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Engineering Manager, Apps Foundation
Team
Engineering
Location
San Francisco, CA
ABOUT RETOOL
Nearly every company in the world runs on custom software for critical operations like tracking performance metrics, handling customer support workflows, building admin dashboards, and countless other processes you might not have even thought of. But most companies don't have adequate resources to properly invest in these tools, leading to a lot of old and clunky internal software or, even worse, users still stuck in manual and spreadsheet flows.
At Retool, we’re building the first enterprise AppGen platform: software that transforms natural language into production-ready code, integrates directly with business data, and meets the highest standards of security and governance. AI is redefining what it means to build software—and who gets to build it. The definition of “developer” now includes analysts, operators, and domain experts creating solutions directly. As the pool of builders widens, so does the complexity of what they need to build. The opportunity is enormous, but so is the challenge of enabling this larger community to build production-grade software safely. That means AI that understands real business data, enforces enterprise policies automatically, and empowers teams to create once and reuse everywhere with shared, trusted components.
Over 100 million hours of work has been automated by developers and domain experts using our platform, freeing them to focus on creative problem-solving and strategic initiatives that drive real business value. The people closest to knowing what needs to be built can now safely create custom solutions within enterprise guardrails. And that's a mission worth striving for.
Let's build the future together!
WHY WE’RE LOOKING FOR YOU:
Our engineering leaders are at the forefront of Retool’s product development, bridging the gap between engineering excellence and customer impact. We look for leaders who not only bring strong technical expertise but also the strategic vision to shape Retool’s product direction, balancing day-to-day execution with long-term thinking.
You’ll lead the Apps Foundation team, a group on a mission to ensure Retool apps are performant, reliable, and scalable as our enterprise customers push the limits of what’s possible. This team builds and maintains the foundations that power the Retool app experience—everything from how apps are loaded, run, and saved to the testing, observability, and performance systems that keep them fast and dependable at scale.
You’ll guide engineers focused on:
- Runtime: the core systems and data structures that make Retool apps tick.
- Performance: ensuring apps are performant out of the box, minimal tuning required.
- Testing & Observability: frameworks and monitoring tools that detect, diagnose, and resolve issues before users even notice.
- User Experience Analytics: session replay and product analytics that show how apps perform and evolve in real-world conditions.
Your work will directly influence thousands of business-critical applications, creating the infrastructure that ensures Retool apps don’t just launch successfully, but stay fast, reliable, and valuable over time.
IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL:
- Communicate and collaborate effectively with Product and Design counterparts
- Manage a full-stack team of engineers; support the team by identifying growth opportunities, providing continuous feedback, and performance management as appropriate
- Establish and define your team's strategy to ensure execution maximizes business impact
- Meet with customers to better understand product sentiment
- Introduce scalable, repeatable processes that help engineering and product teams deliver a successful product
- Partner with recruiting on building out a diverse team of exceptionally motivated engineers
THE SKILLSET YOU'LL BRING:
- 3+ years of experience successfully leading and managing full-stack teams
- Deep technical understanding; we don’t expect you to code, but you should be able to navigate our codebase and engage deeply on design and architecture.
- A strong ability to champion an engineering team through macro process changes
- A history of orienting teams and setting strategy toward engineering goals, with a bias toward impact
- Experience successfully recruiting, building, and scaling teams
- A propensity to operate as a business-owner — caring deeply about our customers, product, and team
- Thoughtfulness around engineering culture, process, and identity
- Proficiency in navigating through ambiguity, managing stakeholders, communicating in a structured manner, as well as driving maximal accountability and excellence
- A collaborative skillset to partner effectively with product, design, and go-to-market teams
For candidates based in San Francisco, the pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents base salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings (OTE) for commissionable roles. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Retool and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors such as (but not limited to), scope and responsibilities, the candidate’s experience and qualifications, and location.
Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity, and/or commission/bonuses are dependent on the position offered. Retool provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.
Retool offers generous benefits to all employees and hybrid work location. For more information, please visit the benefits and perks section of our careers page!
Retool is currently set up to employ all roles in the US and specific roles in the UK. To find roles that can be employed in the UK, please refer to our careers page and review the indicated locations.