineers building and shipping the AI agent platform that runs inside our enterprise customers' workflows. You'll partner closely with Engineering, Product, and Growth to set direction, deliver on the roadmap, and grow the people on your team. You'll own a meaningful surface of the product, from architecture decisions to release quality to the careers of the engineers building it. This is a player-coach role. You won't be writing code full-time, but you'll be technically deep enough that your team trusts your judgment on the hard calls. This role is client-facing. You'll be in working sessions with enterprise stakeholders alongside your engineers, running technical discovery, defending architecture, and translating customer needs into a roadmap your team can execute.

Responsibilities

• People: Manage, coach, and grow a team of 6–10 engineers across levels; set clear expectations, run effective 1:1s, give honest feedback, and develop careers.
• Delivery: Own delivery for a meaningful product surface; partner with Product to scope, sequence, and ship.
• Technical: Partner with Lead Software Engineers on architecture, technical direction, and how we scale the platform.
• Customer: Be present in customer working sessions; help your team turn enterprise workflows into shipped features.
• Hiring: Own hiring for your team (sourcing, interviewing, closing) and raise the bar with every hire.

Requirements

• 6+ years of total software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping production systems.
• 2+ years managing engineers directly, including hiring, performance management, and growing people through promotions.
• Strong technical foundation: you can review system designs, debug production issues, and have informed opinions on AI/ML system architecture.
• AI-serious: you've led or contributed to shipping LLM-powered systems in production.
• Comfortable with the player-coach archetype: you don't want to stop being technical.
• Experience hiring engineers in a competitive market: sourcing, screening, closing.
• Comfortable in front of customers: you can run a working session with enterprise stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication: design docs, customer-facing updates, performance feedback, and exec-level summaries.
• Track record of building strong engineering culture and developing engineers into more senior versions of themselves.
• Bachelor's or Master's in CS, engineering, math, physics, or related.

What You'll Get

• Real scope: You'll own a meaningful surface of an AI platform with live enterprise customers.
• Proven product: Customers are live; this isn't a bet on an unproven thesis.
• AI-native: In how we build, how we work, and what we sell.
• Stage: Early enough to shape how the entire engineering org grows.
• Customer access: Real seats at the table with enterprise customers.
• Culture: Sharp, low-ego team that keeps raising the bar.
• Growth: The learning curve is steep, and you'll have direct exposure to executive leadership.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary Range: £125,000–£140,000 per year, commensurate with experience. Equity: Stock options awards, and refreshers for top performers. Benefits: Private medical, dental, and vision; pension contribution; in-office lunch reimbursement; wellbeing stipend; generous parental leave; PTO and UK bank holidays, and more!

Quality Over Quantity

To ensure a focused, high-quality hiring experience, we kindly ask candidates to limit their applications to 3 open requisitions at any given time. Applying strategically to roles that best align with your skills and career goals gives you the highest chance of standing out.

InstaLILY is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. If you require an accommodation, please let us know, and we will work with you to meet your needs.