Senior Manager, Software Engineering - AI Developer Productivity (Dev Agents and SRE AI)

Who we are Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. At Samsara, we are helping improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the physical operations that power our global economy. Representing more than 40% of global GDP, these industries are the infrastructure of our planet, including agriculture, construction, field services, transportation, and manufacturing — and we are excited to help digitally transform their operations at scale. Working at Samsara means you’ll help define the future of physical operations and be on a team that’s shaping an exciting array of product solutions, including Video-Based Safety, Vehicle Telematics, Apps and Driver Workflows, and Equipment Monitoring. As part of a recently public company, you’ll have the autonomy and support to make an impact as we build for the long term. About the role AI is changing how our R&D organization builds and runs software. This is a new role: one leader for Samsara's AI bets across the software development lifecycle. You'll own two efforts that started and whatever comes next. Dev Agents builds in-house and integrates vendors such as Claude and Codex. That includes an Agent Gateway that serves internal MCPs, managed access to skills, and cloud runners that fan work out to cloud agents. SRE AI is an agent that does the first-line work of an on-call engineer. It already runs on real incidents in production: it writes a root cause analysis, escalates severity when it has proof, and can roll back the deployment it identified as the cause. This is a new role. You'll lead a team of five to 10 senior engineers, from Senior to Staff. You'll work directly with every R&D leader and with the developers who use what you build. This is a remote position open to candidates based in North America. What makes this unique • One leader across the lifecycle. You own AI for the whole software development lifecycle, for our R&D organization. • Room to try things. Try, fail, learn. One bet in five landing is a good outcome. • Already in production. SRE AI runs on live incidents today, and two teams use it as first responder. • A senior team. Principal, senior staff, staff and senior engineers who work without a roadmap. • Build, don't hand off. This is hands-on leadership. You'll work from the details, not from a PRD. Why this role matters Real-world impact at scale • Engineers on every team take turns on-call, which costs roughly 10 to 15 percent of headcount. The goal is an agent that is first responder to every page, so people are only woken up when a human is needed, and arrive with the root cause in hand. • Make SRE AI first responder for five teams, and the default for every team by the end of 2027. • Within 12 months, the median developer ships as fast as today's 90th percentile. Unique technical challenges • Choose which experiments to run for a root cause analysis agent when no playbook exists. • Decide when to build, integrate or buy as model prices and capabilities shift roughly every quarter. • Earn trust for automated actions, such as severity escalation and rollbacks. • Raise output without raising load on engineers, with cost per pull request (token spend plus infrastructure) as the measure. • Be on the founding team of AI agent factories: Within three months, stand up an end-to-end system for campaign-style work: backfilling tests, fixing recurring logging problems, and drive changes, etc. You should apply if: • You want to own an AI bet at scale. You'd like one leader's view across how an entire R&D organization builds, ships and runs software. • You build to learn. You'd rather try the latest technology than read about it, and you can say what failed. • You like working without a roadmap. You set direction yourself, and you move when nobody has told you to. • You lead senior engineers by earning their trust. Principal and staff engineers follow you because you're in the details with them. • You care what things cost. Tokens and infrastructure are part of the design, not an afterthought. In this role, you will: • Lead Dev Agents and SRE AI, and decide what comes next. • Set direction and choose the experiments for agent infrastructure: the gateway, internal MCPs, skills and cloud runners. • Make build, integrate and buy calls across vendors such as Claude and Codex as models change. • Drive cost per pull request down while output goes up. • Take SRE AI from two teams to every team, and build the trust that lets it take more automated actions. • Work directly with every R&D leader and with the developers who use what you build, without a product manager. • Champion, role model, and embed Samsara's cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices • Manage and grow a team of five to 10 senior engineers, from senior to principal, setting a high bar and clear priorities without a roadmap. • Hire, develop and lead an inclusive, engaged, and high performing team Minimum requirements for the role Experience: • 8+ years of software engineering experience. • 5+ years of people management experience. • Has led a team of about six to 10 engineers. Scope matters more than title. • Has led senior and staff-level engineers. • Has built something with current AI tools or agents, at work or at home. • Has set direction where no playbook existed, without a product manager. • BS or MS in Computer Science or another technical degree. An ideal candidate also has: • A methodical, systems-level mind. You work through problems nobody has solved, with a clear view of which experiments to run. • A connection to what industry leaders build. You follow it closely and app