Senior Engineering Manager | AI Systems

MEET DEEPL DeepL is a global AI product and research company focused on building secure, intelligent solutions to complex business problems. Over 200,000 business customers and millions of individuals across 228 global markets today trust DeepL's Language AI platform for human-like translation, improved writing and real-time voice translation. Building on a history of innovation, quality and security, DeepL continues to expand its offerings beyond the field of Language, including DeepL Agent - an autonomous AI assistant designed to transform the way businesses and knowledge workers get work done. Founded in 2017 by CEO Jarek Kutylowski, DeepL now has over 1,000 passionate employees and is supported by world-renowned investors including Benchmark, IVP, and Index Ventures. Our goal is to become the global leader in trusted, intelligent AI technology, building products that drive better communication, foster connections, and create a meaningful impact. To achieve this, we need talented people like you to join our journey. If you’re ready to shape the future of AI and grow your career in a fast-moving, purpose-driven environment, DeepL is your next destination. WHAT SETS US APART What sets us apart is our blend of cutting-edge AI technology, meaningful work, and a culture where people truly thrive. We’re a team of innovators, researchers, and creators driven by a shared purpose to unlock human potential by making work simpler, smarter, and more connected. When we share what it’s like to work at DeepL, the reactions are overwhelmingly positive. This might be because of our technology that helps millions of people and businesses communicate and work better every day, or because of the trust, curiosity, and care that shape our culture. What we know for sure is this: being part of DeepL means joining a team dedicated to innovation, growth, and well-being. Discover more about life at DeepL onLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/deepl/,Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepl_official/, and our Blog https://www.deepl.com/en/blog. MEET THE TEAM BEHIND THIS JOURNEY You will lead the Workflow Platform team in the AI Systems track, sitting at the critical edge between Engineering and Research. The team builds and operates our central platform for implementing the AI-based workflows powering DeepL’s Translate, Write, and Voice products. The platform has two parts: - Engine: A distributed runtime (C++ & C#) that executes workflows at scale, handling load balancing and orchestration of requests to our neural networks. - Framework: Python libraries and tooling for implementing the workflows, enabling product teams to easily build and productionize AI capabilities. This is a high-leverage platform role: your work empowers internal product teams to run complex AI workflows in production at massive scale and with high reliability. You will lead a talented group of engineers solving hard distributed systems problems, ensuring our infrastructure stays ahead of our rapidly growing product ambitions. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES - People Leadership: Lead, mentor, and grow a distributed team of ~8 senior and staff engineers (expected to grow). You will be responsible for their well-being and growth through regular 1:1s, continuous feedback, performance reviews, and career coaching. This is a complex scope requiring you to dive deep into technical details while fostering a high-performing culture. - Strategy: Define the technical strategy and roadmaps in partnership with your technical Product Manager. You will fill a critical gap by establishing a clear technical vision for the platform, ensuring it can support the long-term needs of both Research and Product. Bring clarity, focus, and context to your team. - Execution & Delivery: Own the team's execution, delivery, and technical excellence. Drive continuous improvement of the team’s operations, practices, and technology to ensure reliable delivery at a high pace. Guide the team in complex system design discussions (e.g., latency, concurrency, scale) and technical planning. Uphold high standards for reliability, performance, scalability, security, and maintainability. - Stakeholder Management: Act as a central bridge between Research, Engineering, and Product. Communicate technical trade-offs clearly and build strong relationships with stakeholders across the business. You will be the key partner for Product teams relying on your platform to ship their features. - Contribute hands-on when needed: Become familiar enough with the team’s tech stack (C++, Python, C#) and system landscape to make targeted contributions and participate in the shared on-call rotation. You should be capable of reviewing code, analyzing metric data, and unblocking critical paths, maintaining your "engineering muscle". QUALITIES WE LOOK FOR - People management experience: 3+ years of direct people management experience, ideally managing a larger team (8+) or leading a team through significant growth and change. - Strong technical foundations: High level of hands-on technical experience in backend software development or research engineering. You must have a track record of working on complex, distributed systems and be capable of understanding deep technical topics. - Distributed systems experience: Proven experience designing, building, and operating scalable, highly available distributed systems. You are comfortable discussing trade-offs regarding performance, latency, and reliability in a high-scale environment. - A "People-First" approach: A deep commitment to the growth and well-being of your team, with proven experience in coaching, mentorship, and performance management. - Strong execution: A focus on execution and delivery, with a pragmatic approach to balancing technical excellence with the practical need to ship value. - Excellent problem-solver: The ability to break down complex, ambiguous problems into concrete, actionable steps for your team. - Clear communicator: Excellent communication skills in English with a strong sense of empathy. - Big Tech / Scale-up Background: Experience working in a company with hundreds of engineers (or similar size to DeepL) where you have seen what a high-performing engineering organization looks like. STAR QUALITIES - Leading a platform service team in a scale-up environment - High-performance, large-scale distributed systems (C++, Go, Rust) - Inference workflow orchestration and ML infrastructure - Building services on AWS. WHAT WE OFFER - Diverse and internationally distributed team: joining our team means becoming part of a large, global community with people of more than 90 nationalities. We're more than just colleagues; we're a group of professionals with a shared mission to connect diverse cultures. Our global presence is growing–we've doubled in size nearly every year, with our employees based in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the US, and Japan, and we continue to expand our network. - Open communication, regular feedback: as a language-focused company, we value the importance of clear, honest communication. We value smooth collaboration, direct and actionable feedback, and believe that leading with empathy and growth mindset makes us better together. - Hybrid work, flexible hours: we offer a hybrid work schedule, with team members coming into the office twice a week. This allows you to engage directly with your team and experience the unique energy of our workspace, while still enjoying the flexibility and comfort of working from home. With flexible working hours and trust in your productivity, we are in sync with your team’s general locations and time zones to foster effective and seamless collaboration. - Virtual Shares - An ownership mindset in every role. We believe everyone should share in our success, and that’s why every employee receives Virtual Shares, linking your contribution directly to DeepL’s growth and rewarding you with a stake in our future. - Regular in-person team events: we bond over vibrant events that are as unique as our team, from local team and business unit gatherings, to new-joiner onboardings, to company-wide events that bring us all together–literally. - Monthly full-day hacking sessions: every month, we have Hack Fridays, where you can spend your time diving into a project you're passionate about and get the opportunity to work with other teams–we value your initiatives, impact, and creativity. - 30 days of annual leave: we value your peace of mind. With 30 days off (excluding public holidays) and access to mental health resources, we make sure you're as strong mentally as you are professionally. - Competitive benefits: just as our team spans the globe, so does our benefits package. We've crafted it to reflect the diversity of our team and tailored it to align with your unique location, to ensure you feel supported every step of the way. If this role and our mission resonate with you, but you're hesitant because you don't check all the boxes, don't let that hold you back. At DeepL, it's all about the value you bring and the growth we can foster together. Go ahead, apply—let's discover your potential together. We can't wait to meet you! WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER You are welcome at DeepL for who you are—we appreciate authenticity here. Our product is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all succeed, contribute, and think forward! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our diversity that we will find the power to break down language barriers in the world.