Manager, Software Engineering - Interaction Design

Figma Figma · Enterprise · Canada +1 · Engineering

Manager for the Interaction Design team at Figma, responsible for runtime APIs supporting rich interactions and animations. The role involves leading a team of engineers to build and improve platform features, hire and manage staff, and partner with product and engineering leadership. The team's work is critical for features like Prototyping and Smart Animate, and they also build new interaction and animation-based features. While AI is mentioned as a tool within the product, the core function of this role is managing software engineering for interaction design and animation frameworks, not directly building or researching AI models.

What you'd actually do

  1. Build and execute on a long-term roadmap to improve the platform, features, and runtimes supporting interactive and animated experiences in Figma products like Prototyping and Slides
  2. Hire, manage, support and develop a team of engineers, including staff level engineers
  3. Partner with product and engineering leadership to set strategy, priorities, and mission for teams and projects
  4. Roll up your sleeves as needed to get involved in the technical details of solving some of the most complex technical challenges at Figma
  5. Establish trust within and across teams by creating accountability and a positive work environment in partnership with other leaders in the organization

Skills

Required

  • Experience managing and leading a high output engineering team
  • Experience working on complex systems with an emphasis on performance, reliability, quality, and extensibility
  • Leadership skills in building a high-performing and highly engaged engineering team
  • Motivating, mentoring, and guiding senior engineers
  • Ability to partner with internal product and development teams to build systems that solve their needs

Nice to have

  • Experience building performant animation and interaction frameworks, tooling, and foundations
  • Deep knowledge of runtime environments and how they operate, including game, application, or browser engines
  • Experience with creative coding frameworks used for building interaction, animation, and time-based media experiences

What the JD emphasized

  • 2+ years of experience managing and leading a high output engineering team
  • 5+ years of engineering experience working on complex systems with an emphasis on performance, reliability, quality, and extensibility
  • Demonstrated leadership skills in building a high-performing and highly engaged engineering team; including a proven track record of motivating, mentoring, and guiding senior engineers
  • Demonstrated ability to partner with internal product and development teams to build systems that solve their needs