Senior Manager, Software Tools Development
- Salary
- USD 245,000 - 348,000 / per-year-salary
- Level
- Lead
- Work type
- Hybrid · Foster City
Not stated in the posting: visa.
Open. First seen 22 October 2026.
About the role
We're looking for a Senior Manager of SW Tools Development to lead an organization built on two closely connected pillars: AI-powered tools and agents, and the test infrastructure, data pipelines, and process automation that engineering and business teams rely on every day. You'll bring deep knowledge of large language models (LLMs) and applied AI, and use it not only to build new AI-driven products but to find where AI can meaningfully upgrade test infrastructure, data pipelines, and automation — the overlap between these areas is where some of your team's highest-leverage work happens. Beyond building the tools, you'll be the face of your organization's products internally — demoing capabilities, winning over new adopters, and growing the portfolio of tools your team owns.
You will manage multiple engineering teams (including managers), partner cross-functionally with stakeholders across the business, and build the processes that let your tools ship safely and reliably at scale.
In this role, you will:
- Lead and grow multiple engineering teams spanning AI-powered tools/agents and test infrastructure, data pipelines, and process automation, managing and mentoring managers and senior engineers, and holding your organization accountable for delivery and quality across both areas.
- Set a unified, prioritized roadmap across your organization that balances new AI agent/tool capabilities with test infrastructure, data pipeline, and process automation needs — with a sharp eye for where applying LLMs to automation, pipelines, or test systems creates outsized leverage.
- Design and enforce the architecture, quality gates, and release processes that ensure tools, pipelines, and AI agents are validated, secure, and reliable before reaching production.
- Partner cross-functionally with engineering, operations, and business leadership across the company to align priorities, scope integrations, and drive adoption of new tooling at an organizational level.
- Demo and present your team's tools to internal stakeholders, attract new internal customers, and grow the portfolio of products and use cases your team supports.
- Build and continuously improve the processes (planning, release management, quality assurance, reporting) that let your organization ship tools predictably and at scale.
Qualifications:
- 6-8+ years of experience in software engineering or applied AI, including experience managing managers and/or multiple engineering teams, with accountability for delivery and quality across an organization.
- Solid, practical knowledge of LLMs and applied AI, with experience identifying and delivering AI-driven solutions to real business problems.
- Experience designing and shipping production AI agent or automation systems, including defining architecture, tool/integration contracts, and validation processes.
- Experience with test infrastructure, data pipeline design, and process automation, including recognizing where AI/LLM techniques can improve or extend these systems.
- Proven track record leading cross-functional programs and presenting to senior stakeholders, aligning priorities and driving adoption across teams and functions that don't report to you.
Bonus Qualifications:
- Experience operating AI-driven automation or triage tools in production with measurable quality/accuracy metrics.
- Background in complex, safety-critical, or high-uptime operational environments.
- Experience managing distributed or contractor engineering teams.
What this role asks for
Particular to this role
LLM
Rare in Zoox's other 182 open postings.
Compared with Zoox's other open jobs.
The team: Software Platforms and Product HIRES STEADILY
This role is one of 25 open in Software Platforms and Product. 4 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in September: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.
WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS
Machine Learning (18 of 25), Python (14 of 25), Embedded Systems (11 of 25), C++ (9 of 25), Linux (7 of 25), C (6 of 25), SQL (6 of 25)
OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM
- Senior Software Development Engineer in Test posted Oct 14
- Software Development Engineer in Test posted Oct 13
- System Test Engineer posted Oct 6
- Technical Program Manager - System Behavior Analysis posted Sep 25
- Systems Test Engineer, System Behavior Analysis posted Sep 18
- Embedded Software Engineer - Drive Systems posted Aug 31
- Wireless Firmware Validation Engineer posted Aug 26
- Embedded Software Engineer, Wireless Technologies posted Aug 26
- Release Engineer posted Aug 7
- Embedded Software Engineer - Body Systems posted Aug 6
- Embedded Software Engineer - Battery Management Systems posted Aug 6
- Embedded Software Engineer - Power Systems posted Jul 14
- Embedded Software Engineer posted Jun 10
- Contract Student Worker Automation & Behavioral Science Engineer posted Jun 4
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - SRE, GitHub & CI/CD Infrastructure posted Jun 3
- Technical Program Manager - Product Software posted May 20
- Software Engineer - Ride and Fleet Services posted May 12
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - ML/AI Applications posted May 5
- Contract Student Worker – Firmware Engineer (FW Thermal/Body) posted Apr 15
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Ride and Fleet Services posted Jan 12
- System Test Engineer posted Jan 5
- Firmware Validation Engineer posted Aug 12
- Software Engineering Manager - Service Platform posted Jul 8
- Senior Director of Engineering, Product Software posted Sep 19
From the team and dates on Zoox's own job board.
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