Manager II, User Understanding

About Pinterest: Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product. Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible. Pinterest is seeking an engineering manager to lead our User Understanding backend team. This team builds and maintains the data and backend systems that drive user modeling, personalization and recommendations—impacting hundreds of millions of users every day. You’ll set technical vision, empower a talented group of engineers, and collaborate closely with Machine Learning, Product, and Data Science to unlock better user experiences. We’re looking for a leader with deep infrastructure expertise, a passion for personalization and ML-driven experience, and a strong record of delivering ML-enabling platforms at scale. What you'll do:

• Lead and mentor an engineering team building large-scale data pipelines and distributed backend systems for user understanding and personalization
• Partner with ML engineers and cross-functional leaders to design, deliver, and optimize the entire ML pipeline, from logging/collection through model serving and experimentation
• Set strategy, prioritize work, and translate user and business goals into a clear technical roadmap
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture
• Manage project execution, technical decision-making, and stakeholder communications
• Drive best practices in data engineering, system reliability, and ML infrastructure

What we’re looking for:

• 7+ years of engineering experience, including 5+ years with large-scale backend or infrastructure systems
• 1+ years of people management experience leading engineering teams
• Proven experience to design, build, and operate distributed systems and large data pipelines at scale
• Direct domain experience supporting search, recommendations, or ML-driven user modeling platforms is a plus
• Strong technical judgment and communication skills; able to collaborate across engineering, ML, and product teams
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, a related field, or equivalent experience

Relocation Statement:

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

In-Office Requirement Statement:

• We let the type of work you do guide the collaboration style. That means we're not always working in an office, but we continue to gather for key moments of collaboration and connection.
• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration twice a month and therefore needs to be in a commutable distance from the San Francisco, Palo Alto or Seattle office.

#LI-HYBRID #LI-CL5 At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise. Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here. US based applicants only $170,371—$350,763 USD Our Commitment to Inclusion: Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support. Apply tot his job Apply To this Job