Manager, Software Engineering - External Platform
Lead a team of engineers to build foundational infrastructure for Figma’s AI products while partnering with customers and internal teams.
Posted by employer 3 hours ago
First seen on Joblaze 1 hour ago
Last verified on the company career page 1 hour ago
Skills & Technologies
What you'll build
- Lead a team of engineers
- Define the team’s technical strategy
- Hire and develop senior engineers
- Engage with technical details
- Build an inclusive team culture
Must have
- 3+ years of engineering management experience
- 8+ years of total engineering experience
- Experience managing platform teams
- Proven track record of motivating engineering leads
- Experience building and scaling engineering teams
Nice to have
- Experience with MCP Infrastructure
- Experience with LLM, AI gateways
- A background in adjacent infrastructure domains
Role intensity
20% coding — mostly leadership/strategy
AI in the day-to-day
You will help the team deliver on a robust AI platform.
Requirements
- Experience
- 8+ years
Not disclosed in this posting: visa sponsorship.
Benefits
Joblaze summary
In the role of Engineering Manager for External Platform at Figma, the individual will oversee a team of senior engineers focused on building and maintaining critical infrastructure that supports Figma's AI products. Key skills include experience in engineering management, particularly within platform teams, and a strong technical background in reliability and extensibility. This position is well-suited for someone with a significant track record in leading high-performing teams and a deep understanding of platform strategy. The team operates in a collaborative environment, engaging closely with customers and various internal stakeholders to drive impactful outcomes.
Joblaze insights
- Listed today — first seen on Joblaze October 20, 2026. Last confirmed on Figma's careers page October 20, 2026.
- Salary band is above the typical range for Management roles (median ~$171,120).
- Starts above 62% of 93 comparable lead management roles in United States that list AI/ML we track (median $240,000 across 37 companies). See AI/ML salary trends
- AI/ML appears in 26.1% of 598 comparable lead management roles in United States; API appears in 0.8% of 598 comparable lead management roles in United States.
Quick facts
- Is the Manager, Software Engineering - External Platform role remote?
- It's hybrid — Figma expects some on-site time in New York, NY, United States.
- What's the salary range?
- Figma lists $258,000–$376,000 for this role.
- How much experience is required?
- At least 8 years of relevant experience for this Manager, Software Engineering - External Platform role.
- Where is the role based?
- Figma is hiring for this position in New York, NY, United States.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AI/ML, API, MCP, infrastructure.
- What seniority level is this role?
- Figma targets lead candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Manager, Software Engineering - External Platform role at Figma.
From the original posting
Figma is growing our team of passionate creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all. Figma’s platform helps teams bring ideas to life—whether you're brainstorming, creating a prototype, translating designs into code, or iterating with AI. From idea to product, Figma empowers teams to streamline workflows, move faster, and work together in real time from anywhere in the world. If you're excited to shape the future of design and collaboration, join us!
External Platform builds and operates mission critical platforms that power how customers build on top of and with Figma. The team owns our MCP, Rest API and Gateway integrations powering millions of users as they work across design and code.
As an Engineering Manager on External Platform, you’ll lead a team of senior engineers working at the intersection of engineering, operations, and platform strategy. You’ll partner closely with some of our largest customers, Legal, and Program Management to translate shared goals into durable, scalable outcomes.
While this team works on our external platforms, the focus is on reliability and extensibility. You will operate the platform supporting our fastest growing products and provide APIs and frameworks that both internal teams and customers built on top of. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys operating in ambiguous, cross-functional spaces, amplifying the impact of strong ICs, and driving outcomes through platform leverage.
This is a full time role that can be held from our NYC hub or remotely on the East Coast of the United States.
What you'll do at Figma:
- Lead, grow, and support a team of engineers building foundational infrastructure for Figma’s AI products
- Partner with customers, engineering and product leaders from across Figma to define the team’s technical strategy and manage the day-to-day project execution
- Hire, coach, and develop senior and staff engineers to scale the team
- Roll up your sleeves to engage deeply with technical details and decisions as needed in order to help the team deliver on a robust AI platform with urgency
- Build an inclusive team and culture through thoughtful team-building and hiring practices
We’d love to hear from you if you have:
- 3+ years of engineering management experience leading high-performing, fast-moving teams, ideally in the AI platform space
- 8+ years of total engineering experience, ideally reaching a staff engineering level as an individual contributor
- Experience managing platform teams with a focus on reliability and extensibility
- A proven track record of motivating, mentoring, and growing experienced engineering leads
- Experience building and scaling engineering teams and org structure as they grow
- Experience with MCP Infrastructure and integrations
- Experience with LLM, AI gateways
- A background in adjacent infrastructure domains
Pay Transparency Disclosure
At Figma we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our product and our community to flourish. Figma is an equal opportunity workplace - we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
Standard company text repeated across Figma's postings is omitted here.