Senior Programming Manager

Michigan Sugar•Bay City, MI

4d•Onsite

About The Position

At Michigan Sugar, the Senior Programming Manager is a working manager responsible for both hands-on software development and direct leadership of a small programming team. This role supports and enhances the cooperative’s proprietary systems that are critical to agricultural and manufacturing operations, financial integrity, and service to farmer owners. As a farmer-owned cooperative, the company places a premium on integrity, long-term thinking, practical problem-solving, and stewardship of member resources. The ideal candidate is technically strong, business-minded, and grounded, taking pride in building reliable systems, mentoring others, and serving the mission of the cooperative and its grower owners. The position is an immediate full-time opportunity located at the Bay City Corporate Office.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience).
8+ years of progressive professional programming experience.
3+ years of experience leading or mentoring other programmers.
Experience with PHP, Java Script, Closure Compiler, C# .Net, QT C++, Swift, Obj-C, Java, Kotlin, BASH.
Demonstrated success as a working manager—comfortable writing production code while managing people.
Strong understanding of software development life cycles and best practices.
Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Experience developing proprietary, internally used business systems.
Familiarity with ERP, accounting, operations, or agricultural-related systems.
Experience with database design, integrations, and reporting systems.
Knowledge of system security, access controls, and data governance.
Experience working in lean or resource-conscious environments.

Responsibilities

Actively design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain the cooperative’s proprietary software applications.
Serve as a technical expert and hands-on contributor on mission-critical systems.
Review code, enforce development standards, and ensure system reliability, performance, and security.
Partner with business stakeholders to translate operational and financial requirements into practical software solutions.
Participate in troubleshooting, system enhancements, and production support as needed.
Ensure documentation of systems, processes, and technical architecture is accurate and maintained.
Lead, mentor, and develop a small team of programmers, setting clear expectations and priorities.
Balance workload between personal programming responsibilities and team oversight.
Conduct code reviews, performance feedback, and professional development planning.
Foster a collaborative, accountable, and respectful team culture aligned with cooperative values.
Coordinate project timelines, resource allocation, and delivery commitments.
Serve as a steady, solution-oriented leader during peak workloads or operational challenges.
Align technology decisions with long-term cooperative strategy and stewardship of member capital.
Provide thoughtful recommendations on system improvements, modernization, and scalability.
Work closely with IT leadership, operations, finance, and outside vendors as appropriate.
Maintain a practical mindset—building solutions that are reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable.
Support internal controls, data integrity, and compliance needs of a regulated agricultural business