Software Engineering Manager

University of Chicago•Hyde Park, IL

About The Position

The Software Engineering Manager leads multiple engineering teams and makes engineering decisions, balances resources, and supports the organization’s strategic goals. The manager works with the Director of Engineering to ensure successful project delivery, maintain an overview of project status, work in process, and project or staffing issues, and develop and implement shared engineering policies and processes. The role supervises and develops staff, works with team leads and individual contributors to address management challenges, and serves as a technical subject-matter expert across major projects and the core product. The manager leads teams of software engineers, software engineers in test, and platform engineers; provides technical guidance; oversees system and feature design and implementation; and ensures timely, high-quality delivery. The role also manages engineering processes, staffing, performance goals and reviews, project plans, technical standards, application and infrastructure decisions, and the translation of business requirements into effective applications. The position is at-will and wholly or partially supported by contractual grant funding; continued employment depends on continued grant funding and satisfactory performance.

Requirements

College or university degree in a related field.
At least 7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Ability to manage multiple engineering teams and team leads, make informed engineering decisions, and balance resources in support of organizational goals.
Ability to communicate organizational goals and mentor team members with constructive feedback.
Ability to prioritize and manage team workload to meet project milestones and deadlines.
Ability to persuade or manage others to adopt structures or systems that meet objectives.
Advanced understanding of computer science principles.
Project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple teams and projects, manage time, and achieve objectives.
Ability to turn broad ideas into roadmaps and high-level tasks, estimate effort, and ensure high-quality completion.
Ability to work collaboratively, provide technical management, and ensure accountability for deliverables and outcomes.
Ability to maintain confidentiality regarding sensitive organizational and scientific matters.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, or a relevant quantitative field.
At least 5 years of relevant software development experience, preferably across the full development cycle, including design, coding, testing, and support.
2–3 years of managerial or supervisory experience with cross-functional software engineering teams.
Advanced programming skills in Python, Golang, and JavaScript.
Knowledge or experience with web applications, REST APIs, microservices, and containers.
Unix/Linux programming, open-source, and version control experience.
Experience with IaC tools such as Terraform and Terragrunt and container-based deployment solutions such as Docker, Kubernetes, and Helm.
Knowledge of modern database and data analytics technologies, including Postgres, MySQL, NoSQL, Elasticsearch, Spark, and Hadoop.
High-performance or cloud computing experience with AWS, GCP, or OpenStack.
Experience with CI/CD and version control tools such as GitHub Actions and Git.
Experience managing open-source projects.
Experience with Agile methodologies.
Domain experience in biomedical informatics.
High-level knowledge across the technical areas of major projects and the core product, or demonstrated ability to attain that proficiency quickly.
In-depth knowledge of microservice architecture, design patterns, cloud platforms, RESTful APIs, and web services.

Responsibilities

Lead and supervise engineering teams and staff across one or more functional areas.
Define, improve, and manage engineering processes to support efficiency and consistent delivery.
Participate in strategy execution and staffing decisions.
Oversee the design and implementation of high-priority technical work, ensuring timely delivery and required quality.
Lead teams toward project objectives and help employees define career paths and achieve professional goals.
Address management challenges in collaboration with team leads and individual contributors.
Negotiate complex decisions, present options, advocate for technical solutions, and serve as a technical consultant for faculty research, teaching, and administrative projects.
Provide technical guidance and leadership to software engineers, software engineers in test, and platform engineers; contribute to technical specifications and implementation standards.
Manage the design of new systems, features, and tools.
Solve complex technical problems and identify opportunities for technical improvement and performance optimization.
Review and test code to ensure standards are met.
Set annual performance goals, allocate resources, assess performance, and determine merit, incentive, and promotional increases.
Develop technical oversight, standards, guidelines, and processes for application systems.
Translate business requirements into application plans that balance user and business needs, technical capabilities, industry developments, and time constraints.
Advise on project and infrastructure needs, including server technologies, languages, platforms, and frameworks.
Develop team timelines and project plans.
Specify complex installations, maintenance, and upgrades.
Identify and analyze performance and capacity issues.
Perform other related work as needed.