Senior Manager, Systems Engineering

It all started in sunny San Diego, California in 2004 when a visionary engineer, Fred Luddy, saw the potential to transform how we work. Fast forward to today — ServiceNow stands as a global market leader, bringing innovative AI-enhanced technology to over 8,100 customers, including 85% of the Fortune 500®. Our intelligent cloud-based platform seamlessly connects people, systems, and processes to empower organizations to find smarter, faster, and better ways to work. But this is just the beginning of our journey. Join us as we pursue our purpose to make the world work better for everyone.

NOTE: This position requires passing a ServiceNow background screening, USFedPASS (US Federal Personnel Authorization Screening Standards). This includes a credit check, criminal/misdemeanor check and taking a drug test. Any employment is contingent upon passing the screening. Due to Federal requirements, only US citizens, US naturalized citizens or US Permanent Residents, holding a green card, will be considered.

As Senior Manager of Systems Engineering – Mail & Messaging, you will lead the team responsible for designing, building, and scaling the global mail and messaging infrastructure that underpins our customer-facing ServiceNow platform. This role blends hands-on technical leadership with people management, requiring someone who can drive the transition from reactive operations to proactive, engineering-first practices while mentoring a high-performing team.

What you get to do in this role:

• Provide technical oversight and architectural guidance across the engineering team; partner with product development on new features, enhancements, and architectural reviews.

• Collaborate with product and program management to define external commitments, roadmaps, and delivery timelines.

• Own escalation response for critical customer issues, driving cross-functional resolution with urgency and transparency.

• Foster team autonomy through effective project planning, prioritization, Agile process coaching, and continuous skill development.

• Build and grow the engineering team through inclusive hiring practices, goal setting, individual development plans, and performance management.

• Identify and execute systems and process optimization opportunities that improve reliability, performance at scale, and operational efficiency.

• Assess compliance posture, risks, and vulnerabilities to ensure all systems and baselines are operationally sound and exceed customer expectations.

• Lead complex, cross-team engineering initiatives across global teams, ensuring architectural alignment, resource coordination, and on-time delivery.

• Champion the evolution from operations-centric workflows to engineering-driven approaches, embedding automation and infrastructure-as-code practices.

To be successful in this role you have:

• Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry.

• 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 8 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years experience; or equivalent experience.

• Proven experience leading a software engineering or DevOps team operating across a global, 24×7 production environment.

• Understanding of systems infrastructure components.

• Demonstrated ability to clearly define problems, collect data, establish facts, and translate findings into actionable recommendations.

• Track record of effective cross-functional collaboration and level-appropriate communication to build consensus and drive complex initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with queue-based systems, internet mail protocols (SMTP, POP, IMAP), and email deliverability best practices.

• Familiarity with leveraging AI and automation to improve engineering workflows, decision-making, or operational processes.

• Experience leading teams through a transition from operations-heavy models to engineering-first, infrastructure-as-code approaches.

• Deep expertise in Linux systems architecture and engineering at global scale.

GCS-23

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $171,900 - $300,800, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here ( . To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or nationality, ancestry, age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io for assistance.

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.

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