Engineering Manager, Samba TV
Identity Team
Data & measurement for smarts TVs
Be an early applicant
Data & measurement for smarts TVs
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
201-500 employees
Company mission
To create data at the heart of TV, powering a more scientific approach to advertising and a better viewing experience for everyone.
Role
Who you are
- 8+ years of software engineering experience, with 2-4 years in engineering management or a team lead role
- Proven track record of building, growing, and developing high-performing engineering teams
- Strong foundations in software engineering fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, and writing production-quality code
- Experience working with large datasets and data-centric systems, including designing, querying, and evolving data models over time
- Experience working with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) and modern data infrastructure (Spark, Databricks, Kafka, Snowflake)
- Deep technical background in cloud-native, data-heavy systems, including data pipelines and API-first architectures
- Strong understanding of data privacy principles and regulations (GDPR, CCPA) and their practical engineering implications
- Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with Product, Data Science, and commercial stakeholders in a matrixed organization
- Excellent communication skills — able to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences
- Comfortable operating with ambiguity and making data-driven decisions in a fast-paced environment
Desirable
- Prior hands-on experience in machine learning engineering or working closely with ML-driven systems
- Background in managing systems that handle PII at scale with strong data governance practices
- Experience in ad tech, identity resolution, data licensing, or a closely related domain
What the job involves
- We are seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our Identity team — the backbone of Samba is cross-device identity resolution and data onboarding capabilities
- Reporting to the Sr Director of Engineering, you will manage a team of talented engineers building and operating the systems that power identity resolution, data ingestion, and distribution across Samba's platform and partner ecosystem
- This is a high-impact role focused on execution and delivery at the intersection of privacy, data infrastructure, and advertising technology
- You will be responsible for driving the execution and delivery of identity products that serve advertisers, agencies, and data partners globally, working closely with Tech Leads and senior engineers on technical direction
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and engineering excellence
- Manage hiring, performance reviews, and career development for team members across levels
- Foster a psychologically safe environment where engineers can do their best work, learn from mistakes, and grow their careers
- Establish clear goals, expectations, and execution cadence, including planning, delivery tracking, follow-through, and team rituals (standups, retrospectives, and 1:1s) to keep the team aligned and high-performing
- Own the end-to-end technical roadmap for Samba TV's identity resolution and data ingestion/distribution systems
- Participate in architectural discussions and ensure architectural decisions are well executed and aligned with engineering standards, scalability requirements, and data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA)
- Partner closely with Product Management to translate business requirements into technical designs and delivery plans
- Actively drive the software development lifecycle from design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, and maintenance, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery
- Champion engineering best practices, including code reviews, documentation, testing, observability, CI/CD, and effective use of AI-assisted development tools
- Collaborate with Data Science and Platform Engineering teams to ensure identity systems are integrated, scalable, and well-governed
- Work with the Senior Director, Product Management – Data Products & Identity Portfolio to shape the long-term product vision and execution
- Engage with Business Development and Commercial teams to support partner integrations
- Serve as a key technical voice with senior leadership, communicating roadmap progress, risks, and opportunities clearly
- Manage team resources, project timelines, and deliverables to ensure predictable, high-quality outcomes
- Drive the adoption of operational best practices: incident management, SLAs, on-call rotations, and post-mortems
- Monitor and continuously improve system performance, reliability, and cost efficiency
Our take
Samba TV is improving the TV viewing experience by employing analytics to better personalize adverts and recommendations. With a scientific and algorithmic approach to how smart TVs work, the company enables TV businesses to better capture and serve consumers - an offering which has attracted the likes of Disney.
In recent years, Samba TV has focused on making artificial intelligence and machine learning central to its offerings, in part through the acquisition of Disruptel. This has enabled heightened content recognition and non-intrusive ad unit development, both of which enable it to deliver more value.
Moving forwards, Samba continues to partner and integrate with a wide range of companies to expand its product offering and market reach. And is 2022 expansion into Australia has put the company on the path to becoming a global force to be reckoned with.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-7% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Apr 2018
$7.5m
EARLY VC
Jun 2017
$30m
SERIES B
Total funding: $45.7m
Company benefits
- Health Coverage: We have several choices of medical, dental, and vision plans with a range of coverage levels and costs, including a 100% employer-covered plan.
- Wellness & Lifestyle Perks: Our wellness programs are designed to help you maintain or move toward a healthy lifestyle through mindful meditations, gym access, and other assistance when you need it!
- Company Equity Plan: We believe in shared success. We want our employees to not just work for us, but to truly be part of our growth story.
- Volunteer Days: We're committed to making a positive impact, both in and outside the workplace!
- Flexible Time Off: We encourage a healthy work-life balance which empowers our teams to recharge when needed and thrive both personally and professionally.
- Team & Company Events: We love to hang out together! We provide many opportunities to get to know each other whether virtually or in person.
Company HQ
China Basin, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Ashwin Navin
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously co-founded i/o ventures and BitTorrent, serving there as President. Experience as an Analyst for Epoch Partners, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.
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