Manager of Software Engineering, Payroll Processing

Why UKG:

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That's what we do.

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you'll get flexibility that's real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters-and so do you.

About the Role
We are seeking an engaged and experienced software engineering manager to lead a team in the Payroll domain, working on developing software to enhance and support the engineering activities. You will be responsible for the direct management of Software Engineers to develop new features for our Payroll platform.

Our principles are trust in the foundation of successful relationships, dive deep and operate at all levels, ownership including owning mistakes and fostering an environment to fail forward, bias for action and promotion of diversity of experiences and perspectives.

As a first-line manager, you will lead a team of talented engineers, driving technical excellence, fostering a culture of ownership, and ensuring the successful delivery of high-impact projects. You will be responsible for guiding technical decisions, managing team performance, and aligning engineering efforts with business goals.

Responsibilities:
Technical Leadership:
Provide technical leadership and direction for major projects, ensuring alignment with business goals and industry best practices.
Be hands-on with code, maintaining high technical standards and actively participating in design and architecture decisions, code reviews, and helping engineers optimize their code.
Ensure that high standards of performance, scalability, and reliability are maintained when architecting, designing, and developing complex software systems and applications.
Ensure accountability for the team's technical decisions and enforce engineering best practices (e.g., documentation, automation, code management, security principles, leverage CoPilot).
Ensure the health and quality of services and incidents, proactively identifying and addressing issues. Utilize service health indicators and telemetry for action. Implement best practices for operational excellence.
Play a pivotal role in the R.I.D.E. (Review, Inspect, Decide, Execute) framework.
Understand CI/CD pipelines from build, test, to deploy phases.

Team Management:
Lead and manage a team of software engineers, fostering a collaborative and high-performance environment. Conduct regular performance reviews, provide feedback, and support professional development.
Foster a culture of service ownership and enhance team engagement.
Drive succession planning and engineering efficiency, focusing on quality and developer experience through data-driven approaches.
Promote a growth mindset, understanding and driving organizational change.
Actively seek opportunities for team growth and cross-functional collaboration.
Works and guides the team on how to operate in a DevOps Model. Taking ownership from working with product management on requirements to design, develop, test, deploy and maintain the software in production.

Coaching and Development:
Grow and develop the team technically and with a quality mindset, providing strong and actionable feedback.
Provide technical mentorship and guidance to engineers at all levels, fostering a culture of learning, collaboration, and continuous improvement, encouraging the team to experiment, learn, and iterate on processes and technologies.
Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends, advocating for their adoption where appropriate to drive innovation and productivity within the team.

Execution Excellence:
Oversee the planning, execution, and delivery of high-impact software projects, ensuring they are completed on time and within budget. Manage team workload and capacity, setting priorities and managing risks and tradeoffs.
Align team efforts with the strategic direction of the company, understanding the big picture and business needs.
Demonstrate engineering excellence and service ownership, including cost and quality management of services, and effective production management.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management, design, and operations, to ensure alignment and successful delivery of projects. Communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
Make deployment decisions with appropriate risk mitigation.

Minimum Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
8+ years of experience in software development, with 3+ years in a technical leadership role and 2+ years in a people management role.
Proven track record of leading and delivering large-scale, complex software projects in an Agile environment.
Previous experience as a developer, with deep expertise in Java front-end technologies (React or Angular) would be nice to bring along.
Extensive experience with software architecture and design patterns.
Strong understanding of cloud technologies and DevOps principles.
Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
Excellent communication and leadership skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence and drive change.
We work in a hybrid model, requiring 3 days/week in the Lowell, MA office.

Preferred Qualifications:
Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
Experience with cloud platforms like Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automation tools.
Experience in a complex, matrixed organization.
Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Familiarity with developing accessible technologies.
Scrum Master experience will be a plus

Company Overview:

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry - because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer

UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories. View The EEO Know Your Rights poster UKG participates in E-Verify. View the E-Verify posters here.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email

USA Pay Transparency

The pay range for this position is to $129,500 and $186,100, however, base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and location. This position is also eligible for a short-term incentive and a long-term incentive as part of total compensation. Information about UKG's comprehensive benefits can be reviewed on our careers site at