tech
Engineering Manager — AI labor economics
Leads a software team: hiring, performance, technical direction, and cross-team alignment. Owns delivery, retention, and senior IC coaching.
What follows is the matrix-derived read for this role at a representative cell. Your numbers will differ — compute your own Wagecard for the precise read on your geo, experience, salary, and task mix.
Operational AI cost
Tokens · oversight · retries · integration · orchestration.
Market rate (Tier 2 mid)
p25 $176,956 · p75 $251,576 · p90 $298,480
Economic substitution exposure
Lower = more human-leveraged. Human-critical work.
Distribution
Substitution distribution
By hours-weighted share across this role's tasks
Per-task read
The capability and human-advantage scores driving the role-level numbers.
| Task | Capability | Reliability | Error cost | Human-advantage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:1 meetings with reports | 10 | 15 | 5/5 | 92/100 |
| Performance reviews | 25 | 25 | 5/5 | 90/100 |
| Hiring interviews | 30 | 30 | 4/5 | 80/100 |
| Sprint planning and roadmap | 55 | 50 | 3/5 | 60/100 |
| Status reports | 80 | 75 | 2/5 | 35/100 |
| Cross-team conflict resolution | 15 | 20 | 4/5 | 90/100 |
Computed against capability matrix v1 · model v1-mvp · representative cell (Tier 2 / mid). Refreshed when the matrix refreshes. Open methodology at /methodology.
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