Engineering Manager, Zapier
Model Context Protocol
$187.8-281.7k
Canada: CA$187.8K – CA$281.7K. Offers equity and bonus
React
Docker
Kubernetes
TypeScript
Python
Django
Redis
Node.js
Postgres
Terraform
Next.js
Semantic
FastAPI
Senior and Expert level
Remote from Canada, US
Workflow automation service
Be an early applicant
Workflow automation service
1001+ employees
B2BEnterpriseInternal toolsProductivityAutomation
Be an early applicant
$187.8-281.7k
Canada: CA$187.8K – CA$281.7K. Offers equity and bonus
React
Docker
Kubernetes
TypeScript
Python
Django
Redis
Node.js
Postgres
Terraform
Next.js
Semantic
FastAPI
Senior and Expert level
Remote from Canada, US
1001+ employees
B2BEnterpriseInternal toolsProductivityAutomation
Company mission
Zapier's mission is to Make Automation Work for Everyone!
Role
Who you are
- You’re familiar with MCP and the AI tooling landscape. You have experience with AI assistant development, integration design, or developer tooling. Bonus points if you've built with MCP, worked with AI model providers, or contributed to open-source protocol standards
- You're a hands-on technical leader. You enjoy spending a portion of your time writing production code and solving complex technical problems alongside your team. You've led project planning & execution, shaped architectural decisions, and have experience shipping AI-powered products end-to-end
- You thrive in emerging technology spaces. You're comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change. You can navigate unclear requirements, evolving standards, and shifting market dynamics while building production-ready solutions. You’ve successfully handled the tension of long vs. short-term tradeoffs
- You're customer-obsessed and strategic. You get energy from engaging directly with customers, understanding their needs, and translating those into technical decisions. You think about both immediate customer value and long-term market positioning
- You excel at cross-functional collaboration. You work effectively with product, business development, and external partners. You can communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and represent Zapier in the broader community
- You have strong engineering fundamentals. You're experienced with our tech stack and comfortable with developer experience design, authentication systems, and distributed systems architecture. You understand AI/ML systems in production and have worked with LLMs to ship products previously
- You're a people and cultural leader. You have a track record of developing talent and fostering ownership of shared goals. You build cultures where diverse perspectives thrive and knowledge flows freely
- You're a self-starter comfortable with ambiguity. You take initiative without needing top-down direction and can turn loosely defined problems into concrete plans. You bias toward action, especially when next steps aren't obvious, while bringing others along with your vision
- We don't expect you to know everything, but experience with some of the following is helpful:
- Backend: Python, FastAPI, Node.js, Django
- Frontend: React, TypeScript, Next.js
- Datastores: Postgres, Redis
- Dev Tools: GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform
- AI/LLM: OpenAI API, Anthropic API, LangChain, semantic search, vector databases
- Developer Experience: SDK authoring, API documentation, onboarding flows
What the job involves
- Apier is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead our MCP (Model Context Protocol) initiative. MCP is Anthropic's open-source standard that enables AI assistants to securely connect to data sources and tools, and Zapier is positioned to become the leading MCP provider in the ecosystem
- This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of AI-human collaboration by building the infrastructure that connects AI assistants to 8000+ applications
- You'll be a leader on both the technical execution and strategic direction of MCP at Zapier, working directly with customers, internal teams, and ecosystem partners
- As a Player-Coach, you'll spend 50-75% of your time managing an engineering team, and the rest being a hands-on leader: coding, customer connection, architectural decisions, understanding trends, and defining the technical strategy that positions Zapier as the most trusted MCP provider
- You'll lead a small, focused team while staying deeply involved in the day-to-day execution
- MCP represents a fundamental shift in how AI assistants interact with external systems, and we aim to make Zapier the most trusted MCP solution in the industry
- This role will directly shape that future, building the technical foundation and market relationships that establish Zapier's leadership position
- You'll be working at the intersection of AI advancement and practical business automation, creating tools that make AI assistants genuinely useful for everyday work
- The decisions you make and code you write will influence how millions of users interact with AI in their daily workflows
- Lead and develop a team of 4-5 engineers, providing technical direction, mentorship, and career growth opportunities
- Engage directly with customers to understand their needs, gather feedback, and influence product direction
- Define technical strategy for MCP at Zapier, including architecture, security and auth models, and integration patterns
- Write production code for Zapier’s MCP products, frontend and/or backend (~25% of your time), using AI tools consistent with Zapier’s AI-first practices
- Collaborate with AI model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) to ensure optimal end-user experiences and stay ahead of platform changes
- Partner with GTM teams to support technical sales conversations and take in feedback from customers
- Navigate tradeoffs between rapid experimentation and building production-ready systems that can scale to GA
- Work across Zapier engineering teams to integrate MCP capabilities with existing platform infrastructure and ensure consistent developer/customer experiences
- Monitor the competitive landscape and emerging standards to keep Zapier at the forefront of the MCP ecosystem
Application process
- Deadline to Apply: September 30, 2025 at 4:00 AM UTC
- All we ask is that you answer a few in-depth questions in our application that would typically be asked at the start of an interview process
- This helps speed things up by letting us get to know you and your skillset a bit better right out of the gate. Please be sure to answer each question; the resume and CV fields are optional
- Education is not a requirement for our roles; however, if you receive an offer, you will need to include your most recent educational experience as part of our background check process
- After you apply, you are going to hear back from us—even if we don’t see an immediate fit with our team
- In fact, throughout the process, we strive to never go more than seven days without letting you know the status of your application
- We know we’ll make mistakes from time to time, so if you ever have questions about where you stand or about the process, just ask your recruiter!
- The anticipated application window is 30 days from the date job is posted, unless the number of applicants requires it to close sooner or later, or if the position is filled
Our take
Even before remote working became the "in thing", freelancers, small business owners, and large organisations have found themselves needing more and more software platforms to serve their operations needs. As people used more software services, Zapier founders saw the need to connect the actions between these softwares and save everyone some time.
Zapier is the largest integration and automation tool for businesses. Since being founded, Zapier has grown its suite of automation offerings across almost every mainstream software service. The company is one of the most successful to come out of Y Combinator, and has also been one of the pioneers of remote working.
Zapier has so far, been able to capitalise heavily on its advantage as first entrants and has had very little actual competition. Software services aren't going anywhere anytime soon and organisations are only going to need more of them. This puts Zapier in a strong place growth-wise but also opens up room for bolder companies to get in on the action. Companies like Airtable and Integromat are already preying on more niche segments of Zapier's market share.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Top investors
38% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (1 round)
Oct 2012
$1.3m
SEED
Total funding: $1.3m
Company benefits
- Work from anywhere
- Bonus program
- Unlimited vacation policy
- Great healthcare + dental + vision coverage*
- Retirement plan with company match*
- Stock options for every Zapien**
- 2 annual company retreats to awesome places
- 14 weeks paid leave for new parents
- Home office setup stipend
- Professional development allowance
Additional info
- As a fully remote company with 800+ team members across 40+ states, 38 countries, and 18+ timezones, we’ve adopted a culture of asynchronous work. This work style allows teams to collaborate effectively across locations, time zones, skills, and each individual’s energy levels, and empowers employees to work in a setting that fits their needs. In practice, we live on Slack, with most conversations in public channels. It mimics the open-office feel and allows everyone to search the chat logs if they need to find something that happened when they weren’t around
Leadership
Wade Foster
(CEO & Co-Founder)Prior to co-founding Zapier, wasEmail Marketing Manager with Veterans United Home Loans, and Customer Development Lead at The Idea Works.
Bryan Helmig
(CTO & Co-Founder)Was previously Product Dev/Manager at Veterans United Home Loans.
Mike Knoop
(Co-Founder)Was CPO and Head of Labs at Zapier before becoming President. Previously was a Graduate Research at the University of Missouri.
Share this job
View 24 more jobs at Zapier