Engineering Manager (API Platform)

Perplexity AI4 days ago

Location

San Francisco

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 300,000 – 405,000

Level

Manager

Role

Engineering Manager

Posted

Jun 11, 2026

Full TimeManager

The role

Summary

Perplexity AI is seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead the API Platform team, driving the development of cutting-edge programmatic interfaces for frontier AI technologies. The ideal candidate will provide technical leadership, design mission-critical APIs, and scale the team's capabilities to meet exponential growth in AI-driven customer needs.

What you'll do

Technical Leadership: Provide comprehensive technical and team leadership for the API Platform engineering team, guiding strategic technical direction and team growth.

API Development: Design, build, and operate mission-critical APIs that provide customers with building blocks for frontier intelligence, focusing on reliability and innovative capabilities.

Product Strategy: Continuously reimagine future customer needs and architectures while maintaining high-quality service for current customer workloads.

Team Development: Oversee hiring, onboarding, and mentorship processes, developing rigorous interview pipelines and collaborating closely with recruiting teams.

Cross-Team Collaboration: Collaborate across teams to integrate novel frontier AI capabilities into the API Platform and improve existing capabilities for customer needs.

Business Alignment: Track and ensure progress toward top-line business goals in close coordination with engineering and business executives.

What we look for

Technical

Programming LanguagesProficiency in Python, with bonus points for Go and/or Rust experience

API DesignAdvanced understanding of high-traffic API design, including schema evolution, versioning, idempotency, authentication, rate limiting, and performance tuning

AI TechnologyExperience with modern AI APIs, including latency tuning, streaming, model orchestration, and emerging technical standards

Education

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

Experience

Management ExperienceMinimum 3 years of engineering management experience

Total Engineering Experience8+ years of overall engineering experience

Skills

Required skills

Technical LeadershipAbility to guide highly-opinionated teams in making sound technical tradeoffs and prioritization decisions

Team ManagementExperience in recruiting, growing, and retaining high-caliber engineering talent

Product SenseStrong customer empathy and ability to design ergonomic, well-documented APIs for developers and AI agents

Nice to have

AI InfrastructureDeep understanding of AI system design, distributed systems, and performance optimization

Startup ExperienceExperience in fast-growing, innovative technology environments

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 300,000 – 405,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Equity Compensation

Stock options or equity package as part of total compensation

Competitive Salary

Salary range of $300K - $405K commensurate with experience

Cutting-Edge Technology

Opportunity to work on frontier AI technologies and innovative API platforms

Interview process

1
Initial Screening — HR review of application and initial phone screen
2
Technical Interview — Detailed technical discussion focusing on API design, system architecture, and leadership experience
3
Leadership Assessment — Evaluation of management skills, team development approach, and strategic thinking
4
Final Executive Interview — Meeting with senior leadership to assess cultural fit and strategic alignment