Software Engineering Manager

Grainger Businesses • Chicago, IL

1d • $124,200 - $207,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

KeepStock is Grainger’s Inventory Management Solution for helping its customers streamline their inventory management processes and improve productivity. KeepStock is in the middle of a digital transformation where it is shifting from an on-premise monolithic architecture to a cloud-based microservices architecture. KeepStock has teams building full-stack web experiences, microservices, event-streaming based reporting capabilities, and IoT platforms using modern development techniques and technologies. We are looking for a Software Engineering Manager to join the KeepStock engineering team. As a Software Engineering Manager, you would be responsible for creating an environment where diverse, mission driven teams find joy in the creative exercise of shipping business value daily and go home each day knowing they can focus on time away from work because their systems are resilient and performant. You would partner with Product Management to lead teams in the end-to-end execution of project work and help define and drive modern software engineering practices. You would also help provide guidance at all stages of the development lifecycle to ensure the highest quality outcomes. This role will lead a team that builds and maintains an API and asynchronous platform that provides the constructs and domain concepts that form the backbone of the KeepStock transformational system. We are looking for a leader who encourages teamwork, communicates effectively with senior leadership, and has a clear vision of what determines a successful solution for the team, the customer, and our company.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent required
• 5+ years progressive experience in software engineering, application development, or related technology roles. required
• 5+ years experience leading software development teams, technical teams, or Agile delivery teams with responsibility for coaching, performance management, and work prioritization. required
• Knowledge of software engineering principles, system architecture, Agile delivery methodologies, DevSecOps practices, cloud platforms, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, containerization, and modern application development frameworks.
• Ability to evaluate, adopt, and lead the effective use of AI-enabled engineering tools and practices to improve developer productivity, software quality, operational efficiency, and delivery outcomes while maintaining engineering standards and appropriate human oversight.
• Ability to lead software development teams through planning, execution, deployment, operational support, continuous improvement, and delivery of customer-focused technology solutions.
• Knowledge of engineering governance, software quality, application security, operational monitoring, incident management, and performance measurement within enterprise technology environments.
• Ability to develop technical talent, coach engineers, manage team performance, facilitate cross-functional collaboration, and influence engineering decisions to achieve business and technology objectives.
• Strong communication, prioritization, and problem-solving skills with the ability to balance delivery commitments, operational needs, and team development.
• Technical knowledge in: Kotlin (JVM) with Spring Boot
• Microservices and API-first architecture, event-driven integration (Kafka)
• Data platforms and pipelines (Snowflake, Databricks)
• Cloud (AWS), platform usage, and containerization
• Observability and monitoring tools (DataDog)

Nice To Haves

• Experience delivering software solutions using Agile methodologies and modern software engineering practices in cloud-based environments preferred

Responsibilities

• Leads, coaches, and develops a team of software engineers by setting performance expectations, providing ongoing feedback, supporting career development, building AI fluency and adoption of AI-enabled engineering practices, and fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing engineering culture.
• Partners with Product Management, User Experience, Machine Learning Scientists, and technology stakeholders to translate product roadmaps and business priorities into delivery plans, engineering objectives, resource allocation, and successful execution of product initiatives.
• Manages the delivery of software solutions by overseeing planning, development, testing, deployment, and production support activities while ensuring solutions meet quality, security, scalability, reliability, and performance standards.
• Establishes and reinforces engineering standards, Agile delivery practices, DevSecOps principles, AI-assisted software engineering practices, code quality expectations, and continuous integration and deployment processes to improve engineering effectiveness and product quality.
• Monitors team performance, delivery metrics, operational health, customer experience, and engineering outcomes by identifying risks, resolving delivery issues, implementing process improvements, and driving continuous operational excellence.
• Collaborates with engineering leaders, architecture, Site Reliability Engineering, Security, and platform teams to resolve complex technical and operational challenges, support technology modernization initiatives, and ensure alignment with enterprise standards and governance.
• Performs other work assignments as required.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment
• 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist to support your emotional wellbeing.
• 18 paid time off (PTO) days annually for full-time employees (accrual prorated based on employment start date)
• 6 company holidays per year.
• 6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required.
• Employee discounts, tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.
• Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager