Engineering Manager, AI

At Vanta, our mission is to help businesses earn and prove trust. We believe that security should be monitored and verified continuously, and we empower companies to practice better security and prove it with ease. Vanta has a kind and talented team, and while some have prior security experience, many have been successful at Vanta without it. This team helps automate audit readiness work while keeping customers in control. This is a rare opportunity to lead a zero-to-one build in one of the fastest-growing areas of our business, transforming Vanta into an AI-first platform. The team's mission is to make AI a core differentiator of Vanta by enabling and accelerating product innovation, and creating reliable, trustworthy, and high-quality customer experiences. The team is currently building out our Vanta Agent product, focused on downmarket and startup customers initially, with plans to scale the product to all customer segments. Core projects include agentic evidence collection, reducing manual work while ensuring the customer remains the final approver in all decisions. In this role, you'll manage a team that's scaling rapidly—currently 7 engineers with plans to grow to scale further throughout the year. You'll work closely with Vanta's AI platform team, product, and GRC subject matter experts to ship AI features that deliver magical customer experiences. Visit our Vanta Engineering Blog https://www.vanta.com/all-categories/engineering to learn more about what our team is working on! What you’ll do as an Engineering Manager at Vanta: - Build and scale a high-performing team, hiring strategically to fill skill gaps as the team grows - Coach, mentor, and create an environment where your team can do their best work and deliver for the business - Set direction and guide technical strategy for AI agent and downmarket products, ensuring long-term value aligned with Vanta's business priorities - Partner closely with product, design, and AI platform teams to ship customer-facing AI features that automate audit work while maintaining human-in-the-loop controls - Champion best practices for applied AI, including prompt engineering, RAG, agentic frameworks, and quality evaluation - Navigate rapid change and ambiguity with adaptability, iterating quickly on roadmaps as the team's charter and direction evolve How to be successful in this role: - 2+ years of experience managing technical teams of 4-8+ engineers - Proven track record as a strong individual contributor before transitioning to management, with hands-on applied AI experience - Deep knowledge of building LLM-backed products, including experience with prompting, RAG, agent frameworks, and quality hill-climbing - Experience in fast-paced, startup environments; founder background or YC experience is a strong plus - Strong adaptability and comfort with ambiguity—you can quickly iterate on roadmaps without too much attachment as priorities evolve - Excellent collaboration and influencing skills across engineering, product, design, and cross-functional teams - Familiarity with Vanta's tech stack (TypeScript, React, Node.js) or willingness to ramp quickly - Open to using AI to amplify their skills and strengthen their work - demonstrating curiosity, a willingness to learn, and sound judgment in applying AI responsibly to improve efficiency and impact. What you can expect as a Vanta’n: - Industry-competitive salary and equity - Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% of employee-only benefit premiums covered for most medical plans - 16 weeks fully-paid Parental Leave for all new parents - Health & wellness stipend - Remote workspace, internet, and cellphone stipend - Commuter benefits for team members who report to the SF and NYC office - Family planning benefits - Matching 401(k) contribution with immediate vesting - Flexible PTO policy, plus 80 hours of Sick Time - 11 company-paid holidays - Virtual team building activities, lunch and learns, and other company-wi