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University of Chicago

Software Engineering Manager (Chicago)

University of Chicago, Chicago

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About The Department

Department
BSD CTD - Engineering - Plan X
About The Department
The Center for Translational Data Science (CTDS) at the University of Chicago is a research center whose mission is to develop the discipline of translational data science to impactful problems in biology, medicine, healthcare, and the environment. We envision a world in which researchers have ready access to the data needed and the tools required to make data driven discoveries that increase our scientific knowledge and improve the quality of life. We architect ecosystems of large-scale commons of research data, computing resources, applications, tools, and services for the broader research community to use data at scale to pursue scientific inquiry and accelerate discovery. Learn more at and at-will position is wholly or partially funded by contractual grant funding which is renewed under provisions set by the grantor of the contract. Employment will be contingent upon the continued receipt of these grant funds and satisfactory job performance.
Job Summary
The job manages a team of professional staff responsible for software support and/or development. Creates standards and operating procedures in the analysis, design, development, debugging, and modification of computer code for end user applications, beta general releases, and production support. Manages the development and implementation of applications, web pages, and user-interfaces using a variety of software applications, techniques, and tools.
The Software Engineering Manager possesses the ability to manage multiple engineering teams and team leads, make well-informed engineering decisions and balance resources to help the organization achieve its strategic goals. You will be responsible for leading teams to achieve project objectives and helping individuals define their career paths and realize their goals. As a manager, you will proactively and effectively address management challenges by working with team leads and individuals, as well as serving as a subject-matter expert within all technical areas of all major projects and the core products scopes.
Responsibilities

  • Responsible for a scope vital to the long-term success of the engineering team, in one or more functional areas, providing team leadership and effectively supervising staff.
  • Responsible for defining, improving, and managing engineering processes to ensure efficiency.
  • Responsible for participating in strategy execution and staffing.
  • Oversees design and implementation of top priority technical tasks and timely delivery of such tasks, meeting the required level of quality.
  • Responsible for leading teams to achieve project objectives and helping individuals define their career paths and realize their goals.
  • Proactively and effectively addresses management challenges by working with team leads and individuals.
  • Negotiate complex decisions, present options and persuasively advocate for optimal technical solutions, internally and externally, and acts as a technical consultant and resource for faculty research, teaching, and/or administrative projects.
  • Responsible for design and implementation of top priority technical tasks and timely delivery of such tasks, meeting the required level of quality.
  • Lead team(s) of software engineers/ software engineers in test/ platform engineers and provide technical guidance and leadership for the team to follow best practices and deliver quality software timely while contributing to definitions of technical specifications and review implementation standards.
  • Manage and lead the design of new systems, features, and tools. Solves complex problems and identifies opportunities for technical improvement and performance optimization. Reviews and tests code to ensure appropriate standards are met.
  • Manages employees by establishing annual performance goals, allocating resources, assessing annual performance, and determining individual merit, incentive and/or promotional increases. Provides technical oversight and develops standards, guidelines, and processes for application systems.
  • Creates plans to translate business requirements into well-designed applications while balancing user and business needs, technical competencies, industry developments, and time constraints.
  • Advises decisions on project and infrastructure needs, including the evaluation of server technologies, languages, platforms, and frameworks. Develops timelines and project plans for the team.
  • Formulates and defines specifications for complex installations, maintenance, and upgrades. Identifies and analyzes performance and capacity issues.
  • Performs other related work as needed.
Education:
Minimum Qualifications
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Certifications:
Preferred Qualifications
Education:
  • Advanced degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, or a relevant quantitative field.
Experience:
  • 5+ years of relevant software development experience, full cycle strongly preferred, including design, coding, testing, and support.
  • 2-3 years of managerial or supervisory experience of cross functional software engineering teams.
  • Advanced programming skills using Python, Golang/Javascript, and other languages like C/C++, Java, or C# strongly preferred.
  • Knowledge and or experience with the following: web applications, REST API, microservices, and containers; Unix/Linux programming, open source, and version control experience; configuration management utilities (Chef, Salt, Ansible) and container-based deployment solutions (Docker, Kubernetes); modern database and data analytics technologies (Postgres, MySQL, NoSQL, Elasticsearch, Spark, Hadoop, etc.); and High performance/cloud computing experience (AWS, GCP, Openstack) strongly preferred.
  • Experience with CI/CD and version control tools (e.g., Jenkins, Travis, git) strongly preferred.
  • Experience with managing open-source projects strongly preferred.
  • Experience with Agile methodologies strongly preferred.
  • Domain experience in biomedical informatics strongly preferred.
Preferred Competencies
  • High-level knowledge in all technical areas of all major projects and the core products scopes or having demonstrated the ability to achieve that level of proficiency in a short period of time.
  • Ability to manage multiple engineering teams and team leads, make well-informed engineering decisions and balance resources to help the organization achieve its strategic goals.
  • Ability to effectively communicate organizational goals and mentor team members by providing constructive and helpful input and feedback.
  • Ability to prioritize and manage team workload to meet critical project milestones and deadlines.
  • Ability to persuade/manage others to adopt new structures or systems to meet objectives.
  • Advanced understanding of computer science principles.
  • Project management skills, including a demonstrated ability to manage multiple teams and projects simultaneously, and own time well, and achieve objectives.
  • Ability to take broad ideas and turn it into a roadmap and high-level tasks, estimate the effort needed to complete them, and ensure the completion of each task, meeting the required level of quality.
  • In-depth knowledge with microservice architecture, design patterns, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP), RESTful API, and web services.
  • Ability to work in a collaborative team and provide technical management of the engineering teams, and to ensure accountability for deliverables and outcomes.
  • Understands and can maintain confidentiality related to sensitive matters such as strategic initiatives, trade secrets, quiet periods, and scientific discoveries yet to be put in the public domain.
Working Conditions
  • Office environment.
Application Documents
  • Resume (required)
  • Cover Letter (preferred)
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.
Job Family
Information Technology
Role Impact
People Manager
Scheduled Weekly Hours
40
Drug Test Required
No
Health Screen Required
No
Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No
Pay Rate Type
Salary
FLSA Status
Exempt
Pa