Software Engineering Manager

Crucial Recruiting

United States

On-site

Manager

Software Engineering Manager (Backend / Distributed Systems)

Location: San Francisco Bay Area (currently remote; office launching soon)

About the Role

We are supporting an early-stage, venture-backed technology company building real-time, low-latency communication systems at global scale. They are seeking a Software Engineering Manager to lead a backend-focused engineering team responsible for performance-critical infrastructure.

This role blends people management with meaningful technical ownership and is well-suited for a manager who has grown from a strong senior IC background and enjoys operating close to the architecture.

What You’ll Do

Build, lead, and scale a high-performing engineering team with strong accountability
Manage, mentor, and develop mid-to-senior engineers
Lead the design and delivery of scalable, low-latency backend systems
Oversee real-time audio and video processing pipelines built in Rust and Python
Own critical backend infrastructure from system design through production reliability
Drive architectural decisions and establish engineering best practices
Partner cross-functionally to integrate applied AI/ML models into production systems
Ensure high performance, observability, and stability of mission-critical services

What We’re Looking For

8+ years of professional software engineering experience
3+ years of experience as a Software Engineering Manager
Strong experience designing and operating distributed, cloud-native systems (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
Production-level expertise in Python and Rust, including concurrency models
Background working on performance-sensitive or low-latency systems
Ability to balance people leadership with hands-on technical guidance

Nice to Have

Experience with streaming protocols and real-time media pipelines
Background in low-latency audio or video processing
Familiarity with UI/UX considerations in real-time or media-heavy products
Experience deploying and maintaining ML models in production environments

Team & Environment

Early-stage company
Strong venture backing
Remote-first today with plans to establish a Bay Area office in the near term
High ownership role with direct influence on core systems and team growth

About Crucial Recruiting

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We’re the startup recruitment agency that founders turn to when they’re done wasting time trying to fill roles themselves, or working with generic recruiters who don’t understand tech, early-stage chaos, or the urgency of scale. Spend 20 minutes with us, you won’t regret it! When You Need Results. We’re ready to work. You don’t have time to explain your business model, tech stack, or runway milestones to someone who just learned what Series A means. That’s why our team consists of startup-savvy tech recruitment consultants who have been embedded in fast-moving environments across the US, Canada, Dubai, Mexico, Israel and more. We bring real-world experience, not fluff. TaaS integrated, plug- and-play hiring solution Fractional Hiring to fill key roles temporarily Full-time Placements for essential long-term hires International Recruitment to find global talent Why Are We Crucial? Because in the startup world, time is crucial, runway is crucial and you don’t have either to waste. We live for this space, and we don’t just post and pray, we find great talent and we close roles. We’re not just another recruitment agency trying to fit candidates into boxes. We act as an extension of your startup, identifying talent that’s aligned with your mission, speed, and vision. Our clients don’t come to us for volume. They come to us for velocity. We deliver: Top candidates sent within weeks of working together. Culture-fit is always still a priority and never forgotten. Pipeline reporting, candidate summaries & hands-off interview coordination Hiring in the US, Canada, EU We make startup recruitment look easy, because we’ve done it hundreds of times before.