Senior Manager, Software Engineering Management

The team: Workflow Automation, Intelligence & Mining
We build the workflow and automation engines that power how work gets done across the ServiceNow Platform. Our engines process billions of workflow transactions every month across enterprise customers, and we’re now extending that foundation to support AI-native, agentic workflows.
As Senior Manager, Software Engineering, you lead that team. You lead people, own delivery outcomes, and set operating standards, working on some of the highest-stakes problems in the org. This is a hands-on leadership role. Close enough to the work to go deep with an engineer on a hard production issue, senior enough to own the trajectory of the whole team.
What you get to do in this role
Lead, coach, and grow the team, including Staff, Sr, and Jr-level ICs, owning hiring, ramp, performance, and career development, and building the bench that carries the org forward.
Own delivery outcomes across your part of the platform, from major architecture initiatives and releases to the production escalations where depth and experience matter most.
Serve as the senior escalation owner for critical production issues, running path-to-green plans and coordinating resolution across engineering, product, and support.
Set and uphold the engineering standard for your team, define what great looks like, and back your engineers when they hold the line on it.
Champion shared architecture patterns, tooling, and documentation as force multipliers, and cleared the path for the team to build and maintain them.
Report delivery status, platform health, and program signal to executive stakeholders, with a clear read on trajectory and what is needed to unblock.
Partner with product and engineering leadership to close the feedback loop from the platform back into the roadmap and technical strategy.
What we’re looking for
8+ years in software engineering or technical leadership, with 3+ years managing engineers, ideally including senior, staff, or principal-level ICs.
A track record of leading complex platform initiatives and high-stakes releases to production, and turning around at-risk, high-visibility work.
Enough technical depth to be credible with Principal and Staff engineers on architecture, system design, and troubleshooting.
Experience building or integrating AI and GenAI into production systems, including agents, LLM-based workflows, or agentic automation.
A bias for standards over shortcuts, and the judgment to know when a gate applies, when it doesn’t, and how to hold that call across a team.
Proven ability to build the operating machinery of an engineering team: standards, rubrics, staffing models, and reusable patterns that raise consistency.
Strong stakeholder management across product, engineering leadership, and cross-functional partners.
The instinct to lead through others, raising the level of the engineers around you through direct coaching, not just by example.
Why this role
You’d own the team building the core of our workflow and automation engines, the people, and the standard behind every release. You’d work closely with the Principal engineers to shape where this platform goes next.
To be successful in this role, you have:
8+ years of experience in software engineering, technical delivery, or engineering leadership, with 3+ years managing engineers, ideally including senior, staff, or principal-level ICs.
Proven track record of leading complex platform initiatives and high-stakes releases to production, including turning around at-risk or high-visibility work.
Strong technical depth, architecture, system design, and production troubleshooting.
Experience building or integrating AI and GenAI capabilities into production systems, including agents, LLM-based workflows, or agentic automation.
Demonstrated judgment in balancing engineering standards against delivery pressure, knowing when a gate applies, when it doesn’t, and how to hold that line across a team.
Experience building the operating machinery of an engineering team: performance rubrics, staffing models, hiring bars, and reusable patterns that raise consistency across engineers.
Strong cross-functional stakeholder management, with experience in reporting delivery status and technical risk to executive leadership.
A demonstrated ability to lead through coaching and influence rather than authority, raising the technical and operational bar of the engineers around you.
Experience with large-scale distributed systems, workflow or automation platforms, or enterprise cloud infrastructure is a strong plus.
Experience partnering with a product leader
For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $171,900 - $300,800, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Employment type
Full-time

Work arrangement
Hybrid