Senior Engineering Manager (RF-MG-20250204)

Celara is seeking a Senior Engineering Manager / Hands-On CTO to lead and scale a cutting-edge AI-driven platform. This is a hands-on leadership role at the intersection of AI, LLMs, and scalable software engineering, where you'll guide technical strategy, drive innovation, and build high-performance teams. As a key technical leader, you'll be responsible for designing and executing complex engineering roadmaps, ensuring best-in-class architecture, and integrating the latest advancements in LLMs, AI-powered applications, and scalable cloud systems. If you thrive in fast-paced environments, enjoy solving deep technical challenges, and want to lead a team pushing the boundaries of AI technology, this is the opportunity for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Architecture – Define and drive the engineering strategy, ensuring scalable, maintainable systems that support AI-powered applications.
• AI & ML Integration – Lead the adoption of LLMs, Whisper Speech Recognition, LangGraph, and AI-driven features.
• Hands-on Engineering – Work alongside the team to design and implement high-performance systems using React (Next.js, Redux, React Query), Python (FastAPI), and AWS.
• Scalability & Performance – Architect cloud-based infrastructure (AWS, Postgres, PineconeDB) to ensure high availability, security, and performance.
• Team Leadership – Recruit, mentor, and build a high-performing engineering team, fostering a culture of ownership and innovation
• Project Execution – Manage the engineering roadmap, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of new features and platform enhancements.
• Security & Compliance – Implement authentication (Auth0, OAuth), secure data handling, and DevOps best practices to maintain system integrity.

Key Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 3+ years in a leadership role (Senior Engineering Manager, Director of Engineering, CTO, or similar).
• Deep expertise in AI & LLM applications, including tools like LangChain, OpenAI Whisper, and vector databases (PineconeDB).
• Full-stack proficiency in React (Next.js, Redux, React Query) for front-end and Python (FastAPI), Postgres, AWS for back end.
• Cloud & DevOps experience, including CI/CD, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and infrastructure automation.
• Strong system design skills, with experience building scalable, high-performance architectures.
• Proven leadership ability – managing teams, mentoring engineers, and aligning technical work with business goals.
• Startup mindset – thrives in fast-paced environments with a hands-on, problem-solving approach.

What We Offer

• Work on the latest AI/ML innovations.
• Competitive compensation.
• Remote-first culture.
• A fast-moving, small-team environment where you can make a massive impact.