Staff Engineering Manager, Search Real World Journeys

Like Google's own ambitions, the work of a Software Engineer goes beyond just Search. Software Engineering Managers have not only the technical expertise to take on and provide technical leadership to major projects, but also manage a team of Engineers. You not only optimize your own code but make sure Engineers are able to optimize theirs. As a Software Engineering Manager you manage your project goals, contribute to product strategy and help develop your team. Teams work all across the company, in areas such as information retrieval, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking, security, data compression, user interface design; the list goes on and is growing every day. Operating with scale and speed, our exceptional software engineers are just getting started -- and as a manager, you guide the way.

With technical and leadership expertise, you manage engineers across multiple teams and locations, a large product budget and oversee the deployment of large-scale projects across multiple sites internationally.

Google Search connects people with the world's information, and our team is at the heart of that mission. The Real World Journeys (RWJ) Infrastructure team builds the critical platform that scales the development of AI forward search experiences in high visibility verticals like travel, local, finance and more to Search's generative AI surfaces (like AI Mode and AI Overviews). Our foundational infrastructure enables vertical teams to innovate quickly while maintaining the low latency and high reliability that billions of users expect.

In Google Search, we're reimagining what it means to search for information – any way and anywhere. To do that, we need to solve complex engineering challenges and expand our infrastructure, while maintaining a universally accessible and useful experience that people around the world rely on. In joining the Search team, you'll have an opportunity to make an impact on billions of people globally.Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $207000 - $301000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + bonus + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Partner with executive leaders within Search Verticals and across Search to align on technical strategy, represent your team's capabilities, and influence broader organizational goals.
• Define and own the technical roadmap and long-term architecture for your team's systems, ensuring they are aligned with Search standards and business objectives.
• Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives spanning multiple teams, driving execution from inception to delivery of results.
• Guide the team in delivering high-quality, scalable, and reliable software. Participate in architectural reviews and ensure engineering best practices are followed.
• Set clear expectations, conduct regular performance and career development check-ins, and provide coaching to help individual contributors grow.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 5 years of experience with full stack development, across back-end such as Java, Python, Golang, or C++ codebases, and front-end experience including JavaScript or TypeScript, HTML, CSS or equivalent.
• 3 years of experience in a technical leadership role.
• 2 years of experience in a people management, supervision/team leadership role.
  

Preferred qualifications:

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization.
• Experience in software development, including coding in one or more general-purpose languages (e.g., C++, Java, Python, Go) and system design.
• Experience managing a team of software engineers and technical leads.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.