Senior Engineering Manager, Defense

About this role

<h2><strong>About Scale AI</strong></h2> <p>Scale's rapidly growing Global  Public Sector team is focused on using AI to address critical challenges facing the public sector around the world. Our core work consists of:</p> <ul> <li>Creating custom AI applications that will impact millions of citizens</li> <li>Generating high-quality training data for national LLMs</li> <li>Upskilling and advisory services to spread the impact of AI</li> </ul> <p>As these applications move from prototype to production, we're investing heavily in the infrastructure and people that keep them reliable, secure, and trusted by our government partners.</p> <p>At Scale, we're not just building AI solutions - we're enabling the public sector to transform their operations and better serve citizens through cutting-edge technology. If you're ready to shape the future of AI in the public sector and be a founding member of our team, we'd love to hear from you</p> <h2><strong>Role Overview</strong></h2> <p>We are looking for a highly technical and strategic Senior Manager, Defense Engineering to lead our engineering efforts across the Middle East region, specifically supporting defense-related projects. This senior leader will drive delivery of custom AI applications for defense and national security clients, bridging deep domain knowledge in the defense space with cutting-edge AI and full stack engineering expertise.</p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>What You'll Do</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Manage and grow the engineering team in the region, driving technical delivery across defense and public sector engagements</li> <li>Design, build, and optimize backend services for advanced AI-driven applications, with a strong focus on AI agents, evaluation tooling, and automation</li> <li>Lead full stack engineering efforts end-to-end—from system design and architecture through to debugging, testing, and production deployment</li> <li>Serve as the senior technical authority on defense-related projects, applying domain knowledge to ensure solutions meet mission-critical standards and security requirements</li> <li>Architect and deploy AI agent frameworks and API integrations tailored to defense and government workflows</li> <li>Work comfortably cross-functionally across internal engineering teams and external defense and government clients</li> <li>Own the full product lifecycle from conceptualization through production, ensuring high-velocity delivery without sacrificing quality</li> <li>Deliver experiments and MVPs at a high velocity and level of quality to drive engagement with defense customers</li> <li>Influence the culture, values, and processes of a growing engineering team in the region</li> <li>Inspire and mentor engineers, fostering a technically excellent and mission-driven team environment</li> <li>Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and ship new product features and experiences tailored to defense requirements</li> </ul> <h2><strong>What We're Looking For</strong></h2> <ul> <li>10+ years of relevant software engineering experience, with a strong emphasis on backend systems and full stack development</li> <li>5+ years of experience managing and leading engineering teams, with a proven track record of developing high-performing teams in complex, mission-driven environments</li> <li>Demonstrated domain knowledge in the defense sector—understanding of defense operations, national security priorities, and the regulatory and security requirements unique to defense </li> <li>Deep expertise in AI and machine learning, specifically with AI agents, LLM-powered applications, and agentic frameworks</li> <li>Hands-on experience designing, building, and integrating APIs in production environments (cloud and on-premises), including experience with AI/ML APIs and third-party defense or government platform integrations</li> <li>Full stack engineering proficiency—comfortable across the entire stack including backend services, APIs, data pipelines, and frontend delivery</li> <li>Proven success leading, managing, and developing high-performing Engineering teams at scale</li> <li>Expertise in identifying product engagement patterns and trends for large-scale applications, ideally in government or defense contexts</li> <li>Track record of shipping high-quality products and features at scale in fast-paced, high-stakes environments</li> <li>Ability to turn complex defense business and mission requirements into pragmatic, scalable engineering solutions</li> <li>Excellent problem-solving skills, and ability to work independently and as part of a cross-functional, international team</li> <li>Experience working in or with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is strongly preferred; Arabic language skills a plus</li> </ul><div class="content-conclusion"><p><strong><em>PLEASE NOTE: </em></strong><em>Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.</em></p> <p><strong>About Us:</strong></p> <p><em>At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build,…