VP of Engineering

About the Role

Universal Background, an industry leader in providing people insights to safety-sensitive organizations, is seeking a Software Engineering Manager to join our growing team. This role combines technical leadership with people management, requiring hands-on expertise in modern development technologies and databases.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Management:
  • Lead, mentor, and develop a team of software engineers across various skill levels, both onshore and offshore.
  • Conduct regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and career development planning.
  • Recruit, onboard, and retain top engineering talent.
  • Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement across distributed teams.
  • Manage team capacity, resource allocation, and workload distribution across multiple locations.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with offshore development teams.
  • Establish effective communication protocols and workflows for distributed team collaboration.
  • Champion adoption of AI-assisted development tools and best practices across the team.
• Technical Leadership:
  • Provide hands-on technical guidance and code review oversight for both onshore and offshore teams.
  • Define and enforce coding standards, best practices, and development methodologies across all teams.
  • Make critical architectural and technical decisions for projects.
  • Stay current with emerging technologies and evaluate their applicability.
  • Champion technical excellence and software craftsmanship within the team.
  • Lead the evaluation, implementation, and optimization of AI-assisted development tools.
• Software Development & Architecture:
  • Lead the design and development of scalable, maintainable software solutions.
  • Architect applications using .NET framework and related technologies.
  • Design and optimize database schemas across SQL and NoSQL platforms.
  • Implement data warehousing solutions using AWS services.
  • Ensure application performance, security, and reliability.
  • Drive technical innovation and modernization initiatives.
  • Leverage AI-assisted tools to accelerate development and improve code quality.
• Project & Delivery Management:
  • Plan and execute software development projects from conception to deployment.
  • Manage project timelines, milestones, and deliverables across distributed teams.
  • Identify and mitigate technical risks and dependencies.
  • Ensure on-time delivery of high-quality software releases.
  • Implement and refine Agile/Scrum development processes.
  • Manage handoffs and dependencies between onshore and offshore teams.
  • Measure and track productivity improvements from AI-assisted development adoption.
• Database & Data Management:
  • Oversee database design, implementation, and optimization across multiple platforms.
  • Ensure data integrity, security, and compliance with regulations.
  • Design and implement ETL processes and data pipelines.
  • Optimize query performance and database efficiency.
  • Manage database migrations and upgrades.
  • Implement backup, recovery, and disaster recovery strategies.
• AI-Assisted Development & Productivity:
  • Implement and standardize use of AI coding assistants (GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor) across the team.
  • Train team members on effective prompting and utilization of AI development tools.
  • Monitor and optimize team productivity gains from AI-assisted development.
  • Ensure code generated by AI tools meets security and quality standards.
• Collaboration & Communication:
  • Work closely with cross-functional teams including product, QA, DevOps, and business stakeholders.
  • Communicate technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
  • Maintain effective communication channels with offshore teams using collaboration tools.
  • Bridge cultural and time zone differences to ensure smooth team operations.
• Offshore Team Collaboration:
  • Manage daily operations and deliverables of offshore development resources.
  • Facilitate effective handoffs between onshore and offshore teams.
  • Coordinate training and skill development for offshore team members.
• Continuous Improvement:
  • Identify opportunities for process improvements and automation.
  • Drive post-mortem analyses and incorporate learnings into future work.
  • Continuously evaluate and improve AI tool integration into development workflows.

Qualifications

• Education:
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Cybersecurity, or related field.
  • Master's degree preferred.
• Experience:
  • 8+ years of software development experience.
  • 3+ years in a software engineering management or technical lead role.
  • Proven track record of delivering complex software projects.
  • Extensive hands-on experience with the required technology stack.
  • 3+ years of experience managing or collaborating with offshore development teams.
  • 1+ years of hands-on experience implementing and using AI-assisted development tools.
• Technical Skills:
  • Programming & Frameworks: Expert-level proficiency in .NET Framework, RESTful API design, front-end technologies.
  • Database Technologies: Advanced experience with MS SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB.
  • AWS Data Warehousing: Hands-on experience with AWS Redshift, S3, Glue, Athena, EMR, Kinesis.
  • AI-Assisted Development Tools: Proficiency with GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor.
  • Additional Technical Skills: Version control, CI/CD, containerization, cloud platforms, testing frameworks, Agile/Scrum.
• Preferred Certifications:
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate, Database certifications, Scrum Master.

Key Competencies

• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical thinking.
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal abilities.
• Technical depth combined with strategic thinking.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and manage multiple priorities.
• Cultural awareness and sensitivity when working with diverse, international teams.

Special Requirements

• May require on-call availability for critical incidents.
• Occasional travel may be required to offshore development locations.
• Flexibility required for meetings with offshore teams across different time zones.