Software Engineering Manager - remote job

LawnStarter is hiring a Software Engineering Manager - a lead role, which means responsibility for a team or a direction. The role sits in IT and programming and is fully remote. The company places no restriction on where the candidate lives, so you can apply from anywhere.

The employer did not publish a figure; that is settled at interview. The advert sets no condition on working hours.

This vacancy passed an automated check: the list excludes any advert requiring a foreign work permit, visa sponsorship, a particular citizenship, or residence in a specific country.

Headquarters: Mexico

Website: https://lawnstarter.com

About LawnStarter

LawnStarter is the nation's leading on-demand platform for lawn care and related services, boasting over $150 million in annual bookings. Our scope is expanding beyond lawn care to encompass a broader range of outdoor home services, including pest control, pool cleaning, and window cleaning.

About Engineering at LawnStarter

Our engineering team facilitates the connection between hundreds of thousands of homeowners and over 70,000 active service professionals. We manage three brands (LawnStarter, Lawn Love, HomeGnome) on shared infrastructure, and we are both profitable and growing. Engineering here is fast-paced, with continuous deployments and a focus on end-to-end ownership of our systems. We value a collaborative environment where "not my problem" is not tolerated. Strong processes and existing engineering managers ensure a solid foundation, not a starting point.

The Role

We are expanding and require additional engineering leadership to support new initiatives. You will lead cross-functional teams of 4-5 engineers, reporting to our Engineering Director. Your responsibilities include ensuring reliable delivery, fostering professional growth, and preventing your team from becoming a bottleneck as LawnStarter expands into new service areas.

This is a people-focused role. If your primary identity as a manager is technical, focusing on architecture rather than addressing performance issues, this position may not be the best fit. If you excel in directly addressing conflicts, effectively managing underperformers, and communicating team performance through metrics, keep reading.

Key Responsibilities:

- People Development: Create detailed growth plans for each individual on your team, not just those in need of improvement. - Delivery: Ensure your team consistently meets its commitments with high-quality work. - Team Health: Address conflicts promptly and ensure a clear process for managing underperformers and nurturing top talent. - Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the liaison between your team and Product, Design, and other engineering teams to facilitate decisions. - Technical Leadership: Maintain a strategic overview of system design while removing barriers. - AI Integration: Proactively introduce AI tools and workflows into your team's processes, from code review to sprint planning.

Challenges to Overcome:

Building a robust people leadership pipeline as the team scales

LawnStarter is rapidly entering new service areas. This means increased headcount, complexity, and a heightened need for developing the next generation of senior engineers and technical leaders. We seek an experienced manager, not one still figuring it out.

Managing a distributed team while maintaining culture and accountability

Our engineering team is spread across multiple time zones and countries. Asynchronous communication, remote one-on-ones, and distributed ceremonies are the norm. An effective manager must thrive in this environment, not rely on daily in-person interactions.

Ensuring consistent delivery to maintain competitive edge

With a solid product-market fit and momentum, the current bottleneck is reliable execution. Your team's velocity and predictability directly impact LawnStarter's ability to launch new services and capture market share.

Coordinating cross-functional delivery from concept to launch

As the interface between your team and Product, Design, and other engineering teams, you must manage multiple conversations simultaneously without becoming a bottleneck. You must balance business value and technical soundness, making trade-off decisions.

Implementing AI adoption to enhance productivity

We are fully integrating AI into our workflows, from code review to documentation. We need a manager who can drive AI adoption, ensuring it increases throughput without compromising quality.

What Success Looks Like in Year 1

- Every engineer on your team has a documented growth plan within 60 days. - Your team consistently meets its commitments on schedule. - There are no unexpected departures; you actively manage retention risks. - Underperformance is directly and effectively addressed. - The Engineering Director trusts your team's commitments due to proven reliability. - Your team demonstrates increased AI integration, with new tools adopted and manual tasks automated.

Requirements

Who You Are

You are deeply integrated with AI, not just aware of its benefits. You have experience using AI tools to accelerate code review, write more precise tickets, or lead your team's adoption of Copilot. You are actively experimenting with AI and setting the pace for your team, not following others. This role may not be a good fit if your AI usage is limited to occasional prompting or if you are still evaluating its value.

A people developer, not just a delivery manager. You can provide concrete examples of career growth plans you've built, difficult conversations you've had, and the structured processes you've used to manage underperformers. You focus on people development in your 1:1 meetings, not on status updates. This role may not be a good fit if your management experience is primarily about process improvements or shipping milestones, or if you tend to attribute team outcomes to external factors rather than the environment you create.

Remote-native. You have led fully remote teams, not just during the pandemic but as a default. You understand how to build trust without shared physical space, run asynchronous decision-making, and prevent remote engineers from feeling isolated. This role may not be a good fit if you lack experience managing fully remote teams or if you believe remote work is more challenging than in-person management.

Direct in conflict resolution. You address conflicts promptly and directly, ensuring they do not simmer. This role may not be a good fit if you have left roles due to unresolved conflicts or if your conflict resolution examples are primarily about creating space for dialogue rather than resolution.