Senior Engineering Manager, Applied AI
Summary
Leads a lean Applied AI engineering team within Genius AI at HearstLab, building and deploying AI-driven solutions across the business — running one-week sprints, demos, AI model selection, and evaluation practices to drive measurable go-to-market outcomes. Requires 7+ years of engineering, 2+ managing, and hands-on agentic AI experience; hybrid in NYC or SF.
Genius AI is seeking an Engineering Manager, Applied AI to join our team and help transform how we work by building and deploying AI-driven solutions across the business. You will lead a lean team of engineers, drive measurable go-to-market outcomes, and set the standard for what an AI-native engineering team looks like.
Responsibilities will include:
- Build and lead a team of engineers, setting the bar for AI-native engineering practices
- Drive measurable go-to-market outcomes by partnering across Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Legal, and People to prioritize a company-aligned backlog anchored to pre-agreed metrics and executive-trusted readouts
- Run a tight engagement loop with intake, one-week sprints, Friday demos, and clean handoffs to ensure partner teams own what was built and Applied AI can focus on the next challenge
- Establish evaluation practices to ensure every AI product team has a measurable quality bar for safe, rapid development
- Select and route to the right AI models, using frontier models for new use cases and more efficient models as use cases mature
- Collaborate with DevEx to experiment with and implement new ways of working, turning successful experiments into shared standards and documentation
You’re a great fit if you:
- Have personally built and shipped agentic systems with real users in the last 12 months and can discuss the architecture, challenges, costs, and outcomes
- Can articulate how to measure AI effectiveness beyond adoption metrics, with a clear opinion on the right metrics and their limitations
- Prefer to grow output rather than headcount, and have raised your team’s expectations through AI-driven changes in workflow
- Have 7+ years of software engineering experience, including 2+ years managing engineers while remaining hands-on in the code
- Are a scrappy generalist with cross-functional instincts, having worked closely with sales, marketing, or operations teams to drive adoption of new solutions
- Tie engineering work to business outcomes such as pipeline, revenue, time saved, or cost avoided, and report on them clearly
- Are comfortable building lightweight processes as needed and adapting quickly to change
Additional Information:
- This role requires regular in-office attendance (3–4 days per week) at our NYC or San Francisco office, with required presence on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- Genius AI is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, committed to creating a supportive and empowering workplace for all employees
- Genius AI may use AI tools to assist in evaluating applicants’ qualifications, always with human oversight in final hiring decisions





