Engineering Manager, AI CICD
About this role
Chainguard is focused on securing the software supply chain by providing hardened, secure, and production-ready builds for open source software and AI agents. The company assists organizations in building faster, maintaining compliance, and mitigating risk, serving major clients like OpenAI and Snowflake. This Engineering Manager role is central to building the next generation of products at the intersection of security and AI. The team is developing essential developer tools such as the Guardener, hardened GitHub Actions, Chainguard Agent Skills, and new products leveraging their microVM sandbox platform.
This position requires an individual who can take full ownership of these product lines, managing everything from the initial roadmap definition through implementation, rollout, and iteration. The manager will be responsible for scaling the team, setting strategic direction with Product, and maintaining a hands-on technical presence to drive execution. The role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-moving environment, takes initiative, and defines success by shipping tangible results and measuring user adoption.
Successful candidates will be those who can navigate ambiguity, prioritize effectively, and continuously incorporate customer feedback into the development cycle. It is suited for a technically grounded leader who enjoys building developer-facing tools and has a strong bias for iterative delivery.
What you will do
- Own the end-to-end lifecycle for a portfolio of products, including the Guardener, hardened GitHub Actions, Chainguard Agent Skills, and emerging microVM-based products.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a small team of engineers, focusing on removing obstacles so the team can perform effectively.
- Collaborate closely with Product management to establish a roadmap, balancing technical needs with real deadlines.
- Maintain a hands-on technical involvement by reviewing designs, prototyping solutions when necessary, and unblocking team efforts.
- Navigate complex, ambiguous problems to define a clear path forward rather than waiting for complete specifications.
- Ensure the quality and reliability of all shipped products and actively incorporate customer feedback into the product roadmap.
What you need
- Possess at least two years of experience managing engineers, coupled with a genuine, sustained interest in team leadership and growth.
- Demonstrate a proven track record of successfully shipping products or major features and taking accountability for the outcomes.
- Maintain a strong technical foundation, enabling the ability to read code, review designs, and reason effectively about architecture and trade-offs.
- Require proficiency in Go or a strong capability to quickly ramp up technical skills.
- Experience building CI/CD systems, developer tooling, or product-facing platforms is beneficial.
- Familiarity with containers, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure is necessary.
- Experience with AI tooling and a genuine enthusiasm for applying AI to solve complex customer problems is required.
- Demonstrate comfort with autonomy, ambiguity, a bias for action, and a habit of shipping iteratively.
Nice to have
- Experience with microVM sandbox platforms
Benefits
- Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
- Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion, with the ability to participate in secondary offerings and a 10-year exercise window.
- 100% Covered Health Insurance: Coverage for 100% of health, vision, and dental insurance premiums for the employee and dependents.
- Flexible Time Off: The provision to take the necessary time to work and recharge.
- 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: Offering 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents.
- 12 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: Offering 12 weeks for non-birthing parents.
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the remote policy?
The role is available remotely for candidates in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The company offers a flexible and remote-first culture, which includes team meetup opportunities and bi-annual destination summits.
What is the compensation range?
The stated salary range for this role is between $229,000 and $258,000 USD.
What is the primary tech stack?
The required technical proficiencies include Go or strong readiness to ramp quickly. Experience with containers, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure is also essential.
How is success measured in this role?
Success is measured by what ships and who uses the product. The role requires taking initiative and measuring outcomes based on shipped features and user adoption.