Senior Engineering Manager
About Nirvana
Nirvana is on a mission to harness the power of data to revolutionize commercial insurance and enable a safer world. We are bringing much-needed innovation into the legacy, trillion-dollar commercial insurance industry. We have developed cutting-edge predictive models that use real-time IoT data from billions of connected devices, allowing us to better understand and price risk.
Our AI-driven platform fundamentally changes the way an insurance company operates with personalized risk scoring, faster underwriting, modernized claims, and proactive, data-driven insights to help customers prevent accidents.
We've already proven the scale—reaching well over $100 million in premiums and more than doubling year over year. Our data moat is growing exponentially with more than 20 billion miles of telematics data, leading to more predictive models and new insights into how we can better understand and reduce risk.
With $170+ million raised, including an industry-leading Series C round in January 2025, we're only accelerating our growth, with strong support from top-tier VCs including Lightspeed, General Catalyst, and Valor. Nirvana's leadership team has previously helped scale multi-billion-dollar companies from scratch, including Samsara, Rubrik, and Flexport, and includes industry veterans from Hiscox, The Hartford, and RLI.
The Opportunity
We're building the next generation of insurance technology: agentic systems powered by reasoning models that can auto-resolve claims and transform underwriting. Imagine a minor car claim getting automatically resolved by an AI claims adjuster and payment posted instantly – that's what we're building, using advanced techniques in reinforcement learning and post-training optimization to bring 10X improvements in customer experience and operational efficiency.
About the Role
As Senior Engineering Manager for AI & Core Infrastructure, you'll lead teams building the foundation for our AI-powered insurance platform. You'll spearhead our efforts in:
AI Infrastructure:
Build and scale our ML platform supporting large language models, reasoning engines, and agentic systems
Design infrastructure for reinforcement learning pipelines and model fine-tuning workflows
Create robust evaluation frameworks for generative AI systems in insurance contexts
Enable rapid experimentation and deployment of AI models in production
Core Infrastructure:
Architect and build the cloud fabric that powers our production environments
Design secure-by-default cloud infrastructure with zero-trust principles
Create exceptional developer experiences for CI/CD and staging environments
Implement comprehensive security across our cloud, application, and AI layers
Establish automated compliance frameworks and infrastructure-as-code standards
Design scalable observability solutions for our distributed systems
You'll collaborate closely with our Data Science and business teams to translate our vast data assets into competitive advantages that directly impact our growth trajectory.
About You
You are a strategic thinker who can architect, design, and lead the implementation of innovative AI solutions that drive business growth. Comfortable with ambiguity, you tackle complex technical challenges with precision, employing data and analytics to guide design decisions.
Your ability to delve deeply into technical details while maintaining a clear vision of the broader system architecture inspires engineering teams. With a proven track record in delivering 0-1 projects, you excel at leading engineering efforts and fostering collaboration.
You have a keen eye for talent and strong hiring capabilities, able to attract and retain top engineers in a competitive market. Your excellent organizational skills allow you to manage multiple high-priority projects simultaneously while maintaining focus on team development and strategic outcomes.
Requirements
8+ years of experience in system architecture and software development
3+ years managing engineering teams
Deep expertise in designing highly scalable, fault-tolerant, and distributed systems
Strong background in AI/ML infrastructure and modern AI tooling (LLMs, vector databases, inference optimization)
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and cloud-native technologies
Proficiency in Go, Java, or other statically typed languages
Preferred Skills
Experience with generative AI, LLMs, and reasoning systems
Experience with AI model optimization, serving, and observability
Knowledge of secure cloud architecture patterns and multi-region deployments
Familiarity with Kubernetes and modern GitOps workflows
Benefits
Competitive compensation & meaningful equity
Health insurance for you and your family
Monthly wellness stipend
Hybrid work culture
Flexible vacation policy
Autonomy to make a tangible impact in a fast-growing startup
Average salary estimate
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Join the team at Nirvana as a Senior Engineering Manager where you'll be at the forefront of revolutionizing commercial insurance through advanced AI technology! Located in sunny San Francisco, Nirvana is on a bold mission to transform an entire industry that has been long overdue for innovation. As part of your role, you will lead the charge in building the core AI infrastructure that powers our cutting-edge, data-driven insurance platform. Your responsibilities will include scaling our machine learning systems and designing secure cloud environments, all while ensuring a seamless experience for our developers. This is a unique opportunity to work collaboratively with talented professionals, leveraging vast amounts of real-time data to create more predictive and personalized solutions. You'll not only architect solutions that drive business growth but also foster a team culture where innovation thrives. Here at Nirvana, we believe in harnessing the power of data to enable safety around the globe. With strong backing from industry-leading VCs and a proven business model, we’re rapidly expanding and are excited to bring a new strategic leader on board. If you’re passionate about pushing the boundaries of technology and eager to make a significant impact in the insurance industry, this could be the perfect opportunity for you!
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Nirvana is on a mission to modernize commercial insurance and enable a safer world.
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