Description:
We are seeking a Senior Engineering Manager to lead and scale our Agentic Workflow engineering organization within the Pearson Learning Studio (PLS) product. This leader will oversee a team of 8–16 engineers across multiple Scrum pods , driving both technical excellence and strong people leadership in a globally distributed environment (India and Sri Lanka).
This role is ideal for a leader who thrives at the intersection of people development, execution at scale, and data-driven product engineering . You will be responsible not just for delivery, but for building a high-performing, engaged engineering organization .
Key Responsibilities
Organizational & People Leadership (Primary Focus)
- Lead, manage, and scale a distributed engineering team of 10–20 engineers , including senior engineers and team leads.
- Build a strong leadership bench by mentoring tech leads and emerging managers.
- Drive performance management , including goal setting, regular feedback, and career development plans.
- Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, psychological safety, and continuous learning .
- Manage hiring, onboarding, and team capacity planning to support business growth.
- Ensure high levels of team engagement, retention, and productivity across geographies.
Execution & Delivery Excellence
- Own end-to-end delivery for the Insights & Recommendations domain across multiple Scrum teams.
- Establish predictable execution rhythms , ensuring on-time, high-quality releases.
- Partner with Product, Design, and Analytics to translate strategy into clear engineering roadmaps .
- Identify risks early and proactively remove organizational, technical, or process bottlenecks.
- Drive operational excellence , including metrics, KPIs, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Technical Leadership & Strategy
- Provide architectural oversight for data-driven applications , analytics pipelines, and web platforms.
- Guide teams on best practices in SQL, data systems, ReactJS, and Java-based services .
- Ensure scalable system design, performance optimization, and reliability.
- Lead technical design reviews and promote sound engineering decisions across teams.
- Balance hands-on involvement (as needed) with effective delegation to senior engineers and tech leads.
Agile & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Champion Agile best practices across multiple teams (planning, backlog management, retrospectives).
- Align engineering efforts with business outcomes and customer impact .
- Collaborate with global stakeholders across time zones with strong communication discipline.
- Drive transparency through clear reporting, stakeholder updates, and data-driven decision-making.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of engineering leadership experience , including managing teams of 10+ engineers .
- 12+ years of overall experience in software engineering.
- Proven experience scaling and leading distributed engineering teams across geographies.
- Strong technical background in:
- SQL & data analytics systems
- ReactJS
- Java-based backend systems
- Demonstrated success in delivering data-driven platforms or analytics products .
- Strong experience with Agile/Scrum at scale (multiple teams) .