Engineering Manager, Customer Agent

About the role

You will lead the development of Customer Agent, a conversational AI platform designed to help brands manage customer interactions at scale. In this capacity, you will own the end-to-end delivery of real-time, context-aware AI systems that drive support, conversion, and retention for millions of users. You will partner closely with product, data science, and go-to-market teams to ensure the platform evolves in line with business objectives and market demands. Your responsibilities include defining technical direction while balancing innovation with reliability and execution speed. You will be accountable for translating high-level goals into actionable engineering plans that are realistic and measurable. You will mentor engineers on best practices for building intelligent, resilient, and maintainable systems. This role requires you to remove organizational and technical blockers so your team can deliver impactful solutions efficiently. You will play a key role in shaping the future of AI-driven customer engagement within Klaviyo.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Manage a team of full-stack and AI engineers while overseeing specific technical workstreams and ensuring alignment with company goals.
• Define team strategy, roadmaps, and project milestones in coordination with product, data science, and go-to-market stakeholders to maintain clear priorities.
• Drive architectural decisions and provide technical mentorship on modeling, system design, and implementation to uphold code quality and scalability.
• Oversee hiring, team leveling, performance reviews, and career development planning to build a high-performing and motivated engineering organization.
• Improve internal engineering processes, including agile development, communication, and recruiting, to increase efficiency and transparency.
• Translate business requirements into technical AI roadmaps that balance user needs, technical constraints, and strategic opportunities.
• Stay updated on AI ecosystem advancements to identify new opportunities for the Klaviyo platform and maintain a competitive edge.
• Collaborate with data science partners to evaluate model performance, data quality, and experimentation results for continuous improvement.
• Coordinate with customer-facing teams to gather feedback and ensure the platform addresses real business challenges effectively.
• Monitor system reliability, latency, and cost to ensure the platform delivers consistent value at scale.
• Facilitate cross-functional alignment to ensure engineering efforts support key business initiatives and growth targets.
• Conduct code reviews and technical design sessions to maintain high standards across the engineering organization.
• Identify and mitigate risks in project timelines, dependencies, and resource allocation to keep initiatives on track.
• Document technical decisions and processes to support long-term maintainability and knowledge sharing.

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, with a strong foundation in programming, system design, and problem-solving.
• 2+ years of experience managing engineering teams, including lead engineers and remote staff, with a focus on performance and development.
• Proven history of building and scaling agentic systems or AI-enabled products that serve real users in production environments.
• Experience leading complex, multi-quarter projects involving multiple teams and dependencies to ensure successful delivery.
• Ability to engage directly with code and provide hands-on technical guidance to support engineers and uphold quality.
• Understanding of engineering architectures for highly scalable systems that can handle large volumes of traffic and data.
• Strong communication skills to manage stakeholder expectations, resolve blockers, and keep teams aligned on objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment while managing competing priorities and shifting requirements.
• Experience with Agile methodologies and iterative development practices to drive continuous delivery and improvement.
• Willingness to travel up to 10% for team meetings, onboarding, or industry events to strengthen team cohesion and relationships.

Nice to have

• Experience as an entrepreneur or running your own business, which may provide valuable insight into building sustainable products and teams.

Practical notes

This role is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and requires full-time in-office engagement. The position involves up to 10% travel for team meetings, onboarding sessions, or industry events that support team development and collaboration. The compensation package includes a base salary range of $176,000 to $264,000 USD, with total compensation that may include annual cash bonuses, equity, sign-on payments, and health or welfare benefits. Massachusetts law prohibits mandatory lie detector tests as a condition of employment. The role is exempt and requires the employee to work in the United States on an ongoing basis.