Video Chat Engineering Manager

About HMS Hypermedia Systems (HMS) is a technology company based in El Segundo, California. We build and operate large-scale consumer internet products serving the Japanese market, supporting millions of users across web, video, data, infrastructure, and payment systems. As part of our continued growth, we are evolving our engineering organization toward a modern IC/EM/PM model that separates technical leadership, people leadership, and product leadership into clear areas of ownership. We are seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the Video Chat Engineering organization. About Video Chat (VChat) VChat is one of HMS's most important products. The platform includes real-time video communication, backend services, web applications, databases, integrations, QA, release management, and production operations. It serves as a critical business platform and requires close coordination across engineering, product, operations, and business stakeholders. To support continued growth, HMS is intentionally separating technical leadership from people and execution leadership. The VChat Principal Engineer owns technical direction and architecture. The VChat Engineering Manager owns the engineering team's ability to execute. The Role This role is for someone who enjoys building high-performing engineering teams. You will be responsible for the people leadership, team effectiveness, delivery coordination, communication, and operational health of the VChat Engineering organization. Your job is to create an environment where engineers can do their best work, priorities are clear, risks are visible, and important work consistently gets delivered. You will work closely with the VChat Principal Engineer, Product Manager, VChat PM, CTO, and other stakeholders to ensure the engineering organization remains healthy, aligned, and effective. ResponsibilitiesTeam Leadership ● Lead and manage the VChat Engineering team. ● Conduct regular 1:1s, coaching sessions, and performance discussions. ● Support career development, growth planning, and skill development. ● Foster accountability, collaboration, ownership, and continuous improvement. ● Help engineers understand expectations and responsibilities. ● Build and maintain a healthy engineering culture. Delivery & Execution ● Own delivery coordination for VChat Engineering initiatives. ● Ensure work is understood, assigned, tracked, and completed. ● Track blockers, risks, dependencies, and delivery health with the VChat PM. ● Help translate priorities into realistic execution plans. ● Escalate risks early and help remove obstacles. ● Ensure work successfully progresses from planning through release and follow-up. Team Operations ● Maintain the operating rhythm of the engineering organization. ● Lead planning, retrospectives, backlog reviews, and execution tracking. ● Clarify ownership across teams and individuals. ● Improve processes, communication flows, and team effectiveness. ● Reduce unnecessary coordination overhead and organizational friction. Cross-Functional Leadership ● Partner closely with VChat Product Management and Project Management on planning and prioritization ● Coordinate with engineering leaders across Platform, Data, SRE, DBA teams. ● Support communication with business stakeholders when engineering alignment is needed. ● Help maintain realistic expectations around scope, risk, and delivery. ● Surface issues early and help drive constructive resolution. Organizational Development ● Understand team capacity and workload distribution. ● Identify hiring, training, and staffing needs. ● Improve onboarding, knowledge sharing, and operational maturity. ● Help scale the engineering organization as the business grows. ● Support adoption of modern engineering practices and tools, including AI-assisted development workflows. What This Role Is Not This role is intentionally focused on engineering management. This role is not responsible for: ● Technical architecture or strategy ● System design ownership ● Technical review authority ● Technical decision-making through management hierarchy The VChat Principal Engineer owns technical direction and architecture. The VChat Engineering Manager owns staffing, communication, coordination, execution, performance management, and organizational effectiveness. Success in this role comes from building a highly effective engineering organization, not from personally driving technical decisions. QualificationsRequired ● 5+ years experience leading software engineering teams. ● Experience managing engineers through coaching, performance management, and career development. ● Experience coordinating complex software delivery efforts involving multiple stakeholders. ● Strong communication, leadership, and organizational skills. ● Ability to identify risks, dependencies, and execution challenges early. ● Experience improving team processes and operating effectiveness. ● Ability to build trust with engineers, technical leaders, and business stakeholders. Preferred ● Experience supporting consumer internet products. ● Experience working with distributed systems or large-scale applications. ● Experience partnering with Principal Engineers, Staff Engineers, or other senior technical leaders. ● Experience leading teams through growth, change, or organizational transformation. ● Experience operating in fast-moving product environments. ● Japanese language proficiency or experience working with Japanese organizations. Why Join HMS? ● Direct impact on a business-critical product. ● Opportunity to help shape the future of a growing engineering organization. ● Significant ownership and autonomy. ● Close partnership with senior technical leadership. ● Opportunity to influence engineering culture, execution, and organizational design. ● Ability to make a lasting impact on how engineering operates across HMS. Benefits Benefits include: ● Health, Dental, Vision, and Life insurance coverage ● Paid vacation and holidays ● 401(k) and 401(k) matching ● Flexible hybrid work environment ● Professional development opportunities ● Modern AI-assisted engineering tools and workflows Position Details Salary: ● Competitive compensation based on experience and qualifications. ● Compensation will be structured to reflect the importance of the role, leadership responsibilities, and demonstrated management experience. California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA") https://privacy.dtiservices.com/employee Pay: $140,000.00 - $155,000.00 per year Benefits: * 401(k) * 401(k) matching * Dental insurance * Health insurance * Life insurance * Paid time off * Professional development assistance * Vision insurance Work Location: Hybrid remote in El Segundo, CA 90245