Engineering Manager - Dashboard Foundations

Plaid3 days ago

Location

San Francisco HQ

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 216,000 – 328,200

Level

Manager

Role

Engineering Manager

Posted

Jun 30, 2026

Full TimeManager

The role

Summary

Lead a cross-functional engineering team of 8 engineers at Plaid's Dashboard Foundations team, a critical product platform serving internal and external customers building fraud detection, credit scoring, and fintech products. This role requires a technical leader with 8+ years of industry experience including Staff-level engineering background, combined with proven engineering management expertise to drive platform strategy, mentor diverse talent levels, and deliver high-impact outcomes in a fast-paced fintech infrastructure environment.

What you'll do

Team Leadership and Development: Lead a team of 8 engineers spanning Junior to Staff levels, providing clear goal setting, coaching, and feedback to foster professional growth. Develop talent retention strategies, identify high performers for advancement, and create a culture of technical excellence and psychological safety.

Strategic Platform Vision and Roadmap: Define and drive long-term strategy for Dashboard Foundations platform in partnership with technical and product leadership across Plaid. Establish north star objectives aligned with company mission to unlock financial freedom, and create a multi-quarter roadmap that balances technical infrastructure improvements with customer-facing product delivery.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product teams building Fraud, Credit, Signal, Account Verification, and Transfer products to identify high-leverage opportunities. Collaborate with stakeholders across engineering, product, and security to shape priorities and ensure the platform meets evolving needs of internal teams and external developers.

Technical Quality and Execution Excellence: Establish and uphold high bars for technical quality, security, and delivery velocity. Lead by example through participation in critical technical design decisions, architectural reviews, and performance optimization initiatives. Drive consistency in code quality, testing practices, and operational excellence across the team.

Platform Architecture and Scalability: Oversee design and implementation of scalable, reliable architectures supporting millions of users and thousands of financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK, and Europe. Ensure the Dashboard platform maintains high availability, security compliance, and performance under growing demand from diverse product teams.

What we look for

Technical

Full-Stack Development CompetencyProficiency across frontend and backend technologies. Experience building web platforms, REST/GraphQL APIs, or similar systems serving multiple internal and external customers. Knowledge of modern web frameworks and database systems essential.

System Design and ArchitectureStrong capability in designing fault-tolerant, scalable systems. Experience with microservices, distributed systems principles, caching strategies, load balancing, and capacity planning at scale.

Financial Services TechnologyExperience with fintech, payments, banking infrastructure, or financial data integration preferred. Understanding of regulatory compliance, data security, and PCI-DSS standards valuable for this role.

Education

Computer Science Degree or EquivalentBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field, or equivalent professional software engineering experience demonstrating mastery of fundamentals.

Experience

8+ Years Industry ExperienceDemonstrated software engineering career with substantial time spent as a Staff-level engineer or equivalent IC track, having tackled complex system design challenges, mentored junior engineers, and driven technical decisions at scale.

1+ Years Engineering ManagementProven track record in an engineering management role with direct responsibility for team performance, hiring, professional development, and delivery accountability. Experience managing engineers at multiple levels preferred.

Scalable Architecture DesignDeep hands-on experience designing and architecting scalable, reliable systems supporting production environments at scale. Track record with distributed systems, database optimization, API design, or infrastructure platforms.

High-Performing Team BuildingDemonstrated ability to build, grow, and lead high-performing engineering teams with focus on diversity, talent development, and retention. Experience as either an individual contributor mentor or engineering manager valued.

Skills

Required skills

Engineering ManagementProven ability to recruit, hire, develop, and retain engineering talent. Strong communication, feedback delivery, and conflict resolution skills. Experience setting technical vision and aligning teams around shared objectives.

System Architecture and DesignExpert-level capability in designing scalable systems, evaluating architectural tradeoffs, and leading technical design reviews. Ability to balance business requirements with technical constraints.

Product Platform ThinkingUnderstanding of how platform teams serve multiple internal and external customers. Ability to identify leverage points, prioritize platform infrastructure investments, and measure platform success through adoption and developer satisfaction metrics.

Cross-Functional LeadershipDemonstrated success collaborating with product managers, designers, and other engineering leaders to define strategy and drive outcomes. Comfort working in matrix organizational structures.

Code Quality and Best PracticesStrong commitment to technical excellence, including code review culture, testing rigor, performance optimization, and security best practices. Ability to establish and maintain quality standards across the team.

Nice to have

Fintech or Payment Systems ExperienceBackground building products or infrastructure in fintech, payments, banking, or financial data platforms. Understanding of regulatory requirements, compliance frameworks, and security considerations in financial services.

Open Source and Developer ExperienceExperience building developer-focused tools, SDKs, or platforms. Familiarity with open source communities and developer relations best practices. Understanding of how to design APIs and documentation that delight engineers.

Rapid Growth and Scaling ExperienceExperience scaling engineering teams and systems during periods of rapid growth. Track record of maintaining quality and velocity while building processes and structures that scale with organizational complexity.

Performance and Reliability EngineeringDeep experience with observability, monitoring, incident response, and performance optimization. Familiarity with reliability engineering practices, SLA management, and chaos engineering principles.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 216,000 – 328,200 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage

Full health insurance coverage including medical, dental, and vision plans with company contributions, supporting employee and family wellness.

401(k) Retirement Plan

Tax-advantaged retirement savings with company matching contributions, supporting long-term financial planning and wealth building.

Equity Compensation

Stock options or equity grants in Plaid, allowing employees to participate in company value creation and long-term wealth building as the company scales.

Collaborative Work Environment

Offices in San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Amsterdam with hybrid flexibility. Option to work with distributed team members across multiple US locations.

Professional Development and Mentorship

Access to technical learning resources, conference opportunities, and mentorship from experienced engineering leaders at a high-growth fintech company.

Impact-Driven Mission

Work on products powering millions of users at companies like Venmo and SoFi, directly contributing to unlocking financial freedom and improving the financial ecosystem globally.

Interview process

1
Application and Resume Review — Initial screening of application materials focusing on relevant engineering leadership experience, technical depth, and platform infrastructure background. Resume highlights should emphasize Staff-level technical contributions and management achievements.
2
Recruiter Screening Call — 30-minute conversation with Plaid recruiter to discuss career trajectory, motivation for the role, team leadership philosophy, and alignment with company mission. Questions will focus on previous scaling challenges and team building experience.
3
Engineering Leadership Interview — Deep technical conversation with a senior engineer or engineering director exploring system design expertise, architectural decision-making, and approach to building scalable platforms. Prepare to discuss a complex system you've designed or optimized.
4
Product and Strategy Alignment — Interview with product leader or cross-functional partner to assess ability to collaborate on roadmap prioritization, understand customer needs, and balance platform investment with direct customer value. Discuss approach to identifying high-leverage opportunities.
5
Team Leadership and People Management — Conversation with current or peer engineering manager discussing team building philosophy, feedback and development approaches, handling of challenging dynamics, and strategies for growing Staff-level engineers. Real scenarios will test management thinking.
6
Executive Leadership Interview — Final interview with VP or Director level exploring long-term vision for the role, how you'd structure the team, strategic priorities for the first 90 days, and culture fit with Plaid's mission-driven approach.