Senior Engineering Manager, AI Product (AI)

TL;DR

Senior Engineering Manager, AI Product (AI): Leading engineering execution and people management for Thunderbolt, an open-source AI product, with an accent on transitioning the initiative from R&D incubation into a mature enterprise development phase. Focus on establishing production-ready standards, refining release discipline, and overseeing the technical delivery of AI-enabled workflows.

Location: Remote (Must reside in and have permanent work authorization for the United States)

Salary: $215,000 - $240,000 USD

Company

MZLA Technologies Corporation is a nonprofit-owned company part of the hirify.global family that develops the Thunderbird open-source communication and productivity tools.

What you will do

• Lead engineering execution by clarifying priorities, ownership, timelines, and quality expectations for the Thunderbolt project.
• Manage and coach a team of senior engineers and contractors, overseeing performance and team development.
• Maintain a hands-on approach by contributing code, reviewing technical work, and evaluating architectural tradeoffs.
• Establish planning, review, and release practices to improve predictability and reduce bottlenecks.
• Partner with product and design leadership to translate AI strategy and user experience goals into coordinated engineering plans.
• Drive the scaling of Thunderbolt from an incubation-stage product to a reliable, enterprise-grade open-source AI tool.

Requirements

• 15+ years of professional software development experience, including senior engineering leadership roles.
• 5+ years of experience managing technical teams of senior individual contributors.
• Technical fluency in AI applications, including LLMs, RAG workflows, agents, and on-device AI.
• Experience delivering complex cross-platform applications using Tauri, Electron, React Native, or similar frameworks.
• Practical experience with local-first, self-hosted, hybrid, or air-gapped product architectures.
• Must reside in the US and have permanent work authorization (no visa sponsorship provided).

Nice to have

• Experience working in open-source or maintainer-style engineering environments.
• Knowledge of compliance or security standards such as SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001.
• Proven track record of taking a product from zero to one in a startup or new initiative.

Culture & Benefits

• Fully remote work with schedule flexibility and a monthly remote work stipend.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance, including disability and life insurance.
• Annual bonus program and professional development stipends with access to Coursera.
• Generous time off including 24 days PTO, wellbeing days, and a year-end company shutdown.
• 401(k) contributions and paid parental leave.
• Company-provided laptop and support for attending industry conferences.