Senior Software Development Manager

RBC•Toronto, ON

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Ownr is on an ambitious mission to help Canadian entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. We are building a platform that takes the difficulty out of registering and maintaining sole proprietorships and corporations, letting our incredible business owners save time and money to focus on what matters—building their business. We’ve already helped start over 250,000 companies, and we’re just getting started. Being part of RBCx Ventures, we are a unique type of business that charts its course developing the technology our clients need while delivering frequently and continuously improving our applications and processes. We are seeking an exceptional Senior Software Development Manager to lead our engineering organization as we scale. You will be responsible for building and nurturing a high-performing development team, setting technical vision and strategy, and ensuring the delivery of world-class software solutions. Your leadership will directly impact our platform’s evolution, our team’s growth, and our ability to empower Canadian entrepreneurs. You’ll work at the intersection of technical excellence and organizational effectiveness, combining deep software engineering expertise with strategic people leadership.

Requirements

8+ years of software engineering experience with 2+ years in technical leadership or management roles.
Deep expertise in modern JavaScript ecosystems (Node.js, React, TypeScript) and understand full-stack development, cloud infrastructure, and DevOps practices.
Excel at building and motivating teams, making sound people decisions, and developing future leaders.
Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders, adapt your message to different audiences, and influence decisions at all organizational levels.
Maintain credibility with engineering teams through current technical knowledge and sound architectural judgment.
Can engage in technical discussions, understand trade-offs, and make informed decisions about technology choices.
Experience spans building, monitoring, and maintaining highly available, scalable, and resilient systems.
Skilled at performance management, coaching, and conflict resolution.
Create inclusive team environments where diverse perspectives are valued.
Passionate about developing talent and have a track record of growing engineers into senior roles.
Think beyond immediate projects to understand how engineering decisions impact business outcomes.
Can balance short-term delivery with long-term platform health, invest in infrastructure and technical debt strategically, and align engineering efforts with organizational strategy.
Articulate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders and business concepts clearly to engineers.
Listen actively, ask probing questions, and make data-informed decisions.
Build trust and credibility across the organization.
8+ years of hands-on software engineering experience with significant production JavaScript expertise.
2+ years managing or leading engineering teams, mentoring senior developers, or leading technical initiatives.
Proven experience with modern development practices including CI/CD, automated testing, source control, and cloud infrastructure (AWS or equivalent).
Demonstrated ability to build, scale, and develop high-performing engineering teams.
Experience with performance management, coaching, and developing future leaders.
Strong communication skills and ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.
Deep expertise in JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Node.js, and PostgreSQL.
Understanding of web application security, data privacy, and production system deployment.
Experience with modern testing frameworks (Jest, React Testing Library, Cypress) and CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions).
Hands-on knowledge of Git, GitHub, and modern software delivery techniques.
Experience establishing and refining engineering processes, tools, and metrics.
Familiarity with Agile methodologies and ability to adapt processes to team needs.
Understanding of how engineering decisions impact business outcomes.
Ability to balance technical excellence with business timelines and budget constraints.
Experience working in fast-moving startup or venture-backed environments.

Nice To Haves

Post-secondary degree or diploma in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
Experience working with various development methodologies and workflows (Agile, Scrum, Kanban)
Exposure to DevOps practices and cloud-native architecture
Experience building and scaling platforms that serve thousands of users
Involvement in hiring, recruiting, or talent development initiatives
Track record of successful organizational structuring or team scaling
Open-source contributions or active participation in engineering communities

Responsibilities

Shape the technical direction and architecture of our Node/React-based platform.
Drive engineering standards, best practices, and technology roadmaps that align with business objectives and scale with our growing user base.
Recruit, onboard, develop, and retain top engineering talent.
Foster a culture of continuous learning, mentorship, and technical excellence.
Build high-performing, cross-functional teams capable of executing complex initiatives.
Maintain hands-on understanding of our technology stack while overseeing architectural decisions.
Ensure our systems remain scalable, reliable, and secure as we expand capabilities for business owners.
Evaluate and implement new technologies strategically.
Partner with Product, Design, and Business leadership to translate strategy into execution.
Work closely with executive stakeholders to communicate technical progress, risks, and opportunities.
Drive alignment between engineering capabilities and business priorities.
Establish processes, metrics, and practices that enable consistent, high-quality delivery.
Oversee planning, design, development, deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of critical software systems.
Drive continuous improvement in engineering velocity and system reliability.
Provide guidance and development opportunities to senior engineers and emerging leaders.
Create pathways for career growth and technical leadership.
Foster psychological safety and psychological ownership across the team.

Benefits

Access to leadership development programs.
Opportunity to interface with senior leadership.
Pathways to advance into director and VP-level roles.
Work with brilliant, ambitious engineers who are passionate about their craft.
Collaborative, high-performing team environment where continuous improvement is valued.
Ability to shape engineering culture and mentor the next generation of technical leaders.
Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonuses aligned with organizational success.
Comprehensive total rewards program including flexible benefits and professional development budgets.
Visibility with senior leadership.
Direct input on strategic technology decisions.
Opportunity to represent engineering at organizational forums.