Senior Engineering Manager, Core Sync

Company Description
Dropbox isn't just a workplace—it's a living lab for more enlightened ways of working. We're a global community of bold visionaries and resourceful doers who are shaping the future of Dropbox—and with it the future of work. Our Virtual First model combines the autonomy of a distributed workplace with the power of human connection, making space for both meaningful work and meaningful relationships. With our start-up mindset and enterprise-level opportunities, you can be who you are and grow into who you're meant to be. Here, you can own your impact to make work more intuitive, joyful, and human—for you as a Dropboxer and for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. If you're ready to push boundaries—and yourself— Dropbox is ready for you.

Team Description
The Dropbox Engineering Team builds the technology that creates more enlightened ways of working for hundreds of millions of people. Every day, our platforms—including Dropbox Dash, Dropbox Sign, and our core sync engine—handle over a billion files for users worldwide, creating engineering challenges as great as the opportunity for impact. Our software engineering team uses a range of technologies to solve interesting problems, including Python, React, , JavaScript, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, and Android development. We think like a startup but build for an enterprise, exploring new possibilities that transform how people work. If you're excited about turning complex technical challenges into intuitive solutions at scale, join our Engineering team. Areas of work include Machine Learning Engineers, Infrastructure Engineer, Product SWE Frontend and Backend, Mobile Software Engineers (iOS and Android), Engineering Manager, Data Engineer, Software Development Engineer in Test, Security Engineering, Site Reliability Engineer, Technical Program Managers, Network Engineer, Datacenter Engineer, Technical Supply Chain Manager and more.

Role Description
At Dropbox, we believe in simplifying the way people work together. We provide a range of innovative cloud-based solutions to empower individuals and businesses to share, access, and collaborate on their files seamlessly. Engineering Managers are pivotal in shaping our mission of building a more enlightened way of working where everyone can unleash their creative potential without constraints.

This Senior Engineering Manager will partner with a dedicated Product Manager to be the directly responsible individuals for executing on critical company-wide business objectives, with direct oversight from the CEO. They will accountable for the business impact of the same.

This team will own the Dropbox's Sync platform focused on delivering a faster, more reliable, and intuitive experience across all major operating systems. The team will modernize core sync architecture, reduce customer-reported issues, and launch highly requested features that simplify file access and improve performance. As OS platforms evolve, this work ensures Dropbox remains trusted for seamless file sync—while laying the foundation for future product innovation.

As an Engineering Manager, you'll thrive in our team if you love chasing impact, working through ambiguity, and developing a culture of innovation. In this role, you'll lead a team of 12-25 engineers, leveraging your robust managerial toolbox to drive direct business and customer impact independently. You'll work closely with your direct reports, cross-functional partners, and other teams to build the future of Dropbox. Our team culture rewards a bias for action, engineering partnership in defining our strategy, and efficient operational excellence. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership skills, technical expertise, and a passion for driving results in a collaborative, virtual-first environment.

Our Engineering Career Framework is viewable by anyone outside the company and describes what's expected for our engineers at each of our career levels. Check out our blog post on this topic and more here.

Responsibilities

• Directly manage up to 25 direct reports, as a single execution unit
• Partner with multiple Product Managers to plan roadmaps and sprints
• Accountable for high quality execution on critical and high visibility business objectives
• Responsible for making tradeoffs between feature work and addressing long term technical debt
• Responsible for excellence in software quality, engineering practices and operations
• Lead their team through standard Agile processes, such as backlog management, stand ups, retros, etc
• Review and Approve engineering designs and able to set technical direction (in collaboration with a Technical Lead)
• Drive cross-org initiatives alongside execution responsibilities
• Drive career conversations and career plans for your direct reports

Many teams at Dropbox run Services with on-call rotations, which entails being available for calls during both core and non-core business hours. If a team has an on-call rotation, all engineers on the team are expected to participate in the rotation as part of their employment. Applicants are encouraged to ask for more details of the rotations to which the applicant is applying.

Requirements

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field involving coding (e.g., physics or mathematics) or equivalent technical experience
• Minimum of 8 years of people management experience with an engineering team
• Minimum of 10 years as a software engineer or equivalent technical experience
• Must have experience managing engineering organizations of 20 or above, and experience managing managers
• Must have worked in a consumer user-facing team (versus a platform team, a developer-facing API-based product, etc)
• Must have experience running a standard Agile process such as backlog management, stand ups, retros, etc
• Experience designing and building software capable of reaching millions of daily users
• Partner with product managers and analysts, and external partners to deeply understand the needs of our users and build experiences that serves those needs

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in building user-facing software and supporting web/desktop systems and libraries
• Ability to handle full-stack projects and deliver minimum viable products efficiently
• Experience with clients, operating system internals, filesystems, databases
• Proven software engineering skills across multiple languages such has Python, Rust or Go

Compensation
US Zone 1

$240,600—$325,500 USD

US Zone 2

$216,500—$292,900 USD

US Zone 3

$192,400—$260,400 USD

The range(s) listed above is the expected annual salary/OTE (On-Target Earnings) for this role, subject to change.

Please note, OTE are for sales roles only.

Salary/OTE is just one component of Dropbox's total rewards package. All regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or a sales incentive (target included in OTE) as well as stock in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Dropbox takes a number of factors into