Engineering Manager, Distributed Systems - Data & AI Platform

About Skyscanner

Everyone loves travelling, but planning is not without its challenges ✈️ That's why we've spent 20 years building tools that turn travel‑planning chaos into a breeze. Today, around 100 million travellers count on us every month to skip the whole “47 browser tabs open” phase and find flights, cars, and hotels quickly and easily 💻

Joining Skyscanner means becoming part of a global brand that's striving to become the planet's go‑to travel hack accessible for all 🌍

Our vision? To be the world's number one travel ally. (Ambitious? 💪 Yes, but, hey, that's what got us here)

About the role

(Hybrid)

This is a leadership role at the beating heart of Skyscanner’s AI ambitions. As Engineering Manager for our Machine Learning Platform squad, you’ll lead a technically diverse team building the foundations that power real‑time machine learning across the company.

From ranking and recommendations to price accuracy and beyond, your team enables ML models to move from “great idea” to “live in production” — reliably, scalably, and without drama. You’ll partner closely with Data Science, Product and fellow Platform teams to evolve our ML‑serving stack and make it easier for teams across Skyscanner to ship smarter experiences, faster.

What you’ll be doing

• Leading with people first: You’ll coach, support and grow a talented group of engineers working at the intersection of ML, platform and distributed systems.
• Shaping the technical direction: You’ll guide the evolution of our ML‑serving capabilities — balancing performance, cost, reliability and usability.
• Owning delivery: You’ll help the team turn strategy into shipped, high‑quality solutions that power critical traveller experiences.
• Partnering across disciplines: You’ll work hand‑in‑hand with Data Science, Product Managers and Principal Engineers to define and deliver the roadmap.
• Driving operational excellence: You’ll champion reliability, observability and sustainable on‑call practices across the platform.
• Reducing friction for internal users: You’ll help make ML tooling simpler, clearer and more delightful through better APIs, docs and developer experience.
• Building an inclusive, high‑performing culture: You’ll create an environment where people feel safe to learn, experiment and do their best work.

About you

• A people‑centred leader: You genuinely enjoy developing engineers and helping them grow in both confidence and capability.
• Technically grounded: You bring experience with distributed systems, real‑time platforms or ML infrastructure (deep ML expertise is a bonus, not a must).
• Comfortable with complexity: You can navigate ambiguity, bring clarity and make good decisions when the path isn’t obvious.
• Delivery‑minded: You take ownership, follow things through, and care deeply about outcomes — not just plans.
• Collaborative by default: You build strong relationships across Engineering, Product and Data Science.
• Continuously curious: You’re always looking for better ways of working, including how AI can accelerate delivery and learning.
• Values‑led: You care about inclusion, sustainability and building platforms that work for everyone.

What it's like here

We are the real deal — no corporate gloss, no empty promises. Just a team of genuinely curious, caring humans, building things that help travellers explore the world a little easier 🧭

Skyscanner is made up of brilliant humans from every corner of the world. We believe travel makes the world better - and that the same is true of our diverse teams. We're proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and products that are accessible to all ✨

Sound like your kind of adventure? 🚀 Apply now and help us shape the future of travel.

We're committed to ensuring our application and recruitment processes are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments or accommodations for interviews, and/or wish to apply under the Disability Confident scheme, please let your recruiter know. If you’d like more information on any of our policies, such as hybrid working or Parental Leave policies (typically we pay a minimum of 24 weeks birth parent/maternity leave globally), our recruitment team can provide more information on these.