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

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 apply it.
• Relevant background. Developer productivity, agentic AI, incident response or on-call tooling.
• Cost awareness. You can reason about token spend and infrastructure as models and prices change.
• An advanced degree. MS or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field.

What makes Samsara different:

• Mission-driven impact. We improve safety, efficiency and sustainability for the industries that power the global economy.
• A unique data advantage. IoT data at a scale few companies can match: 10+ trillion data points a year.
• Fast decisions, limited bureaucracy. Work directly with senior leadership and ship solutions that matter.
• Growth and learning. Work alongside talented engineers, scientists and operators. We invest heavily in R&D and in building for the long term.
• Scale with startup energy. A public company (NYSE: IOT) with the resources and reach of scale, and the agility and pace of a high-growth technology company.

See Samsara in action

If you like, we would like to invite you to spend ten minutes getting to know us.

• A quick video introducing our business (click here for the Youtube Video).
• 2026 Agent Studio reveal at Beyond, our annual customer event (click here for the Youtube Video and fast forward to 59:36)

Ready to lead AI across the software development lifecycle?

We would love to hear from you.