Manager, Software Engineering - External Platform

Description

Figma is growing our team of passionate creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all. Figma’s platform helps teams bring ideas to life—whether you're brainstorming, creating a prototype, translating designs into code, or iterating with AI. From idea to product, Figma empowers teams to streamline workflows, move faster, and work together in real time from anywhere in the world. If you're excited to shape the future of design and collaboration, join us!

External Platform builds and operates mission critical platforms that power how customers build on top of and with Figma. The team owns our MCP, Rest API and Gateway integrations powering millions of users as they work across design and code.

As an Engineering Manager on External Platform, you’ll lead a team of senior engineers working at the intersection of engineering, operations, and platform strategy. You’ll partner closely with some of our largest customers, Legal, and Program Management to translate shared goals into durable, scalable outcomes.

While this team works on our external platforms, the focus is on reliability and extensibility. You will operate the platform supporting our fastest growing products and provide APIs and frameworks that both internal teams and customers built on top of. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys operating in ambiguous, cross-functional spaces, amplifying the impact of strong ICs, and driving outcomes through platform leverage.

This is a full time role that can be held from our NYC hub or remotely on the East Coast of the United States.

Responsibilities

• Lead, grow, and support a team of engineers building foundational infrastructure for Figma’s AI products
• Partner with customers, engineering and product leaders from across Figma to define the team’s technical strategy and manage the day-to-day project execution
• Hire, coach, and develop senior and staff engineers to scale the team
• Roll up your sleeves to engage deeply with technical details and decisions as needed in order to help the team deliver on a robust AI platform with urgency
• Build an inclusive team and culture through thoughtful team-building and hiring practices
• We’d love to hear from you if you have:
• 3+ years of engineering management experience leading high-performing, fast-moving teams, ideally in the AI platform space
• 8+ years of total engineering experience, ideally reaching a staff engineering level as an individual contributor
• Experience managing platform teams with a focus on reliability and extensibility
• A proven track record of motivating, mentoring, and growing experienced engineering leads
• Experience building and scaling engineering teams and org structure as they grow
• While it’s not required, it’s an added plus if you also have:
• Experience with MCP Infrastructure and integrations
• Experience with LLM, AI gateways
• A background in adjacent infrastructure domains
• At Figma, one of our values is Grow as you go. We believe in hiring smart, curious people who are excited to learn and develop their skills. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the points outlined in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Conditions

Job level and actual compensation will be decided based on factors including, but not limited to, individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process (including skills and prior relevant experience, potential impact, and scope of role), market demands, and specific work location.

Figma offers equity to employees, as well as a competitive package of additional benefits, including health, dental, and vision coverage; retirement benefits with company contributions; parental leave and reproductive or family planning support; mental health and wellness benefits; and paid time off. Figma provides paid sick leave, holidays, and other leave benefits in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the requirements of the Washington Minimum Wage Act and related regulations. Exempt employees are eligible for employer‑provided paid flexible PTO in addition to flexible paid sick leave. PTO is subject to manager approval. Additional benefits may include company recharge days, cell phone and home internet reimbursements, and a number of lifestyle spending accounts. Figma also offers sales incentive compensation for most sales roles and an annual bonus plan for eligible non-sales roles. All compensation and benefits are subject to applicable plan terms and may be modified by Figma at any time, consistent with applicable law.

Annual Base Salary Range:

$258,000 - $376,000 USD

At Figma we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our product and our community to flourish. Figma is an equal opportunity workplace - we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, veteran status , or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

Examples of accommodations include but are not limited to:

Holding interviews in an accessible location

Enabling closed captioning on video conferencing

Ensuring all written communication be compatible with screen readers

Changing the mode or format of interviews

To ensure the integrity of our hiring process and facilitate a more personal connection, we require all candidates keep their cameras on during video interviews. Additionally, if hired you will be required to attend in person onboarding.

Application limits: To help candidates focus on the opportunities most relevant to their skills and experience, Figma limits the number and frequency of applications. These limits apply to all roles:

Candidates may submit up to 5 applications during any rolling 30-day period.

Candidates may not reapply to the same role while an application is active or within 90 days of receiving a rejection.

Once the applicable days has passed, candidates are welcome to apply again.