Software Engineering Senior Manager

Sidley Austin•Chicago, IL

4d•$195,000 - $234,400

About The Position

The Software Engineering Senior Manager is a senior technical leader responsible for architecting, building, and operating the firm's cloud-native automation platform. This role requires deep expertise in Azure cloud architecture, distributed systems, and software engineering. This is a technical leadership role first, people management second. The ideal candidate comes from a cloud engineering, platform engineering, or full-stack development background with DevOps expertise.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related technical field; or equivalent professional experience with demonstrable cloud architecture expertise
Minimum 6 years of hands-on software engineering experience building cloud-native applications on Azure
Minimum 3 years of experience with Azure Container Apps, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), or equivalent container orchestration platforms
Minimum 2 years of people management experience leading software engineering teams
Proven track record delivering distributed systems in production using microservices architecture and event-driven patterns
Hands-on experience with Azure Service Bus, Azure database services including Azure SQL Database with Elastic Pools, Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server, managed identity authentication, connection pooling, and private endpoint configuration
Deep understanding of microservices communication patterns including synchronous HTTP, asynchronous messaging, event-driven architecture, and service discovery
Proficiency in C# and .NET (minimum .NET 6, preferably .NET 8+) including NET Core Web API with Controllers, Async/await patterns and Task-based asynchronous programming, LINQ and lambda expressions, Dependency injection and Options pattern and Entity Framework Core
Proficiency in TypeScript/JavaScript including js development, Async patterns (Promises, async/await), npm/pnpm package management, Module systems (CommonJS, ES modules) and scripting proficiency in Bash or PowerShell for deployment automation and troubleshooting
Container image build and deployment workflows including Dockerfile optimization, multi-stage builds, and Azure Container Registry integration
Proven ability to mentor software engineers on cloud-native development patterns, distributed systems concepts, and Azure architecture
Strong code review skills with ability to provide constructive feedback on backend APIs, infrastructure code, and integration logic
Systematic troubleshooting approach for complex distributed systems issues
Strong analytical skills for capacity planning, performance optimization, and cost analysis
Strong organizational skills
Strong attention to detail
Good judgment
Strong interpersonal communication skills
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Able to work harmoniously and effectively with others
Able to preserve confidentiality and exercise discretion
Able to work under pressure
Able to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines and priorities
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or in the future

Nice To Haves

Azure Certifications
Expert-level experience with Azure DevOps YAML pipelines including multi-stage pipelines, pipeline templates, variable groups, and environment-based deployments
AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure
AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator
Advanced Technical Skills
Experience with .NET Aspire for cloud-native application orchestration and service discovery
Experience with CQRS and Mediator patterns (MediatR or equivalent)
Event Grid and Event Hubs for event-driven architectures
Agile/Scrum certifications including Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or SAFe Agilist
Experience in professional services industry (legal, financial services, accounting, consulting)
Understanding of enterprise security and compliance requirements (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR)
Familiarity with legal technology or document management systems
Deep Azure networking expertise including VNETs, subnets, Network Security Groups, private endpoints, Private DNS Zones, VNET peering, Application Gateway, and NAT Gateway
Ability to diagnose Azure networking problems including DNS resolution failures, private endpoint connectivity issues, and Application Gateway routing problems
Expert-level Bicep or Terraform proficiency with ability to read, write, and debug complex Infrastructure-as-Code modules (500+ lines)

Responsibilities

Design and evolve the distributed system architecture for the cloud-native automation platform, including Azure Container Apps, Service Bus, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Blob Storage
Design event-driven architectures using Azure Service Bus for high-volume asynchronous processing
Optimize platform performance, cost, and operational complexity through architectural improvements
Lead .NET backend development including ASP.NET Core APIs, CQRS pattern with MediatR, Entity Framework Core, and FluentValidation
Conduct code reviews ensuring adherence to SOLID principles, async programming best practices, and distributed systems patterns
Own and evolve multi-stage Azure DevOps YAML pipelines including multi-phase infrastructure deployment, container image builds, and environment-specific deployments
Manage and mentor software engineers, focusing on cloud engineering skill development