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Productboard is the intelligent product management platform that helps future-ready product teams drive strategic alignm
The Role
Lead architecture and engineering for AI-native systems: design agent-operable code boundaries, build context layers and incident agents, drive cross-team product strategy, enforce architectural standards, operationalize AI-first workflows, hire and coach engineering leaders, and scale teams while balancing long-term health and short-term delivery.
Summary Generated by Built In
Only the best engineers are being built here.
At Productboard, we're building the place where AI-first engineering gets defined. Removing every bottleneck as it surfaces, we are fundamentally reimagining what's possible when AI becomes a first-class partner, not a tool. This is where product engineers learn to operate at their highest level in the AI era. Our target is one number: turn an idea into validated learning twice as fast as we do today.
You would lead the architecture work that makes that possible.
What you would build- Agent-native architecture. API contracts, semantic naming, and module boundaries are clear enough that an AI agent can find the right code and change it without a human pointing the way. The patterns hold as the system grows.
- A context layer in the repo. Versioned guidance that Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex load on their own, so every engineer gets better AI output without configuring it themselves.
- Incident agents. They triage the alert, pull the logs, surface the last few times this broke, and propose a fix. The on-call engineer decides.
- Agents that finish a task, not just answer a question. A ticket goes in, a pull request comes out, a human approves before it merges. In product features, not internal demos.
- AI code review that catches the real issues. Correctness, security, and maintainability flagged before a human opens the PR, with the false positives filtered out so reviewers trust it.
The way software is built is changing, and fast! Engineers who embrace AI-native workflows today will define the next decade of product development. Those who don't? They will be explaining what they used to do.
At Productboard, this transformation to being AI native is not a side project; it is our entire focus. AI first is our operating model, and this is how we work. We are building an AI-first Product Engineering organization where learning velocity matters as much as shipping. Our northstar: turn ideas into validated learning twice as fast. More experiments. Tighter feedback loops. Better outcomes.
We are looking for a Senior Engineering Manager who wants to be at the center of this transformation, not watching it happen from the outside. Join us, and help shape the future of AI-powered product development.
Why this matters for your careerThe gap between engineers who are building with AI daily and those who are still watching is widening fast. At Productboard, you won't just use AI tools. You will shape the architecture that makes AI agents effective, define the workflows that make them reliable, and build the evaluation systems that make them trustworthy. You will work in an environment where AI first is not a future aspiration. It is the current standard.
The skills you build here, agent native design, multi-model orchestration, eval-driven development, AI-ready codebase architecture, are the skills that will define senior engineering for the next decade.
What you will do- Drive product strategy and outcomes across multiple teams, ensuring tight alignment with Product and Design leadership.
- Drive high-impact cross-functional initiatives from first principles, making decisive calls based on evolving evidence.
- Challenge and refine top-level problem statements through data-driven counter-proposals in direct dialogue with the CTO.
- Provide expert architectural oversight, surfacing critical tradeoffs and raising the bar in senior-level design reviews.
- Operationalize an AI-first culture by implementing agent-operable runbooks, incident response, and onboarding workflows.
- Balance long-term domain health with short-term initiative velocity through strategic resource management.
- Cultivate the next generation of leadership by actively coaching and developing future EMs and Tech Lead Managers.
- Scale the organization through deliberate hiring, maintaining a high talent bar and efficient recruitment loops.
- Make the success of your area visible and create a sense of pride for the achievements done.
- 4+ years in team management, with a track record of growing both individuals and the team as a whole — including developing future managers or TLMs.
- A strong technical background. You independently evaluate architecture across teams, are trusted as a peer in design reviews, and can explain how your domain is built, performs, and scales without scheduling a meeting.
- A proven track record of driving initiatives across a broader surface than a single team — you've set first-principles direction, made hard scope and kill calls, and owned the outcome.
- You don't just raise problems — you refine them. You bring counter-proposals with evidence, push back when the framing is wrong, and update your position when the data changes.
- You value direct feedback, both given and received. We embrace the approach of Radical Candor. Always with good intent, always constructive.
- Great communication is expected. Fluency in English—our team consists of 14+ nationalities in different Geos.
- An experience building complex B2B SaaS admin experiences is a plus.
- Embrace AI as a daily tool in your own workflow. You use AI coding assistants, iterate on prompts, and constantly look for ways to move faster — and you build the agent-first conditions that make your whole area compound.
- Python for ML code
- Celery and Kubernetes for pipeline orchestration
- AWS, Docker, Helm, Kafka, Git, and CI/CD for real time services
- LangGraph for agent orchestration, Braintrust for observability and evaluation
- GraphQL, Postgres, Datadog, Sentry, and Looker
- Business tools: Slack, Jira, Google suite, Zoom, Notion
- [Full Tech Stack]
💰 Stock options
💻 MacBook + 34″ monitor
📚 Budget for online courses, books, and conferences
🏝 5 weeks of vacation + sick days
❤️ 1 Volunteer Day per year for you to help causes close to your heart
🍲 Free snacks, drinks, and yummy catered lunches every day
💚 Soulmio mental health program
🏋 MultiSport card to access sports facilities
🍹 Team events, such as happy hours, off-sites, and retreats
⏱ Flexible working hours and home office
🧒🏻 Parental benefits
🎓 Language lessons
🍀 Mental Wellness Program to support your well-being and self-caree
🥕 Carrot Fertility Program
Relocation OpportunitiesIf joining us means making a move, we're here to help make that transition easier.
Candidates must have the legal right to work in the EU. While we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role, we're happy to support relocation to Prague for candidates already authorized to work in the EU.
Relocation Support
We offer a one-time relocation bonus ranging from $6,000 to $13,000 USD, depending on your personal situation, whether you're moving on your own or with a partner or family.
This bonus is intended to help offset moving expenses and support your transition into your new city. While it may not cover every cost, it provides meaningful financial support as you get settled.
If you're thinking about relocating and want to explore what this could look like for you, we'd be happy to have that conversation.
About ProductboardProductboard is the leading intelligent product management platform, used by 6,000+ companies including Salesforce, SAP, Autodesk, and Kroger. Headquartered in San Francisco, with engineering hubs in Prague and Brno. Backed by Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Bessemer, Tiger Global, and Dragoneer.
We've spent the last decade building the foundation for how product teams work. We're now in our 0-to-1 moment again, building Productboard Spark — the AI-first, agentic experience that turns raw feedback and signals into clear problems, strong specs, and faster execution. Spark is what powers everything you'd be working on.
Are you building with us?
If the work above is what you want to spend the next chapter of your career on, apply below!
Equal Opportunity Employer Statement
We are an equal opportunity employer and champion equity. We aim to help people from all backgrounds, cultures, and groups realize their full potential at Productboard. We do not tolerate any discrimination or harassment based on gender identity, race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other bias covered by appropriate law. All aspects of employment, including hiring, training, promotion, and terminations, are based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We are committed to an inclusive hiring process and provide all candidates with equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. Togetherness is one of our core values, and our Diversity Council helps to ensure that we uphold the values of authenticity, humanity, and diversity to create an environment where every person matters. We are committed to leading by example to drive societal change.
By applying you agree to Productboard's Global Candidate Privacy Policy
Skills Required
- 4+ years in team management
- Strong technical background with ability to evaluate architecture, performance, and scalability independently
- Proven track record driving cross-team initiatives and owning outcomes
- Experience coaching and developing future engineering managers or tech lead managers
- Fluency in English and strong communication skills
- Regular use of AI coding assistants and experience building agent-first conditions
- Experience building complex B2B SaaS admin experiences
- Legal right to work in the EU (no visa sponsorship provided)
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The Company
What We Do
Productboard is the intelligent product management platform that helps future-ready product teams deliver exceptional products with clarity and confidence. Over 6,000 companies, including Salesforce, Autodesk, Zoom, One Medical Group, Cartier, and The Coca-Cola Company use Productboard to uncover customer needs, drive strategic alignment, and rally everyone around the roadmap. With offices in Prague and San Francisco, Productboard is backed by leading investors, including Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at [www.productboard.com](http://www.productboard.com/)
Why Work With Us
We believe that truly great products are not created by individual geniuses but by a great group of people that leverages everyone’s curiosity and creativity. That is why our mission at Productboard is to **make products that matter, together**. We are a global company with a stimulating, multicultural environment.
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