Job Title: Software Development Manager (SDM)
Reports To: Manager of Managers
Manages: Tech Leads (SD3) and Development Teams
Experience: 812 years (including 24 years of engineering leadership)
Role Overview
We are seeking a Software Development Manager (SDM) to lead high-performing engineering teams in building scalable, secure, and reliable software products. The SDM will drive engineering excellence, foster a culture of ownership and innovation, and collaborate with cross-functional partners to deliver impactful business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
1. Engineering Leadership & Team Management
- Lead, coach, and mentor engineers and technical leads, enabling growth and autonomy.
- Define hiring needs, participate in recruitment, and drive onboarding & capability development.
- Foster a psychologically safe, inclusive, and motivating team culture.
2. Delivery & Engineering Excellence
- Own the full software development lifecycle (planning to release).
- Ensure timely delivery of scalable, high-quality software.
- Champion engineering best practicescode reviews, automation, CI/CD, and observability.
3. Technical Strategy & Oversight
- Oversee design and development of distributed, cloud-native systems.
- Guide architecture decisions, performance optimization, and long-term scalability.
- Lead incident reviews and drive operational excellence.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with product, program, and architecture teams to shape roadmaps.
- Translate business goals into engineering priorities.
- Communicate effectively with senior leadership and stakeholders.
5. Process & Continuous Improvement
- Instil rigor in agile practices and delivery processes.
- Drive reduction of technical debt and implement DevSecOps practices.
Required Skills & Experience
- 812 years in software engineering; 3+ years managing engineering teams.
- Proven experience delivering and scaling multi-tier web services and cloud solutions.
- Strong expertise in at least one backend language (Java, Python, C#) and a modern frontend framework (React/Vue).
- Hands-on knowledge of CI/CD, test automation, observability, and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
- Experience collaborating with product/program management for business-aligned delivery.
Preferred Qualifications
- Track record of hiring, mentoring, and developing engineering talent.
- Experience guiding senior ICs and building future leaders.
- Familiarity with security best practices (OAuth, JWT, OWASP).
- Strong communication and influencing skills across teams and leadership.
