Engineering Manager - Chat/ML

Cleo; London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job description

About Cleo

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity's relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper-intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating.

Cleo is a rare success story: a profitable, fast-growing unicorn with over $200 million in ARR and growing over 2x year-over-year. This isn't just a job; it's a chance to join a team of brilliant, driven individuals who are passionate about making a real difference. We have an exceptionally high bar for talent, seeking individuals who are not only at the top of their field but also embody our culture of collaboration and positive impact.

If you're driven by complex challenges that push your expertise, the chance to shape something truly transformative, and the potential to share in Cleo's success as we scale, while growing alongside a company that's scaling fast, this might be your perfect fit.

The Role

Cleo is radically different from the norm, and we're looking for an Engineering Manager to guide and develop engineers across our Chat and Machine Learning-focused squads. This role is a unique opportunity to oversee the technical delivery of exceptional products, with a focus on integrating cutting-edge ML solutions and improving the conversational AI capabilities that our customers love. You'll also be responsible for the well-being and growth of your team members.

Your teams will operate at the intersection of engineering, machine learning, and conversational UX, collaborating with product, data, and design to deliver high-quality, impactful experiences. You don't need to be an ML expert, but an understanding of how engineering and machine learning work together is key.

What you'll be doing:

1. People management: You'll manage and grow multiple squads, including technical leads, engineers (from junior to senior), and other team members, ensuring they have the support and development opportunities they need to thrive.
2. Technical leadership: Collaborate on technical roadmaps, review designs, and participate in architectural discussions to ensure scalability, maintainability, and excellence in delivery.
3. Delivery ownership: Work closely with product and data counterparts to define and deliver squad goals. You'll ensure we're delivering value to our users in a timely and effective manner.
4. Team development: Develop current squad-focused leads into more senior positions, ensuring we have a strong leadership pipeline to support our growth.
5. Hiring and growth: Lead headcount planning, recruiting, and onboarding to ensure we have the right mix of skills and experience.
6. Optimisation: Identify and implement improvements in processes, tools, and ways of working across your squads.

About You

We're looking for an Engineering Manager who combines exceptional people leadership with a strong understanding of delivering in a technical environment, especially where machine learning and conversational AI play a role. Ideally, you'll bring experience working with a stack like ours (Ruby preferred), a bias toward action, and a focus on outcomes.

Here's what we're looking for:

1. People-first leadership: You build environments that support engineers in doing their best work. You're passionate about coaching and mentoring, and you're skilled at helping others grow.
2. Technical competence: You've been a hands-on developer in the past, and while you're no longer writing production code, you're comfortable engaging in architectural discussions and reviewing technical proposals.
3. Bias to action: You thrive in a fast-paced environment, prioritising impact over perfection and continuously seeking ways to improve delivery.
4. Understanding of ML and Chat technologies: While you don't need to be a machine learning expert, you have enough knowledge to collaborate effectively with ML specialists and understand the challenges and opportunities in this space. Experience with chat technologies or conversational AI is highly desirable.
5. Adaptability: You're comfortable with change and can guide your teams through evolving priorities and challenges.
6. Great communication: You can clearly articulate goals, challenges, and solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences.
7. Commitment to diversity: You value diverse perspectives and actively work to create an inclusive, supportive team environment.

What do you get for all your hard work?

1. A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with bi-annual reviews, aligned to our quarterly OKR planning cycles. You can view our public progression framework and salary bandings here: https://cleo-ai.progressionapp.com/
2. Work at one of the fastest-growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms, Balderton & EQT Ventures.
3. A clear progression plan. We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
4. Flexibility. We can't fight for the world's financial health if we're not healthy ourselves. We work with everyone to make sure they have the balance they need to do their best work.
5. Work where you work best. We're a globally distributed team. If you live in London we have a hybrid approach, we'd love you to spend one day a week or more in our beautiful office. If you're outside of London, we'll encourage you to spend a couple of days with us a few times per year. And we'll cover your travel costs, naturally.
6. Other benefits:

• Company-wide performance reviews every 6 months.
• Generous pay increases for high-performing team members.
• Equity top-ups for team members getting promoted.
• 25 days annual leave a year + public holidays (+ an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo, up to 30 days).
• 6% employer-matched pension in the UK.
• Private Medical Insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo.
• Regular socials and activities, online and in-person.
• We'll pay for your OpenAI subscription.
• Online mental health support via Spill.
• Workplace Nursery Scheme.
• And many more!

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

If there's anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.