Modal

Systems Engineering Manager

Modal1 months ago
Location

New York

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 250,000 – 350,000

Level

Manager

Role

Engineering Manager

Posted

Feb 3, 2026

Full TimeManager

The role

Summary

Modal is seeking an experienced Systems Engineering Manager to lead a high-performance team developing cutting-edge AI infrastructure solutions. The ideal candidate will combine strong technical expertise in distributed systems with exceptional leadership skills, driving innovation in cloud computing and performance optimization.

What you'll do

Team Leadership: Lead a group of highly experienced engineers, setting technical direction and removing organizational blockers
Technical Contribution: Spend approximately 50% of time on direct technical work, contributing to complex systems development
Engineering Culture: Foster a strong engineering culture that emphasizes technical excellence, rapid iteration, and impactful problem-solving
Strategic Planning: Develop and implement strategies for distributed computing, large-scale data handling, and performance optimization

What we look for

Technical

Distributed SystemsProven experience building high-performance distributed systems at large scale
Cloud InfrastructureStrong background in cloud infrastructure and serverless computing technologies
Systems ProgrammingProficiency in systems-level languages including Rust, C, C++, or Java
Operating SystemsDeep knowledge of low-level operating system foundations including Linux kernel, file systems, and container technologies

Education

Technical DegreeBachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field preferred

Experience

Industry ExperienceMinimum of 10 years of industry experience, including 3+ years in a leadership role
Leadership SkillsDemonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing engineering teams

Skills

Required skills

Distributed SystemsExpert-level understanding of distributed computing architectures
LeadershipStrong people management and technical leadership capabilities
Systems ProgrammingAdvanced proficiency in low-level systems programming languages

Nice to have

Open Source ContributionsExperience with or contributions to open-source infrastructure projects
AI InfrastructureBackground in AI and machine learning infrastructure development

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 250,000 – 350,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Equity

Stock options in a high-growth AI infrastructure startup valued at $1.1B

Professional Growth

Opportunities to work with creators of popular open-source projects and experienced engineering leaders

Innovative Environment

Join a fast-growing AI infrastructure organization at an early stage with significant growth potential

Interview process

  1. 1
    Initial Screening — Phone or video call with recruiting team to assess initial fit
  2. 2
    Technical Leadership Interview — In-depth discussion of technical leadership experience and management approach
  3. 3
    Systems Design Interview — Technical interview focusing on distributed systems design and problem-solving
  4. 4
    Team Fit Interview — Meeting with potential team members to assess cultural and collaborative fit
  5. 5
    Final Leadership Discussion — Conversation with senior leadership to align on role expectations and company vision
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Modal

Modal

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Modal is a cloud computing platform that enables developers to build, deploy, and scale applications without managing underlying infrastructure. The company provides serverless computing solutions that allow developers to run code on demand, handle background jobs, and deploy machine learning models with minimal operational overhead. Modal serves software developers and organizations looking to streamline their application development and deployment processes in the cloud.

San Francisco, USAFounded 2021modal.com

Tech Stack

Languages
RustCC++Java
Tools
KubernetesDocker
Other
Linux
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