Engineering Manager

New York, NY Pelago is the world’s leading virtual clinic for Substance Use Management. Our program provides guidance, support and treatment for members seeking to overcome their tobacco, alcohol and opioid use. From unhealthy habits to active substance use disorders, Pelago delivers a personalized solution based on individual health, habits, genetics, and goals, providing care for members wherever they might be on the substance use spectrum. Pelago's suite of virtual services ranges from education, to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to comprehensive medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Pelago enables employers and health plans to deliver accessible, affordable, and effective treatment for substance misuse. Pelago has scaled to helping hundreds of employers and health plans and has already helped more than 750,000 members manage their substance use better. We have recently closed our Series C and raised over $151m from leading global investors. If you are passionate about making an impact on the health of others, join us and make it happen!

About Pelago Engineering:

Our engineering team operates as empowered, outcome-oriented problem solvers, working in close partnership with product, design, and clinical teams to improve member outcomes at scale. As AI transforms how software is built, we are intentionally evolving our development lifecycle so we spend less time on mechanical implementation and more time on system design, judgment, and impact.

How We Work:

Outcome-driven: Engineers are given problems to solve, not just features to build. Success is measured by learning, impact, and outcomes—not velocity alone
AI-native: We use AI across the SDLC to accelerate implementation, testing, and review. Engineers focus on defining intent, validating behavior, and designing resilient systems
High autonomy, high accountability: Teams have real ownership over their domains. With autonomy comes responsibility for quality, safety, and results
Cross-functional by default: Engineers partner deeply with Product, Design, Data, and Clinical. Discovery, experimentation, and delivery are shared responsibilities
Quality and safety matter: We build in a regulated, member-impacting domain. Reliability, observability, and correctness are first-class concerns

What You’ll Do:

Instead of task lists... anchor on ownership:

Own meaningful problem spaces end-to-end... from discovery through delivery...
Design & evolve systems that support safe scalable AI-augmented development
Use data & experimentation to validate solutions
Collaborate cross-functionally balancing member impact & technical tradeoffs
Shape how we work—tools processes culture

What We Look For:

We explicitly assess for empowerment:

Start with "why" before "how"
Energized by ambiguity & collaborative problem-shaping
Use AI to amplify judgment & move faster on what matters
Think in systems & anticipate second-order effects
Want to own outcomes not just ship features

Overview of the Role:

Pelago seeks an Engineering Manager to lead & grow a high-performing team building AI-native products improving outcomes for people living with substance use challenges. Lead from front pairing with engineers architecting systems setting high bar for technical excellence & curiosity. Foster high-autonomy high-accountability culture where engineers thrive. Hybrid role (3 days/week NYC office).

In this role you will:

Lead & grow high-autonomy high-accountability engineering team mentoring engineers fostering ownership curiosity excellence.
Lead from front hands-on builder pairing engineers prototyping debugging delivering robust user-facing experiences.
Drive end-to-end execution of AI initiatives rapid experimentation through secure reliable production deployment.
Help grow NYC engineering presence collaborating closely with London team serving as culture carrier talent magnet globally.
Shift team from output to outcomes framing ambiguous problem spaces running fast learning loops ensuring real member business impact.
Set technical direction raise engineering standards focusing reviews decision-making architecture system behavior long-term scalability.

The background we are looking for:

Experience leading engineering teams accountable for technical execution delivery quality architecture development production fast-paced environments balancing speed quality.
Proven success guiding teams end-to-end delivery complex user-facing AI-native products system design technical decision-making production iteration.
Demonstrated ability hire mentor develop engineers multiple career stages fostering high-performing teams ownership accountability.
Strong technical judgment track record making sound tradeoffs experimentation technical debt long-term scalability.
Deep experience partnering cross-functionally Product Design Data Clinical aligning technical execution user clinical business outcomes.
Experience operating high-growth urgency environments bias toward action iteration forward momentum.
Strong judgment balancing speed quality fast-moving product cycles meaningful technical complexity.

What you’ll love about us:

Generous equity package Full Medical Dental Vision coverage 401k Plan Unlimited PTO Policy 10 paid holidays company-wide “Me Time” Days Paid maternity paternity new parent leave Flexible working environment Annual Learning Development stipend Wellness Reimbursement Program Access Reproductive Family Planning Care Substance Use Support employees family members Visa sponsorship unavailable at this time. Please note Pelago provides accommodations upon request during interview process contact recruiter if needed.

Before you apply see how we build.

We write about our technical decisions product philosophy real challenges scaling behavioral health. Read blog → https://pelagohealth.ai/ The provided range reflects US target salary range full-time position part broader total compensation package including incentive bonus stock options benefits incentive pay applicable eligible roles Individual pay varies based role-related experience education internal pay equity other relevant business factors Pelago committed equitable fair pay philosophy review total compensation twice a year. Base Pay Range $215000 - $225000 USD