Engineering Manager (Product Engineering)

Job DescriptionJob DescriptionAbout SmartNews

SmartNews is a leading global information and news discovery company dedicated to delivering quality information to the people who need it. Thanks to our unique machine-learning technology and relationships with more than 3,000 global publisher partners, we provide news that matters to millions of users.

Founded in 2012 in Tokyo, SmartNews also has offices in Palo Alto, New York, Beijing, and Singapore.

If you share our vision and are passionate about our mission, we encourage you to apply!

The Team

The Global Product Team is responsible for broadening the global reach of SmartNews by innovating and building news products, starting with the US News market. Our mission is to help more people discover high-quality, trustworthy news that matters to them. Presently, we are building a new application called NewsArc.

As the Engineering Manager for the US engineering team, your mission is to drive the success of NewsArc by combining strong technical expertise with effective people leadership. You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the product, leading a cross-functional team of engineers, and contributing directly to the codebase.

We’re looking for a hands-on leader who can help establish a high-performing engineering culture, someone who thrives in a startup-like environment, takes ownership, and partners closely with Product and Design to deliver meaningful impact to users.

What You'll Do

• Lead and grow a small, fast-moving team of full-stack engineers based in Palo Alto
• Build a world-class news application by contributing both as an individual engineer and as a team leader
• Work closely and in person with engineers, designers, data scientists, and product managers to shape the product—from early ideas to implementation
• Take an active role in product discovery and definition—contributing ideas, prototypes, and feedback as part of the full development cycle
• Contribute directly to the codebase and lead technical decisions
• Foster a high-performance engineering culture rooted in quality, autonomy, ownership, and a strong product mindset
• 3 days a week in office (Palo Alto)

Requirements

Minimum requirements

• Proficient (5+ years) in product development using either Node.js, React, or React to build cross-platform mobile and/or web applications
• Proficiency in TypeScript required
• Experience leading a team of 5~10 engineers
• Strong sense of ownership, product mindset, and user-centric thinking
• Interest in news (even if no previous work experience). We want to build a team that cares about and understands what we do
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or any related field
• Existing work eligibility in the US

Nice to have experiences/skills

• Experience building products that rely on AI, ML, ranking, and/or LLM prompts
• Experience building products 0→1
• Master’s degree

Benefits

Benefits available at the SmartNews US Office

• Compensation range: $175,000 to $270,250 base salary, plus bonus and equity
• 401(k) with employer matching
• Up to 100% medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family
• Benefit plan with monthly allowances
• Complimentary lunch, snacks, and beverages in the office

Click here or visit our careers site for more info about our benefits.