Senior Engineering Manager, Platform

Rippling gives businesses one place to run HR, IT, and Finance. It brings together all of the workforce systems that are normally scattered across a company, like payroll, expenses, benefits, and computers. For the first time ever, you can manage and automate every part of the employee lifecycle in a single system.

Take onboarding, for example. With Rippling, you can hire a new employee anywhere in the world and set up their payroll, corporate card, computer, benefits, and even third-party apps like Slack and Microsoft 365—all within 90 seconds.

Based in San Francisco, CA, Rippling has raised $1.4B+ from the world’s top investors—including Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Greenoaks, and Bedrock—and was named one of America's best startup employers by Forbes.

We prioritize candidate safety. Please be aware that all official communication will only be sent from @ Rippling.com addresses.

About the role

Rippling’s Platform organization builds the foundational systems and shared capabilities that power our products and enable engineering teams to build quickly and reliably.

Our teams solve complex technical challenges across backend infrastructure, shared services, developer frameworks, APIs, and data systems. These platforms support a growing suite of products and provide the scalability, reliability, and flexibility needed to serve businesses around the world.

We’re looking for a Senior Engineering Manager to lead a team within Platform and help shape the technical direction of systems used across Rippling. This is a highly technical leadership role that combines architectural judgment, strong execution, and a commitment to developing exceptional engineers.

You’ll partner closely with engineering and product leaders to identify shared needs, build reusable capabilities, and balance long-term platform investments with immediate business priorities.

What you will do

• Lead and grow a high-performing engineering team building foundational systems and shared platform capabilities
• Define your team’s technical strategy and roadmap in partnership with engineering and product stakeholders
• Drive the design, development, and operation of scalable, reliable, and highly performant backend systems
• Partner with teams across Rippling to understand their needs and deliver capabilities that support multiple products
• Lead complex initiatives from technical planning through delivery and adoption
• Maintain a high bar for architecture, code quality, reliability, security, and operational excellence
• Hire, mentor, and develop engineers, creating clear opportunities for growth and increasing technical ownership
• Build a culture of accountability, collaboration, and thoughtful technical decision-making
• Influence architectural decisions across teams and help evolve Rippling’s platform as the business scales

What you will need

• 8+ years of software engineering experience building backend platforms or distributed systems
• 4+ years of engineering management experience leading high-performing teams
• Experience building shared platforms, infrastructure, frameworks, or services used by other engineering teams
• Strong technical depth in backend architecture and experience operating highly available systems at scale
• Strong architectural judgment and the ability to balance long-term investments with near-term business needs
• A track record of delivering complex initiatives involving multiple teams and stakeholders
• Experience partnering with internal customers to drive platform adoption and measurable improvements
• A track record of hiring, developing, and retaining exceptional engineering talent
• Strong execution skills, including prioritization, planning, and navigating ambiguity
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence technical and nontechnical stakeholders

Additional Information

Rippling is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected characteristics, Rippling is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities who need assistance during the hiring process. To request a reasonable accommodation, please email View email address on click.appcast.io

Rippling highly values having employees working in‑office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. For office‑based employees (employees who live within a defined radius of a Rippling office), Rippling considers working in the office, at least three days a week under current policy, to be an essential function of the employee's role.

This role will receive a competitive salary + benefits + equity. The salary for US-based employees will be aligned with one of the ranges below based on location; see which tier applies to your location here .

A variety of factors are considered when determining someone’s compensation‑including a candidate’s professional background, experience, and location. Final offer amounts may vary from the amounts listed below.

The pay range for this role is:

207,000 - 345,000 USD per year (US San Francisco Bay Area)