Engineering Manager, Canvas at Zapier

United States

$187k - $281k

<h2><strong>About Zapier</strong></h2><p><em><strong>We're humans who simply think computers should do more work.</strong></em></p><p>At <a href="https://zapier.com/about" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><u>Zapier</u></a>, we’re not just making software—we’re building a platform to help millions of businesses globally scale <em>with </em><a href="https://zapier.com/ai" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><u>automation and AI</u></a>. Our mission is to make automation work for everyone by delivering products that delight <a href="https://zapier.com/customer-stories" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><u>our customers</u></a>. You’ll collaborate with brilliant people, use the latest tools, and leverage the flexibility of remote work. Your work will directly fuel <a href="https://zapier.com/zapconnect" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><u>our customers’ success</u></a>, and as they grow, so will you.</p><p></p><h2><strong>AI at Zapier</strong></h2><p>We build and use automation every day to make work more efficient, creative, and human. So if you’re using AI tools while applying here — that’s great! We just ask that you use them <strong>responsibly and transparently</strong>.</p><p>Check out our guidance on <a href="https://zapier.com/l/jobs/ai-at-zapier" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>How to Collaborate with AI During Zapier’s Hiring Process</strong></a><strong>,</strong> including how to use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or others during our hiring process — and when not to.</p><p><br/></p><p>Hi there!</p><p></p><p>Zapier has <strong>made automation work for everyone</strong> — and now, that includes some of the world's biggest companies! Our Enterprise customers value automation and need tools that offer scale, control, visibility, and trust.</p><p>We're looking for an<strong> Engineering Manager to lead our Canvas team within Zapier's Enterprise Zone.</strong> This team owns critical platform infrastructure that enables visibility, dependency mapping, and collaborative management of automation assets at enterprise scale. You'll lead a team building the foundational layers that power enterprise observability, governance, and self-healing capabilities across our product. Our mission includes:</p><ul><li><p>Building scalable platform infrastructure that enables automation-as-code and unlocks enterprise-grade visibility and management capabilities</p></li><li><p>Creating tools for dependency mapping, observability, and collaborative workspace management</p></li><li><p>Leveraging AI to surface high-quality signal and oversight for enterprise accounts, enabling proactive management and self-healing capabilities</p></li><li><p>Enabling enterprise customers to manage complex automation ecosystems with confidence and control</p></li></ul><p></p><h2><strong>About You</strong></h2><ul><li><p><strong>You have deep customer empathy and thrive in solving real enterprise problems.</strong> You understand that enterprise customers want reliable, proven solutions that work seamlessly with their existing tools. You know when to innovate and when to adopt established patterns that enterprise buyers expect and trust. You bring energy and a problem-solving mindset, eager to dig into customer problems and figure them out while respecting enterprise constraints.</p></li><li><p><strong>You are an effective team builder and a skilled engineering leader.</strong> This isn't your first rodeo. You have at least two years of experience managing cross-functional teams of engineers comprising frontend, full stack, and backend disciplines. You know how to hire, train, and develop engineers from all backgrounds. You understand the benefits of building a diverse and inclusive engineering team.</p></li><li><p><strong>Champion of Platform Thinking and Scalability.</strong> You've led teams building foundational platforms that unlock capabilities across an organization, not just individual features. You understand the difference between building a tool and building a platform. You know how to balance long-term platform investments with delivering incremental value, and you can articulate the business case for both to stakeholders.</p></li><li><p><strong>You're experienced with distributed systems and backend infrastructure.</strong> While you appreciate great UX, you're excited about the backend and infrastructure work that makes enterprise-scale products possible. You've built or managed teams building APIs, configuration layers, or infrastructure that multiple teams depend on. You understand what it takes to build systems that are reliable, performant, and scalable.</p></li><li><p><strong>You're a collaborator and advocate for your team.</strong> You leverage your strong communication skills to align on a shared vision and strategy with your Product and Design partners, stakeholders, and peer teams. You know how to play the game—smiling and accepting when politics get weird, but also knowing when and how to push back constructively. You actively seek input from stakeholders and integrate their feedback into decision-making processes. Your transparent communication style fosters trust and alignment across teams, and your ability to build relationships leads to successful project outcomes and a cohesive team dynamic.</p></li><li><p><strong>You've shipped production code and you know what great code looks like.</strong> You contribute to design discussions, review code, and establish quality standards for your team. You utilize key metrics to monitor your team's health, performance, and quality output. A solid grasp of engineering fundamentals is essential, along with practical understanding of software development practices and trade-offs between technical debt and product needs.</p></li><li><p><strong>You're comfortable with enterprise requirements and constraints.</strong> You've worked in environments where permissions models, compliance, security, and governance aren't nice-to-haves—they're requirements. You understand that enterprise work moves differently than startup product work, and you know how to help your team navigate those realities while maintaining momentum.</p></li><li><p><strong>You're opinionated and willing to push back constructively.</strong> You don't just accept requirements at face value—you ask why, what, and when. You probe for the actual requirements and what "done" looks like. You can disagree, make your case, reach a compromise, and then commit fully to the decision.</p></li><li><p><strong>You have experience with or strong curiosity about AI integration.</strong> Experience integrating AI capabilities into enterprise products—particularly in grounded, practical ways that respect enterprise constraints—would set you apart. You understand AI as a tool that adds value, not as magic, and you can help teams integrate it thoughtfully where it genuinely improves the customer experience.<br/></p></li></ul><h2><strong>Things You'll Do</strong></h2><ul><li><p>Work closely with your <strong>product and design peers</strong> to deliver customer and company value, translating between technical capabilities and business outcomes.</p></li><li><p>Develop effective ways to communicate, monitor, and lead your team of <strong>6 high-functioning, self-organizing, and motivated cross-functional Engineers</strong> through weekly one-on-ones and team meetings.</p></li><li><p>Keep the <strong>leadership team and your peer teams in Enterprise</strong> informed on your team's progress and challenges in ways that are easy and enjoyable to receive, like one-on-ones, update posts, and regular team hangouts.</p></li><li><p><strong>Build rapport</strong> with each member of the Engineering Team and support them through coaching and mentorship to help level up their skills, and performance management when necessary.</p></li><li><p><strong>Participate in code reviews</strong>, learning and spreading technical knowledge throughout Zapier—moving knowledge to documentation where appropriate.</p></li><li><p>Maintain a <strong>focus on our customers</strong> by using customer feedback to guide your team through tradeoffs. Help your team understand the difference between building speculative features and building proven enterprise capabilities that customers explicitly need.</p></li><li><p>Work directly with <strong>cross-functional stakeholders and peer teams</strong> across the Enterprise Zone to ensure platform capabilities are serving their needs and enabling their success.</p></li><li><p><strong>Recruit, onboard, and train</strong> new engineers at Zapier, as well as supporting the continuous improvement of hiring practices in Engineering.</p></li><li><p><strong>Lead platform strategy and stakeholder management.</strong> Help articulate the value of long-term platform investments to executives and stakeholders who may be skeptical of projects that don't ship visible features immediately. Build trust through iterative milestones, customer-backed use cases, and clear communication about what's being built and why.</p></li><li><p><strong>Organize your team to serve multiple constituencies.</strong> The Canvas team builds infrastructure that both enterprise customers interact with directly and that internal teams across Zapier depend on. You'll balance these needs while keeping the team focused on the highest-leverage work.</p></li></ul>