Principal Engineering Manager - Applied AI

Principal Engineering Manager - Applied AI

We are looking for a Principal Engineering Manager to join our growing Applied AI team. In this Age of AI, this is a rare opportunity to work at the cutting edge of Generative AI, Context Engineering and Agentic business capabilities. As the Principal Engineering Manager of the Applied AI team, you will be responsible for applying Generative AI to deliver Agentic capabilities in Highspot, growing and scaling the AI team, managing the planning and prioritization of upcoming Generative AI work, coordinating across multiple engineering teams, and coaching team members. You will work with machine learning experts, data scientists, the leadership team, and product managers to drive the team's technical direction with planned AI engineering investments, to prioritize high-impact business outcomes and to deliver on new opportunities. You will know when to lean in and work hands-on with your team and when to step out and direct the team to solve hard technical problems and to achieve business outcomes.

What You'll Do

• Lead a team of Applied AI engineers that works at the bleeding edge of Generative AI to solve high-impact business challenges.
• Apply Generative AI to solve hard unsolved challenges in the application of Agentic AI to real-world business challenges
• Grow, coach, build and scale the Applied AI team
• Drive operational excellence to achieve enterprise-grade scale, reliability, security, cost-efficiency and performance.
• Drive technical direction for building a safe, scalable and reliable Agentic AI platform for all of Highspot
• Communicate complex concepts and the results of analyses in a clear and effective manner to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Collaborate with other team members and cross-functionally to share knowledge and discuss initiatives.

Your Background

• 2+ years of experience in Generative AI and Agentic AI systems, including LLMs, context engineering, and modern vector-based retrieval systems.
• 4+ years working as an engineering manager
• 8+ years working as a professional software developer
• A great understanding of Generative AI systems, best practices and experience in shipping Agentic AI into distributed, data-intensive production systems
• Experience developing and operating Cloud services at enterprise scale
• Strong programming skills in Java, Python, C#, Typescript or equivalent programming language
• Substantial depth and breadth of management experience to lead and grow an Applied AI team
• Great collaboration with teams with different backgrounds/expertise/functions.
• Expertise in full product lifecycle; technical designs, project planning, iterative implementation, and successful product launches.
• Experience and passion for mentoring and encouraging collaborative teams.
• Experience in cultivating a strong engineering culture in an agile environment.

Base salary range: $240,870 -$297,652. Employees may also be eligible for bonuses, stock options, and other forms of compensation. The above represents total expected compensation for this role. Actual compensation will depend on various job-related factors, including, but not limited to, location, experience, and job qualifications. Highspot also offers the following employee benefits for this position: comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, and life benefits, Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution, 401(k) Matching with immediate vesting on employer match, Flexible PTO, 8 paid holidays and 5 paid days for Annual Holiday Week, Quarterly Recharge Fridays (paid days off for mental health recharge), 18 weeks paid parental leave, Access to Coaches and Therapists through Modern Health, 2 volunteer days per year, and Commuting benefits.

Equal Opportunity Statement: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship, color, ethnicity, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or invisible disability status, political affiliation, veteran status, race, religion, or sexual orientation.