Engagement Manager

Engagement Manager

Chalk is building the data platform that powers the future of machine learning applications. We tear down complexity, latency, and scale barriers that have traditionally constrained ML capabilities. Our platform combines Rust-speed performance with elegant tools that developers love to use. Leading companies depend on Chalk for everything from stopping fraudulent credit card swipes, verifying identities, and maximizing clean energy capture. We've recently raised a $50 million Series A, led by Felicis.

The Role

We are hiring an Engagement Manager to manage the delivery of customer engagements into production. Working for our Head of Engagement Management, you will own the project and program management of defined-scope implementations—running the plan, coordinating the team, tracking risks and action items, and keeping stakeholders informed—so our customers reach live, value-generating deployments on time.

This is a hands-on delivery role with room to grow. You will build the technical fluency and stakeholder judgment that lead, over time, to owning our largest and most strategic engagements.

What You'll Do

• Manage customer engagements to production—own the project plan, timeline, and day-to-day execution for defined-scope implementations.
• Coordinate cross-functional delivery teams—keep Chalk Forward-Deployed Engineers, customer stakeholders, and any partners aligned and moving.
• Maintain program governance—keep control documents, RAID/risk logs, action items, and status current and accurate.
• Track and escalate risks and issues—surface blockers early, follow up on owners and due dates, and escalate to your Senior EM when needed.
• Run a clear communication cadence—deliver reliable, well-organized status updates to customer and internal audiences.
• Translate between business and technical teams—capture requirements, document decisions, and help the team make progress against customer outcomes.
• Support executive conversations—prepare briefings and materials, and contribute to discovery and planning discussions.
• Follow and improve the engagement playbook—apply Chalk's standard templates and mechanisms, and suggest improvements as you learn.

What You'll Own In Your First 6–12 Months

• Take ownership of multiple concurrent high stakes engagements and drive them to their production milestones.
• Run a dependable status and action-item cadence your customers and internal team rely on.
• Build working relationships with your customers' project and technical stakeholders.

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years in project/program management, professional services delivery, technical account management, or a comparable customer-facing delivery role.
• Experience managing projects with cross-functional stakeholders through to completion.
• Strong organization, written communication, and follow-through.
• Comfort working with technical teams and customer stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to data, ML/AI, or infrastructure/platform products.
• Familiarity with project management and collaboration tooling (e.g., Linear, Jira, Asana).
• Project management coursework or certification (e.g., PMP) a plus.
• Experience in a startup or fast-paced environment.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, your engagements reach production on plan, your status and risk tracking are trusted by customers and the internal team, and you are steadily taking on larger and more complex work with less oversight.

Location & Travel

Hybrid role based in San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles, with in-office collaboration and travel to customer sites as engagements require.