Remote Senior Engineering Manager - DevOps at Upstart — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Remote-First, But US-Bound: This Senior Engineering Manager role at Upstart is explicitly Remote - US only, meaning candidates must reside in the United States. Digital nomads holding non-US citizenship or planning to work from abroad will not qualify. However, for US-based remote workers, this is a strong location-flexible opportunity with no single city requirement.
Timezone Constraints: The team operates across East and West coast US time zones, meaning your working hours need to fall roughly within ET (UTC-5) to PT (UTC-8). This is a fairly wide window but limits flexibility for anyone wanting to base themselves in Europe or Asia-Pacific time zones long-term.
Travel Cadence: Expect quarterly in-person onsites (1–2 times per quarter, 2–4 consecutive days each). This is manageable for most US-based nomads — roughly 4–8 travel days per quarter. Budget accordingly for flights and accommodation.
Compensation vs. Nomad Cost of Living (US residents only):
- Medellín, Colombia — not applicable (must be US-based)
- Austin, TX — $195k–$270k is very comfortable; Upstart has an office there
- Smaller US cities (e.g., Columbus, OH) — salary stretches significantly further than Bay Area or NYC
Relevant Perks: The annual productivity allowance can cover remote work tools, and the wellness allowance adds flexibility. No explicit coworking stipend is mentioned, but the productivity allowance may cover this.
About Upstart
At Upstart, we're united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.
As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that's both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers.
We're proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn't mean distant — we're intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. Whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you'll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.
If you're energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we'd love to hear from you.
The Team
The Delivery team enables engineers at Upstart to build, test, and ship software safely through a reliable, secure, and auditable delivery system. The team owns the build and release pipeline, service creation experience, and the engineering portal, and leads cross-functional efforts to eliminate friction across the software delivery lifecycle.
Our goal is to make shipping software fast and predictable — working toward a model where engineers can go from idea to production in a single day through self-service workflows that minimize manual coordination and operational overhead.
This includes evolving CI/CD infrastructure, standardizing service creation, embedding observability and reliability by default, and providing a unified platform for service lifecycle management. The team operates at the center of engineering productivity and partners closely with platform, SRE, and product engineering teams to deliver scalable, high-leverage solutions.
As a Senior Engineering Manager of the Delivery team, you will lead a team responsible for improving the reliability, speed, and usability of Upstart's software delivery platform. Your focus is execution: driving high-impact improvements to developer workflows, reducing friction in the path to production, and ensuring systems are scalable, observable, and easy to operate.
You will partner closely with platform, SRE, and product engineering teams to advance a self-service delivery model where engineers can build, deploy, and operate services with minimal manual coordination.
This role is suited for a hands-on leader who brings strong technical judgment, drives consistent execution, and builds high-performing teams — balancing near-term delivery with incremental platform improvements that make software delivery more predictable and reliable across the organization.
How You'll Make an Impact
- Team Leadership and Execution
- Manage and develop a team focused on CI/CD, service lifecycle tooling, and developer experience
- Drive execution against clear priorities with consistent, high-quality delivery
- Establish strong engineering practices across reliability, testing, and observability
- Build a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and pragmatic decision-making
- Delivery Platform Evolution
- Improve build and deployment workflows to increase speed and reduce friction
- Drive adoption of standardized deployment patterns across services
- Simplify and modernize delivery infrastructure while maintaining stability
- Ensure systems are scalable, secure, and resilient
- Developer Experience and Self-Service
- Enable self-service workflows for service creation, deployment, and platform integrations
- Reduce manual coordination, support tickets, and reliance on tribal knowledge
- Partner with stakeholders to identify pain points and prioritize high-leverage improvements
- Contribute to the engineering portal as the central interface for service lifecycle operations
- Reliability and Operational Excellence
- Embed observability and operational standards into delivery workflows
- Ensure systems support safe, auditable, and predictable releases
- Reduce toil and improve system health through targeted improvements
Minimum Qualifications
- 5+ years of engineering management experience
- 7+ years of experience in software engineering, DevOps, or platform engineering
- Strong technical background in CI/CD systems, cloud infrastructure such as AWS, and distributed systems
- Ability to define clear team charters and execute with speed and alignment
- Track record of hiring, mentoring, and retaining high-performing engineers
- Execution-focused leadership with a track record of predictable delivery
- Technical depth to guide architectural decisions and trade-offs
- Systems thinking across reliability, scalability, and developer experience
- Strong cross-functional collaboration
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience managing large-scale CI/CD systems such as Jenkins or GitHub Actions
- Experience building or improving self-service developer platforms
- Familiarity with microservices architectures and service lifecycle management
- Experience supporting platform or architectural transitions
- Strong product mindset when building internal tools
Position Location: This role is available in the following locations: Remote - US
Time Zone Requirements: The team operates on East/West coast time zones.
Travel Requirements: As a digital-first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. Most employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S. but are encouraged to spend high-quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions' cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2–4 consecutive days at a time.
At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location — with our digital-first philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).
United States | Remote — Anticipated Base Salary Range: $195,300–$270,400 USD
What You'll Love
At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here's what you can expect:
- Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
- Generous 401(k) plan with Upstart matching $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 per year
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees
- Affordable medical, dental, and vision coverage, with multiple plan options — Upstart covers 90% to 100% of the cost depending on the plans you choose
- Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans
- Income protection benefits, including company-paid Basic Life, AD&D, and Short- and Long-Term Disability coverage, with options to purchase supplemental coverage
- Paid time off, sick and safe time, and company holidays
- Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments
- Family-centered benefits through Carrot and Cleo, supporting fertility, parenthood, and caregiving
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
- Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service
- Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development
- Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
- Connection and community through team events and onsites, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
- Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our four offices, located in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026)
Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this role fully remote or does it require relocation?
What are the timezone requirements for this position?
What is the salary range for this Senior Engineering Manager role?
What technical background is required for this role?
Does Upstart offer equity compensation for this role?
