Why this role matters:

We are looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead the development and evolution of the platform that powers AP’s consumer-facing products. This is a hands-on, player-coach role responsible for building editorial products, backend services, and APIs that support both product and editorial needs. 

You will lead a small, distributed team of engineers and own the evolution of the AP News CMS, including building new editorial products, integrating third-party tools, and exposing reliable APIs and data for web and native mobile applications. In addition, you will build and operate platform services and infrastructure, partnering closely with application engineering teams, operations and incident response partners, security stakeholders, and external vendors to ensure reliable, high-performance delivery at scale. 

This role is central to enabling product velocity while maintaining the stability and integrity of AP’s consumer platforms. 

What you will do:

• Architect scalable solutions to support high-traffic consumer environments. 

• Manage and mentor an agile team of platform engineers, including distributed vendor partners. 

• Design, implement, and maintain APIs, services, and integrations that support consumer products and editorial workflows. 

• Develop and extend CMS to support evolving product and editorial workflows, templates, and publishing experiences. 

• Build and operate backend services that support AP’s consumer products, including shared services, integrations, data flows, and operational tooling not covered by managed services. 

• Own API and data contracts, including schema governance (GraphQL where applicable), to ensure backward-compatible change and reliable client integrations across web and native mobile apps. 

• Lead backend performance optimization efforts (latency, throughput, caching, scalability) to improve end-user experience. 

• Partner with AP’s Operations Command Center (OCC) and other stakeholders to support incident response, root cause analysis, and post-incident follow-through for owned services and infrastructure. 

• Collaborate closely with product engineering to ensure platform capabilities and delivery timelines support product goals. 

• Work closely with Product, Editorial, QA, Operations, Security, and Revenue partners to align platform execution with business and editorial objectives. 

• Ensure platform changes meet security, privacy, and compliance requirements; partner with centralized Security teams on standards and remediation. 

• Leverage analytics and operational insights to inform platform prioritization and long-term technical strategy. 

• Engage with vendors and third-party services as needed, establishing clear ownership and predictable delivery. 

Who you are: 

• 6+ years of experience building and operating backend or platform systems, including experience in a technical leadership or engineering management role. 

• Demonstrated success operating as a player-coach, balancing hands-on development with team leadership and delivery accountability. 

• Hands-on experience developing and extending CMS platforms; Brightspot experience is a plus. 

• Experience designing and operating API-driven systems and integrations; familiarity with GraphQL and contract/versioning discipline is a strong plus. 

• Experience building and operating APIs and services outside that support multiple client surfaces. 

• Strong experience optimizing backend performance and diagnosing production issues in high-traffic environments. 

• Working knowledge of observability and monitoring practices used to diagnose complex platform issues. 

• Experience partnering with operations and incident response teams, including participating in production incident triage and follow-through. 

• Experience managing distributed teams and external vendors across multiple time zones. 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to perform root cause analysis and drive practical solutions. 

• Strong communicator with experience partnering closely with Product, Client Engineering, Editorial, QA, Security, and Operations stakeholders. 

• Experience working in agile development environments and leading cross-functional teams. 

• Familiarity with monetization systems (advertising and/or consumer pay) and first-party identity/data concepts is a plus.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science or a related field (or equivalent experience). 

Work Location 

New York (hybrid) or remote (US)   

Salary & Benefits:

The anticipated salary range for this position is $123,000 - $170,000 - based on a candidate’s skills, qualifications and location. The Associated Press offers comprehensive benefits, which include: 

• Competitive medical, dental and vision coverage
• Retirement benefits
• Company paid life insurance
• Paid vacation and sick days
• Paid parental leave for any new parent
• Mental well-being resources