Senior Engineering Manager, DC Buying

Afresh, the AI platform for grocery, began by tackling the most complex problem in the industry: fresh, and has evolved into the core AI platform for grocers.

By leveraging proprietary AI designed for high-volatility environments, we empower partners like Albertsons, Meijer, and Wakefern to drive smarter decisions across their entire enterprise.

Following record-breaking 70% revenue growth in 2025, we have scaled to 6 enterprise-grade solutions, with solutions live in over 10% of the U.S. grocery market. Our platform now orchestrates billions of decisions from the store floor to the distribution center and prevented over 200 million pounds of food waste last year alone.

If you're looking for a role where your work directly translates into massive scale and social good, and you want to be part of the team that defines how the world eats, there is no better time to join us.

About the Role

As Senior Engineering Manager for DC Buying, you'll lead engineering for Afresh's AI-powered fresh buying product. Buyers at grocery distribution centers use it to decide what to buy, how much, and when. Every order a DC buyer places determines what lands in the stores it serves. Get it right and shelves stay full and less food goes to waste across the whole network.

DC Buying is live with enterprise customers and scaling fast. Your job is to make it the tool DC buyers can't work without. You'll own engineering end to end and partner with product, design, data engineering and applied science on one roadmap. You'll also work directly with customers to make sure what we build supports buyers' daily work.

We're looking for someone who has demonstrated excellence as an engineering manager, thinks beyond their own team, and wants to own the outcome, not just the delivery.

What You'll Do

Lead engineering

• Hire, develop and retain a senior team of product engineers. Set clear expectations, invest in their careers, and address performance directly and on time.
• Set the technical bar. Review architecture, push back on unnecessary complexity, and be deliberate about where we take on and pay down tech debt.
• Build strong relationships with peer engineering leaders across platform, data and AI, so DC benefits from shared tooling instead of reinventing it.

Build the roadmap

• Own the DC Buying roadmap with product, design and science leads. Balance customer asks, technical investment and business goals.
• Know the business deeply. Understand what matters to users, moves key metrics and how to delight customers.

Execute effectively

• Make clean commitments, internally and with customers, then hit them. Tell people early when something is going to slip.
• Turn broad goals into scoped plans with a sequence, a cost and a date.
• Keep leadership and partner teams aware of what's happening, and drive decisions to clarity.
• Own reliability, on-call health and data quality for a product buyers rely on every day.

Be a great example

• Build a culture where engineers and scientists own problems, not tickets. Bring them in early with customers, product and design rather than handing them a predetermined solution.
• Be creative in your problem solving.
• Build innovative product that delights DC buyers and drives massive customer impact.

What Makes You a Great Fit

We encourage all highly qualified candidates to apply, even if they don't meet every listed qualification.

• 8+ years in software engineering, including 3+ years managing engineering teams.
• You have experience developing, scaling and supporting mission critical products in production.
• You have strong technical range. You have experience leading across multiple functional domains (front-end, back-end, data pipelines and applied science). You have enough depth to engage, and are excited to learn.
• You've hired, grown and managed performance on a team, and you've built a culture where engineers own problems rather than tickets.
• Clear, direct communication with stakeholders, executives and customers.
• Comfort with ambiguity and growth-stage pressure. You can re-plan quickly when a customer or business priority shifts, without whiplashing the team.
• You use AI-native development practices day to day and want your team on the leading edge of them.

Nice to Have

• Supply chain, retail or grocery experience, especially demand forecasting, replenishment or inventory optimization.
• You've shipped forecasting, optimization or recommendation products that operators act on every day.
• You've taken a product from early design partners to production at enterprise customers.
• Familiarity with our stack: Python, TypeScript, React, GraphQL, Databricks, Azure.

This position is not eligible for company sponsorship.

Salary Band in U.S. (USD): $203,745 - $275,655 + meaningful early-stage equity + benefits

• Comprehensive Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family, with the majority of premiums covered by Afresh. We also provide dedicated mental health support and counseling services.
• Invested in Your Future: Competitive base salary, meaningful equity (U.S. employees), and a 401(k) program with a generous company match.
• Flexible & Modern Workspace: Whether you work from home or a local office, we support your setup with a home office stipend and "Coworking Wallets" for flexible workspace access.
• Growth-Obsessed Culture: We believe in continuous learning. Every employee receives an annual professional development budget to master new skills and grow their career at Afresh.
• Holistic Monthly Stipends: Beyond your paycheck, we provide monthly stipends for "Betterment" (wellness/lifestyle) and telecommunications to ensure you have what you need to thrive.
• Time to Recharge: Flexible paid time off to take the time you need to recharge.

About Afresh

Founded in 2017, Afresh is using AI to tackle the #1 solution to curb climate change: reducing food waste. By building AI specifically for the intricacies of grocery—from the fresh perimeter to the center store—we help grocers minimize waste and maximize sales.

Afresh sits at an incredible intersection of positive social impact, rocket ship financial growth, and cutting-edge technology. Our best-in-class AI research has been published in top journals, including ICML, and our investors include Al Gore’s Just Climate, former Whole Foods Market CEO Walter Robb, and Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors.

Grocery is the past, present, and future of our food system – the waste we create today will impact our planet for years to come. Join us as we continue to build a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive team that embodies our company’s values of proactivity, kindness, candor, and humility.

Afresh provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.

Here at Afresh, many of our employees work remotely provided that they reside in one of the following states: AL, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, KY, MA, MI, MT, MO, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OR, PA, TX, WA, UT, VA, WI.