How to apply for Engineering Manager

About Elicit

Elicit is a public benefit company building an AI research assistant that helps researchers make better decisions. Its ML system is designed to prioritize systematicity and transparency, with supervision of process rather than outcomes. This is a chance to work on a product where the stated goal is scalable, transparent AI for research.

About the role

You will lead a small engineering team of 2–8 software engineers at an AI research company. The role mixes hands-on technical judgment, people management, and product execution. You will own delivery of significant features, partner with product and design, and help engineers grow into independent technical leaders.

A typical day

A typical day may include one-on-ones with engineers, a code review or architectural discussion, and a planning session with product and design. You will likely spend time removing bottlenecks so the team can ship significant features consistently. The exact routine is not specified, so ask about team meetings, release cadence, and how much time is expected for hands-on technical work.

Who Elicit is looking for

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years directly managing engineers.
• Has worked at high-bar startups and shipped complex user-facing products.
• Can coach engineers through technical growth, career development, and ownership of complex systems.
• Comfortable in architectural discussions, code reviews, and technical planning, and can help engineers make tradeoffs around performance, reliability, and scalability.

Tips for this application

• Emphasize specific examples where you managed 2–8 engineers and can name the systems or products they owned.
• Show hands-on technical judgment: mention code reviews, architectural decisions, or technical planning you personally contributed to.
• Connect your experience to AI research or ML systems if you have it; if not, explain how you have managed complex, user-facing products with high reliability needs.
• Reference Elicit’s stated approach of supervision of process, not outcomes, and explain how you have managed engineers in a similar way.
• Keep the application focused on startup experience: high-bar startups, shipping complex user-facing products, and removing delivery bottlenecks.

What to cover in your cover letter

Your cover letter should focus on: (1) direct management of 2–8 engineers and how you developed them into independent technical leaders; (2) a track record at high-bar startups shipping complex user-facing products; (3) hands-on technical involvement in architecture, code review, and technical planning; and (4) how you partner with product and design to prioritize roadmap items and own execution.

Research before applying

• Read Elicit’s product pages and any public materials on how its AI research assistant works.
• Look into what a public benefit company is and how Elicit describes that structure.
• Find any public writing or talks from Elicit about its ML system, systematicity, transparency, and supervision of process rather than outcomes.
• Check the backgrounds of the founders and current team to understand the stage and technical bar of the company.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you have managed 2–8 engineers, including coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• A time you made an architectural tradeoff around performance, reliability, or scalability.
• How you partner with product and design to prioritize roadmap items and remove delivery bottlenecks.
• How you help engineers take increasing ownership of complex systems.
• What you know about Elicit’s AI research assistant and how you would approach leading a team building a scalable ML system with transparency and process supervision.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying as a pure people manager with no recent hands-on technical involvement.
• Focusing only on team size or process without concrete examples of shipped user-facing products at high-bar startups.
• Ignoring Elicit’s specific approach to AI research and treating the role like a generic engineering manager job.