Software Engineering Senior Manager

job summary:

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.

Duties and 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

Education and/or Experience: Required:

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

Preferred:

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)

Other Skills and Abilities:

The following will also be required of the successful candidate:

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

location: Chicago, Illinois

job type: Permanent

salary: $190,000 - 234,000 per year

work hours: 9am to 4pm

education: Bachelors



responsibilities:

Duties and 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

Education and/or Experience:

Required:

• 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,