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Engineering Manager (Tlm, Agents)

perplexity

San Francisco
Engineering

Job Score

80 pts
On-site model (+70) Engineering (+10)

Perplexity is seeking a TLM (Tech Lead Manager) to lead and grow our highly driven Agents engineering team. The Agents team consists of AI/ML, backend, and full-stack engineers who collaborate to build delightful agentic experiences within our Comet ecosystem. Our vision is to empower our users with AI agents that can faithfully actualize their intent, however and wherever expressed, through open-ended interactions with the world.

As the Agents TLM, you will bring AI expertise, sharp product intuition, and strong engineering management skills to advance the frontier of what agents can accomplish for our millions of devoted users. You will lead, grow, and support a team in solving many open problems in AI, including:

  • Designing AI agents to navigate the digital world and perform increasingly valuable units of work for our users;

  • Training action and decision models that determine, based on complex multimodal states, how to accomplish user-specified objectives;

  • Providing consistently excellent experiences across desktop, mobile, headless cloud, and other environments through flexible abstractions and frictionless backgrounding;

  • Developing permission architectures, payload classifiers, and other methods to implement secure-by-design agentic capabilities;

  • Designing optimal data representations and modes of interaction between agents and their environments;

  • and much, much more.

Responsibilities

  • Provide technical leadership across multiple layers of a rapidly growing product in the AI agents space.

  • Develop and leverage cutting-edge AI models, infrastructure, and browser technologies to advance the capability frontier and scale those capabilities for a rapidly growing userbase.

  • Exercise sharp technical & product intuition to guide the team’s system architectures and product roadmaps.

  • Drive product reliability, code quality, AI evaluation, testing, and maintenance for the broader team.

  • Oversee hiring, onboarding, and mentorship for a rapidly growing team. Develop rigorous interview pipelines and work closely with recruiting to source candidates.

  • Interface with the Perplexity co-founders to deliver strategic objectives that redefine what’s possible in the AI industry.

Qualifications

  • Strong foundational familiarity with the full AI product stack.

  • Proficiency in Python (bonus points for TypeScript, Go, and/or Rust).

  • Domain expertise in at least one of the following areas:

    • Context engineering and tool interfaces for frontier AI models

    • Post-training and reinforcement learning (particularly for multimodal models)

    • Browser technologies (CDP, Playwright, extension development, etc.)

  • Strong product intuition and taste for user experience excellence.

  • Strong background and hands-on technical experience with frontier models (the more relevant to open-world agents, the better).

  • Strong organizational skills for managing and delivering parallel technical projects; ability to guide highly-opinionated teams in making sound tradeoffs and prioritization decisions is critical.

  • Experience managing engineering teams, including recruiting, growing, and retaining high-caliber talent.

  • 8+ years of engineering experience, with at least 3 of those years as an engineering manager.

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About Engineering

Software Engineering goes beyond traditional development, focusing on scalability, performance, and system architecture. Software engineers are responsible for designing infrastructures that support millions of simultaneous users.

Skills include microservices architecture, DevOps, cloud computing, application security, and performance optimization. Knowledge of containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD is increasingly required.

Senior software engineers are rare and highly compensated professionals, with opportunities at major global tech companies.

Discover Other Areas

Understand the scope of work, key skills, and tools used in different career areas.

About Systems Analyst

The Systems Analyst is the professional responsible for analyzing, designing, and implementing technology solutions that meet business needs. They act as a bridge between business areas and the development team, ensuring that systems deliver real value to the organization.

Key skills include requirements gathering and analysis, process modeling (BPMN), data modeling, technical and functional documentation, system integration (APIs, microservices), and knowledge of ERPs and CRMs. Tools like Jira, Confluence, Visio, and project management platforms are essential.

Systems Analysts in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master agile requirements analysis (user stories, backlog), system integration, and solution architecture. The field offers opportunities from junior analyst to solution architect, with a focus on efficiency, quality, and technological innovation.

About Audiovisual

The Audiovisual area is responsible for producing, editing, and creating video and audio content for various platforms. With the exponential growth of digital content, audiovisual professionals are fundamental for brands that want to communicate visually and impactfully.

Key skills include video production and editing (Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut), motion graphics (After Effects), animation (Blender, Cinema 4D), sound design, podcast production, live streaming (OBS Studio), and photography. Knowledge of visual storytelling, rhythm, and art direction is a differentiator.

Audiovisual professionals in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master motion graphics, social media videos, and content for digital platforms. The field offers opportunities from videomaker to head of audiovisual, with a focus on creativity, technical quality, and storytelling.

About Product Management

Product Management is one of the most strategically relevant areas in technology organizations. The Product Manager is responsible for defining product vision, prioritizing features, and coordinating multidisciplinary teams to deliver value to users.

Essential skills include strategic thinking, data analysis, communication, leadership, and technical knowledge. Tools like Jira, Confluence, Miro, and analytics platforms are fundamental in daily work.

Salaries for PMs range from entry-level to senior positions at major tech companies, with growing opportunities for international remote work.

About Technical Support

Technical Support is essential to ensure customer satisfaction and retention. Support professionals resolve technical issues, document solutions, and identify patterns that can lead to product improvements.

Key skills include troubleshooting, customer service, technical documentation, ITIL knowledge, and ticketing tools (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom).

Technical support has evolved from a reactive to a proactive function, with high-level professionals working in Customer Engineering and Support Engineering.

About People Analyst

The People Analyst is the professional responsible for transforming people data into strategic insights for HR decision-making. They combine data analysis knowledge with people management vision to help organizations understand workforce metrics, turnover, engagement, and diversity.

Key skills include people analytics, workforce analytics, turnover and retention analysis, HR metrics (time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, e-NPS), data visualization (Power BI, Tableau, Visier), workforce planning, and compensation analysis. Knowledge of statistics, SQL, and people analytics tools is a differentiator.

People Analysts in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who can translate complex people data into actionable insights for retention, diversity, and growth strategies. The field offers opportunities from HR analyst to head of people analytics, with a focus on data-driven people management.

Career Guides

Technology Career Guide

Planning, skills, interviews, and professional growth in IT, Data Science, DevOps, and Product.

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Design Career Guide

UX/UI, Graphic Design, Product Design. Portfolio, tools, interviews, and growth in the Design field.

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Marketing Career Guide

SEO, Paid Media, Growth, Content Marketing. Certifications, tools, and strategies to grow in Digital Marketing.

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Finance Career Guide

Financial market, investments, corporate finance, certifications, and strategies to grow in the financial field.

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Communication Career Guide

Journalism, PR, Corporate Communication, Content Marketing, and Multimedia Production.

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Administration Career Guide

Business Management, HR, Logistics, Consulting, Project Management, and Entrepreneurship.

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Data Career Guide

Data Science, Data Engineering, BI, Machine Learning, and AI. From training to the job market.

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Product Career Guide

Product Management, Product Ownership, Agile, Scrum, and OKRs. From strategy to execution.

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Tech & Remote Glossary

Stop getting lost in interviews and job descriptions

The job market, especially within tech and global companies, has developed its own dialect. Not understanding these acronyms can make you lose valuable opportunities or poorly negotiate your contract. To end this problem, we created the Definitive Glossary for the Remote Professional.

🏢 Work Models & Routine

Async (Asynchronous Work)
A communication model where responses don't need to be immediate. Instead of back-to-back meetings, the team relies on well-structured documents, threads, and messages. It's the gold standard for global companies spanning multiple time zones.
Sync (Synchronous Work)
The opposite of Async. It requires the team to be online and available at the same time for meetings, live chats, and real-time collaboration.
Daily / Stand-up
A quick daily meeting (usually 15 minutes) common in Agile (Scrum) methodologies. The team answers three questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Are there any blockers?
All-Hands / Town Hall
A company-wide meeting involving all employees. Usually led by the founders (C-Levels) to present results, new goals, and answer team questions.
1:1 (One-on-One)
A recurring individual meeting between a professional and their direct manager. It is used for career alignment, feedback, and problem-solving, not just for project status updates.

💰 Contracts, Benefits & Compensation

PTO (Paid Time Off)
Instead of strict, categorized leave policies, modern US companies usually offer a flexible pool of days (e.g., 20 days of PTO, or even "Unlimited PTO") that you can use for vacations, sick days, or personal matters, while receiving your regular compensation.
Equity / Stock Options
Company ownership. The startup offers you the right to buy shares at a heavily discounted strike price in the future. If the company grows, goes public, or is acquired, these shares can be highly lucrative.
Vesting (Vesting Schedule)
The rule that controls your Equity. It usually lasts 4 years. You don't get all the shares on day one; you "earn" them gradually as you stay with the company. A "1-year Cliff" means you must stay for at least one year to receive your first batch of shares.
RSUs (Restricted Stock Units)
Unlike Stock Options (where you have the right to buy the stock), RSUs are actual shares the company grants you as a bonus or part of your compensation package, following a strict Vesting schedule.
Independent Contractor (1099 / B2B)
The most common international hiring model for global talent working for US companies. You act as a service provider (business-to-business), receiving the gross salary (often six-figure compensation) without standard local payroll tax deductions at the source.

🤖 Recruitment & Hiring Process

ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
The "robot" that reads your resume. Software like Greenhouse, Ashby, and Workday are used to filter candidates by keywords before a human even looks at the document. (Pro tip: this is why your resume must be clean, semantic, and have the right keywords).
JD (Job Description)
The document that lists the responsibilities, technical requirements, and benefits of the open position.
Cultural Fit
The interview stage that evaluates if your core values, communication style, and worldview align with the company's culture. This is the ultimate test of your Soft Skills.
Onboarding
The integration process. It's the period of your first few weeks at the company, where you get your access credentials, learn about the culture, study the internal documentation, and understand how the product works.

🚀 How to use this to your advantage?

The secret isn't just knowing what these acronyms mean, but using them actively. If during an interview for a premium tech role you ask, "How does your PTO policy and Vesting schedule work?", the recruiter will immediately perceive you as a high-level professional, familiar with the global market standards.

The remote job market requires preparation. And having the right vocabulary is the first big step to securing six-figure proposals and standing out among thousands of applicants.

Expert Tip

Data-Driven: How Data Defines Company Success or Failure

The Data-Driven Era: How Data Culture Defines Company Success or Failure

Published by Mondywork | Category: Data / Business Intelligence

The End of Corporate Gut Feeling

In the past, major business decisions were made based on intuition, previous experience, or the famous "gut feeling" of directors (what the market refers to as the HiPPO - Highest Paid Person's Opinion). Today, however, in a highly competitive and globalized corporate ecosystem, relying on guesswork is the fastest recipe for bankruptcy.

Digital transformation didn't just connect processes; it generated a massive volume of information. The companies that thrive are those that know how to capture, clean, and transform this raw data into actionable insights.

"Data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times as likely to retain those customers, and 19 times as likely to be profitable as a result."
— McKinsey Global Institute Study

What Does it Mean to Have a Data-Driven Culture?

Being Data-Driven doesn't just mean subscribing to expensive Analytics tools or having a beautiful dashboard on the office wall. It's a fundamental shift in organizational culture, where truth is sought in the numbers before any action is executed.

  • Predictability: Predictive models allow companies to forecast market trends, customer churn, and operational bottlenecks before they happen.
  • Risk Mitigation: Decisions based on statistics drastically reduce the margin of error in investments and new product launches.
  • Personalization at Scale: Behavioral analysis enables marketing to deliver exactly what the user wants, right when they have the highest propensity to buy.

The Impact of Business Intelligence (BI) and Big Data

To extract the true value from information, companies are building robust Business Intelligence (BI) and Big Data departments. ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, Data Lakes architecture, and the mastery of software like Power BI and Tableau have become the backbone of top-tier US startups and unicorns.

The Harvard Business Review has repeatedly highlighted that the professional who can translate complex data into business language is a modern corporation's most valuable asset. It's not enough to have the data; you must know how to tell a story with it (Data Storytelling).

The Job Market: The Hunt for Data Talent

With this paradigm shift, the demand for Data Engineers, BI Analysts, Data Scientists, and Analytics Engineers has skyrocketed. International companies—especially in the US and Europe—are aggressively hiring global professionals for 100% US Remote roles, offering highly competitive six-figure compensation packages.

For these companies, which use rigorous Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS like Ashby, Workday, and Greenhouse), the ideal candidate is one who seamlessly blends technical mastery (SQL, Python, DAX) with a sharp business acumen.


References and Recommended Reading

  • McKinsey & Company: The data-driven enterprise of 2025.
  • Harvard Business Review: How to Build a Data-Driven Culture.
  • Gartner: Top Trends in Data and Analytics.

Master the art of turning data into revenue?

The best US startups and global tech companies are actively looking for analytical professionals like you, offering remote roles with premium compensation. Don't miss out on the top Data, BI, and Machine Learning opportunities in the market.