Engineering Manager, MCP (Model Context Protocol)

About Zapier

We're humans who simply think computers should do more work.

At Zapier, we’re not just making software—we’re building a platform to help millions of businesses globally scale with automation and AI. Our mission is to make automation work for everyone by delivering products that delight our customers. You’ll collaborate with brilliant people, use the latest tools, and leverage the flexibility of remote work. Your work will directly fuel our customers’ success, and as they grow, so will you.

Hi there!

Zapier is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead our MCP (Model Context Protocol) initiative. MCP is Anthropic's open-source standard that enables AI assistants to securely connect to data sources and tools, and Zapier is positioned to become the leading MCP provider in the ecosystem.

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of AI-human collaboration by building the infrastructure that connects AI assistants to 8000+ applications. You'll be a leader on both the technical execution and strategic direction of MCP at Zapier, working directly with customers, internal teams, and ecosystem partners.

As a Player-Coach, you'll spend 50-75% of your time managing an engineering team, and the rest being a hands-on leader: coding, customer connection, architectural decisions, understanding trends, and defining the technical strategy that positions Zapier as the most trusted MCP provider. You'll lead a small, focused team while staying deeply involved in the day-to-day execution.

Why This Role Matters

MCP represents a fundamental shift in how AI assistants interact with external systems, and we aim to make Zapier the most trusted MCP solution in the industry. This role will directly shape that future, building the technical foundation and market relationships that establish Zapier's leadership position.

You'll be working at the intersection of AI advancement and practical business automation, creating tools that make AI assistants genuinely useful for everyday work. The decisions you make and code you write will influence how millions of users interact with AI in their daily workflows.

If you're eager to lead high-impact projects at a fast-growing, profitable, and remote-first company, read on!

• Our Commitment to Applicants

• Culture and Values at Zapier

• Zapier Guide to Remote Work

• Zapier Code of Conduct

• Diversity and Inclusivity at Zapier

About You

• You’re familiar with MCP and the AI tooling landscape. You have experience with AI assistant development, integration design, or developer tooling. Bonus points if you've built with MCP, worked with AI model providers, or contributed to open-source protocol standards.

• You're a hands-on technical leader. You enjoy spending a portion of your time writing production code and solving complex technical problems alongside your team. You've led project planning & execution, shaped architectural decisions, and have experience shipping AI-powered products end-to-end.

• You thrive in emerging technology spaces. You're comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change. You can navigate unclear requirements, evolving standards, and shifting market dynamics while building production-ready solutions. You’ve successfully handled the tension of long vs. short-term tradeoffs.

• You're customer-obsessed and strategic. You get energy from engaging directly with customers, understanding their needs, and translating those into technical decisions. You think about both immediate customer value and long-term market positioning.

• You excel at cross-functional collaboration. You work effectively with product, business development, and external partners. You can communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and represent Zapier in the broader community.

• You have strong engineering fundamentals. You're experienced with our tech stack and comfortable with developer experience design, authentication systems, and distributed systems architecture. You understand AI/ML systems in production and have worked with LLMs to ship products previously.

• You're a people and cultural leader. You have a track record of developing talent and fostering ownership of shared goals. You build cultures where diverse perspectives thrive and knowledge flows freely.

• You're a self-starter comfortable with ambiguity. You take initiative without needing top-down direction and can turn loosely defined problems into concrete plans. You bias toward action, especially when next steps aren't obvious, while bringing others along with your vision.
  

Things You'll Do

• Lead and develop a team of 4-5 engineers, providing technical direction, mentorship, and career growth opportunities

• Engage directly with customers to understand their needs, gather feedback, and influence product direction

• Define technical strategy for MCP at Zapier, including architecture, security and auth models, and integration patterns

• Write production code for Zapier’s MCP products, frontend and/or backend (~25% of your time), using AI tools consistent with Zapier’s AI-first practices.

• Collaborate with AI model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) to ensure optimal end-user experiences and stay ahead of platform changes

• Partner with GTM teams to support technical sales conversations and take in feedback from customers

• Navigate tradeoffs between rapid experimentation and building production-ready systems that can scale to GA

• Work across Zapier engineering teams to integrate MCP capabilities with existing platform infrastructure and ensure consistent developer/customer experiences

• Monitor the competitive landscape and emerging standards to keep Zapier at the forefront of the MCP ecosystem

The Stack You'll Work With

We don't expect you to know everything, but experience with some of the following is helpful:

• Backend: Python, FastAPI, Node.js, Django

• Frontend: React, TypeScript, Next.js

• Datastores: Postgres, Redis

• Dev Tools: GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform

• AI/LLM: OpenAI API, Anthropic API, LangChain, semantic search, vector databases

• Developer Experience: SDK authoring, API documentation, onboarding flows

How We Work

Zapier is a 100% remote team, and has been since day one. We value asynchronous communication, transparent collaboration, and work-life harmony. We believe in building systems that scale—both in code and in culture. As the MCP team, you'll work closely with our Applied AI Engineers and collaborate across the broader Agent Platform organization.

How to Apply

At Zapier, we believe that diverse perspectives and experiences make us better, which is why we have a non-standard application process designed to promote inclusion and equity. We're looking for the best fit for each of our roles, regardless of the type of companies in your background, so we encourage you to apply even if your skills and experiences don’t exactly match the job description. All we ask is that you answer a few in-depth questions in our application that would typically be asked at the start of an interview process. This helps speed things up by letting us get to know you and your skillset a bit better right out of the gate. Please be sure to answer each question; the resume and CV fields are optional.

Education is not a requirement for our roles; however, if you receive an offer, you will need to include your most recent educational experience as part of our background check process.

After you apply, you are going to hear back from us—even if we don’t see an immediate fit with our team. In fact, throughout the process, we strive to never go more than seven days without letting you know the status of your application. We know we’ll make mistakes from time to time, so if you ever have questions about where you stand or about the process, just ask your recruiter!

Zapier is an equal-opportunity employer and we're excited to work with talented and empathetic people of all identities. Zapier does not discriminate based on someone's identity in any aspect of hiring or employment as required by law and in line with our commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity. Our code of conduct provides a beacon for the kind of company we strive to be, and we celebrate our differences because those differences are what allow us to make a product that serves a global user base. Zapier will consider all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, consistent with applicable laws.

Zapier prioritizes the security of our customers' information and is dedicated to adhering to all applicable data privacy laws. You can review our privacy policy here.

Zapier is committed to inclusion. As part of this commitment, Zapier welcomes applications from individuals with disabilities and will work to provide reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodations are needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact [email protected].

Application Deadline:

The anticipated application window is 30 days from the date job is posted, unless the number of applicants requires it to close sooner or later, or if the position is filled.

Even though we’re an all-remote company, we still need to be thoughtful about where we have Zapiens working. Check out this resource for a list of countries where we currently cannot have Zapiens permanently working.