Sr Mgr Software Engineering

Job Summary

Job Description

Job Title: Sr Manager Software Engineering – Digital Applications
Location: Northfield, IL
Reports To: Director of Digital & Ecommerce

Position Overview:

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Manager, Software Engineering – Digital Applications to lead the development and delivery of modern digital applications grounded in composable architecture and built for scale, agility, and user impact. This role demands a strong balance of technical depth, agile execution excellence, and business acumen.

You will be responsible for leading product-centric engineering teams and playing a critical role in business relationship management (BRM), actively partnering with business stakeholders to align technology initiatives with strategic goals. As a trusted advisor and strategic liaison between IT and the business, you’ll ensure that digital application capabilities enable measurable outcomes and drive continuous value.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Technology & Product Leadership

• Define and drive a technology roadmap that enables digital business growth through composable, scalable, and secure application platforms.

• Lead adoption of MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) and other modern patterns to accelerate delivery and adaptability.

• Support a product-based engineering operating model, aligning teams around value streams and business outcomes.

• Champion innovation, digital agility, and technical modernization in partnership with enterprise architecture and digital strategy teams.

Application Development & Agile Delivery

• Oversee digital application design, development, deployment, and lifecycle across multiple product lines.

• Implement Agile and SAFe best practices to ensure iterative delivery, fast feedback loops, and alignment to Program Increments (PIs).

• Leverage DevOps and CI/CD pipelines to enhance release velocity and system resiliency.

• Ensure engineering excellence through continuous integration, automated testing, code quality reviews, and scalable design.

Business Relationship Management & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a strategic Business Relationship Manager (BRM) between IT and business stakeholders across sales, marketing, operations, and customer experience.

• Act as a trusted advisor to business units—translating strategic needs into actionable digital initiatives and product roadmaps.

• Influence business prioritization through clear articulation of value, feasibility, and cost-benefit analysis of digital initiatives.

• Drive proactive engagement, stakeholder satisfaction, and strong alignment between IT execution and business goals.

Team & Capability Building

• Lead, coach, and mentor a cross-functional team of engineers, architects, and scrum masters to deliver business value consistently.

• Recruit and develop top engineering talent while fostering a culture of accountability, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

• Encourage innovation through experimentation, learning cycles, and a fail-fast mindset.

Execution Excellence & Governance

• Drive project execution with a focus on meeting delivery commitments, quality standards, and budget constraints.

• Collaborate closely with security, infrastructure, data, and operations teams to ensure secure, compliant, and performant applications.

• Implement effective governance processes for intake, prioritization, delivery, and support of digital application initiatives.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field (Master’s preferred).

• 10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering with at least 5 years in leadership roles.

• Proven expertise in leading digital application delivery using modern web frameworks (e.g., React, Next.js, .NET Core, Java).

• Strong technical experience with composable architecture, APIs, microservices, and MACH principles.

• Deep understanding of Agile/SAFe methodologies, value stream mapping, and lean delivery models.

• Demonstrated success as a Business Relationship Manager (BRM) or similar role partnering with senior business stakeholders.

• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills; able to influence across business and technology teams.

• Experience managing geographically distributed teams and vendor/partner relationships.