Software Engineering Manager

Engineering Manager

LawnStarter is the nation's leading on-demand marketplace for lawn care and related services, with over $150M in annual bookings. We're expanding beyond lawn care to become the one-stop shop for all outdoor home services - pest control, pool cleaning, window cleaning, and more.

Our engineering team builds the platform that connects hundreds of thousands of homeowners with over 70,000 active service pros. We operate three brands (LawnStarter, Lawn Love, HomeGnome) on shared infrastructure, and we're profitable and growing. Engineering here is fast - we ship constantly, we own our systems end-to-end, and we don't tolerate "not my problem." We have strong processes and existing engineering managers, so you're not building from scratch. You're raising the bar.

We're growing, and that means adding engineering leadership capacity to support new initiatives. You'll lead cross-functional delivery teams of 4–5 engineers, reporting to our Head of Engineering. Your job is to make sure your team ships reliably, grows professionally, and doesn't become a bottleneck as LawnStarter scales into new service verticals.

This is a people-first role. If your identity as an EM is primarily technical - if you'd rather review architecture than develop an underperformer - this isn't the right fit. If you're the manager who knows what every person on your team needs to grow, who handles conflict directly, and who can articulate team performance in metrics, keep reading.

You'll own both delivery AND people outcomes - neither can be delegated

Distributed team across time zones, so async leadership and written communication matter as much as meetings

We move fast and actually ship - you'll feel the difference between a team that's humming and one that's stuck

AI-forward is not a buzzword here - we expect you to lead your team on how to use it, not just follow along

People development: Concrete growth plans for every IC on your team - not just the struggling ones. You know where each person is going and what it takes to get there.

Delivery: Your team ships on cadence with predictable quality. You surface risk early, manage scope, and don't miss commitments without warning.

Team health: Conflict gets addressed directly. Underperformers are managed with a clear process. Top performers are protected and developed.

Cross-functional partnership: You're the interface between your team and Product, Design, and other engineering teams. Decisions get made, not stalled.

Technical direction: Close enough to the work to weigh in on system design and catch architectural risks. Not so close that you're in the weeds instead of removing blockers.

AI adoption: You're actively introducing AI tools and workflows into how your team operates - code review, documentation, sprint planning, debugging. You set the pace, not follow it.

Building people leadership depth as the team scales

Managing distributed teams without losing culture or accountability

Turning delivery consistency into a competitive advantage

Orchestrating cross-functional delivery from roadmap to release

Turning AI adoption into throughput without sacrificing craftsmanship

Every engineer on your team has a documented growth plan within 60 days - and you can speak to it from memory

Your team ships its committed scope on cadence within 90 days

Zero surprise departures - you know your retention risks and are actively working them

Underperformance is addressed directly and documented, not deferred

The Head of Engineering trusts your team's commitments because you've proven they're reliable

Your team is visibly more AI-enabled than when you joined - new tools adopted, old manual tasks automated, engineers unblocked faster