Engineering Manager

About Ethyca

Ethyca is redefining trust in the age of AI. We build automated data privacy infrastructure that embeds governance directly into data, ensuring policy, consent, and control live wherever data moves. Our clients include The New York Times and the world’s most advanced organizations scaling AI responsibly. We’re on a mission to make trust, respect, and privacy a default feature of every tech stack.

The Role

As Engineering Manager, you will own the strategic direction and execution for multiple engineering teams. You’ll be responsible for transforming ambitious product vision into shipped reality while multiplying the impact of autonomous A-players on your teams.

This role demands someone who thinks like a founder: you’ll partner directly with Product and Design to shape what we build, infuse AI into engineering processes to 10x productivity, and ensure our systems scale seamlessly for Fortune 500 enterprises managing billions of data points.

Core Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership & Ownership

• You’re accountable for business results (customer satisfaction, system reliability, and competitive differentiation), not just story points completed

• Collaborate intensively with Product and Design to shape roadmap, challenge assumptions, and ensure we’re building the right things for enterprise customers

• Understand the complex needs of organizations managing global privacy compliance at scale; ensure our systems meet Fortune 500 requirements for security, performance, and auditability

• Anticipate technical and organizational scaling challenges 6-12 months ahead and architect solutions proactively

2. Technical & Architectural Excellence

• Own architecture decisions for DSR systems, API integrations, and reporting infrastructure that must handle massive scale

• Drive adoption of best-in-class approaches to code quality, testing, observability, and incident response

• Lead adoption of AI tools across the development lifecycle, from AI-assisted code generation to intelligent testing and documentation

• Systems must support enterprise customers with complex global requirements; you ensure technical decisions enable 10x growth without rewrites

3. Build & Multiply A-Players

• Attract world-class engineering talent through compelling vision, strong referral network, and excellent candidate experience (target: fill roles within 45 days)

• Create conditions where senior engineers operate with high agency: set clear goals, provide context, remove obstacles, then get out of the way

• Maintain 95%+ retention of A-players through meaningful work, growth opportunities, and exceptional team culture

• New engineers ship meaningful code within 30 days and reach full productivity within 60 days

4. Execution & Velocity

• Embody Ethyca’s value of rapid iteration: scope ruthlessly, hit deadlines, and ship early and often

• Continuously eliminate friction in development workflows; every sprint retrospective should yield concrete improvements

• Work seamlessly with Product, Design, Sales, and Customer Success to ensure engineering efforts ladder to business objectives

• Proactively surface risks, celebrate wins, and maintain trust through radical transparency with stakeholders

5. UI/UX Partnership

• Work alongside Design to ensure engineering constraints inform design decisions early and designs are technically feasible

• Champion polish and attention to detail; enterprise users expect sophisticated, intuitive interfaces

• Encourage engineers to build quick proofs-of-concept to validate UX approaches before full implementation

What We Require

1. Leadership Experience

• 7+ years in software engineering with 3+ years managing engineering teams

• Proven track record leading teams at companies serving enterprise customers at scale

• Experience leading multiple teams simultaneously with distinct product ownership areas

2. Enterprise Scale Expertise

• Built and operated systems serving Fortune 500 customers with stringent SLAs, security requirements, and compliance needs

• Experience with high-volume data processing (millions of requests/day) and multi-tenancy at scale

• Understanding of enterprise sales cycles, proof-of-concept processes, and customer success requirements

3. Technical Depth

• Strong hands-on engineering background in modern backend technologies (Python, Node.js, etc.) and/or frontend frameworks (React, TypeScript, etc.)

• Expertise with RESTful APIs, system integrations, and building scalable applications

• Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP), CI/CD pipelines, and production operations

4. Ownership Mindset

• Natural bias to action; you’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission

• Track record of driving initiatives from concept to completion without being told what to do

• Comfortable with ambiguity; you create clarity for others when none exists

5. Organized & Strategic

• Exceptional at prioritization; you know what matters and ruthlessly cut what doesn’t

• Systems thinker who builds repeatable processes that scale

• Strong written and verbal communication; excellent at documentation and stakeholder management

Differentiators

1. AI Integration Experience

• Hands-on experience implementing AI tools in engineering workflows

• Experience building AI-powered product features or infrastructure

2. Product & Design Sensibility

• Background in or deep collaboration with Product/Design

• Strong opinions on what makes great user experiences, especially when dealing with big data

• Ability to push back constructively on product or design decisions and propose better alternatives

3. Builder’s Track Record

• Experience at high-growth startups (Series A-C) where you wore multiple hats

• History of shipping 0-to-1 products or major features that moved business metrics

• Entrepreneurial background (founded companies, side projects, open source contributions)

4. Privacy/Security Domain

• Experience with privacy engineering, data governance, or security compliance

• Familiarity with GDPR, CCPA, or other privacy regulations

• Understanding of consent management, data mapping, or subject rights management

Benefits

• Competitive cash and equity compensation

• 100% medical and dental insurance coverage for you and your dependent(s)

• Remote-friendly office hours and vacation policy

• Sponsored company lunches and events

• Parental leave and 401K plan

Our benefits aim to promote health and wellbeing across all areas of Ethycans lives. We work to continuously improve our offerings and listen to our community as we design and update them. The list above details our available benefits and some of the perks that can be enjoyed as an employee of Ethyca.

Life at Ethyca

We want every Ethycan to achieve their best outcomes, that’s why we celebrate individuals’ strengths, skills, and interests, from your first interview to your long term growth, rather than rely on traditional career ladders. Ethyca is a distributed team with headquarters in NYC and remote workers across the US. In keeping consistent with Ethyca’s values and culture, we believe employees “share the work” as one team, and in-person work affords the opportunity for more creative outcomes. Therefore we encourage Deployment Strategists to work from our offices to foster excellence in innovation and outcomes for our clients. Preference will be given to candidates who are able to come into the office, located in midtown Manhattan, at least 2 days a week.

We’re a Data Privacy and AI Governance company building a missing piece of the Internet’s infrastructure: the operating system for governance that empowers users and businesses to manage data respectfully. Every day, Ethycans tackle one of the world’s most challenging problems – how to make data and AI driven technology safer for humanity – and thinking about the future of human rights as society increasingly moves online. If this sounds intriguing and you’re excited to shape that future with us, we’d want to speak with you.

Ethyca is committed to promoting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We believe that all Ethycans share the responsibility of upholding our commitment to these values and encourage candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences to join us in solving the world’s hardest problems. Ethyca does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Please see the United States Department of Labor’s EEO poster, EEO poster supplement and Pay Transparency Notice for additional information.

Compensation Range: TBD