Senior Engineering Manager - Platform at ServiceNow in Santa Clara, CA

Company Description

It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500® work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started.

Join us to put AI to work for people.

Job Description

The Team

The Platform Engineering organization builds the foundational services, frameworks, and developer capabilities that power the ServiceNow platform. Our teams create the infrastructure and platform technologies that enable engineers across ServiceNow to innovate faster while maintaining enterprise-grade scalability, reliability, security, and operational excellence.

We are at the center of ServiceNow's AI Platform transformation, delivering the runtime services, platform capabilities, and engineering infrastructure required to support the next generation of AI-powered experiences.

Key Areas of Focus

• Platform Services & Frameworks – Building core platform capabilities that support large-scale application development across the Now Platform.
• Developer Productivity & Engineering Excellence – Creating tools, frameworks, and platform capabilities that improve developer velocity, software quality, and operational efficiency.
• Scalability & Performance – Designing highly available, resilient systems capable of supporting enterprise-scale workloads.
• Cloud-Native Architecture – Advancing modern platform architecture through automation, observability, distributed systems, and reliability engineering.
• AI Platform Enablement – Supporting intelligent automation, AI-powered workflows, telemetry-driven insights, and next-generation AI experiences across the platform.
• Operational Excellence – Driving platform reliability, security, performance, compliance, and service health through engineering best practices.

Engineers in this organization solve complex technical challenges that impact every ServiceNow product and customer, helping shape the future architecture of the Now Platform.

What You Get To Do In This Role

• Lead multiple engineering teams responsible for strategic platform capabilities and services.
• Partner closely with Product Management, Architecture, Infrastructure, AI Platform teams, and other engineering organizations to define and execute technical roadmaps.
• Drive delivery of scalable, secure, and highly available platform solutions.
• Build and grow high-performing engineering teams through coaching, mentorship, talent development, and succession planning.
• Establish technical direction and engineering best practices across multiple teams.
• Drive operational excellence through observability, automation, reliability, and performance optimization.
• Lead large cross-functional initiatives involving platform modernization, scalability improvements, and AI-powered capabilities.
• Balance technical strategy, business priorities, and execution to achieve organizational goals.
• Foster a culture of innovation, ownership, inclusion, and continuous learning.
• Help advance ServiceNow's AI-first strategy by integrating intelligent automation and AI-powered engineering capabilities into platform development.

Qualifications

To be successful in this role you have:

• Experience leveraging AI tools, AI-driven insights, intelligent automation, or AI-assisted software development practices.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including experience building large-scale enterprise or cloud-native platforms.
• 3+ years of experience leading engineering managers, technical leads, or multiple software engineering teams.
• Strong experience in Java and large-scale distributed systems.
• Experience building platform services, frameworks, infrastructure components, or developer-facing technologies.
• Deep understanding of software architecture, scalability, performance, reliability, and security.
• Experience working in cloud environments and modern DevOps/SRE operating models.
• Strong track record of delivering complex technical initiatives across organizational boundaries.
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience leading teams in Agile development environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with platform engineering, developer platforms, runtime services, or infrastructure engineering.
• Experience with distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and cloud-scale applications.
• Experience supporting AI/ML platforms, telemetry systems, or intelligent automation capabilities.
• Experience driving engineering transformation and organizational scale.
• Passion for building high-performing teams and developing future engineering leaders.

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $190,900 - $334,100, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Additional Information

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements. 

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact globaltalentss@servicenow.comfor assistance.

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.

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