Software Engineering Manager

Company Overview:
Second Order Effects (SOE) is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in electrical, electromechanical, and embedded systems. Founded in 2016, SOE has grown from a 3-person operation to a team of over 40 members across offices in El Segundo, California and Redmond, Washington. Over the last nine years, we have completed over 250 projects and serviced over 100 different customers. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, instrument fusion reactors, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world. The only thing we won’t build are weapons.

Second Order Effects practices a “first principles approach” to technical problems. We break down complex challenges to their most fundamental components. This enables us to find solutions across industries, use cases, and engineering functions. 

As an engineering consulting firm, we focus on solving the right problems and building teams to take them on. Going beyond just resolving tough issues, we want to answer impactful questions. 

How do we do this? We empower others, build the right thing, lead with curiosity, and own the outcome. Learn more at soeffects.com!

Job Overview:
As a Software Engineering Manager, you will serve as the primary technical and people leader for the software engineering (“SW”) discipline across our El Segundo and Redmond offices. You will be accountable for embedded software design decisions, execution quality, and delivery outcomes across multiple programs, balancing hands-on technical judgment with effective team leadership.

In this role, you will be responsible for leading and supporting a team of embedded engineers, providing clear technical direction, developing engineering talent, and creating an environment that encourages collaboration and continuous improvement. You will work closely with cross-functional partners and leadership to align team efforts with business goals, while also helping shape processes and capabilities that mature the SW discipline at SOE. 

What You Will Do:

• Own SW technical decisions and outcomes across projects, serving as the escalation point for critical design tradeoffs, technical risk, and delivery challenges 
• Lead, mentor, and manage the SW team, setting clear performance expectations, developing engineers’ technical and leadership skills, and building a strong, accountable engineering culture
• Provide hands-on technical guidance across the embedded software development lifecycle, from requirements and system architecture through firmware design, integration, bring-up, and validation
• Partner with business development and project leadership to define technical scope, execution plans, and success criteria, ensuring SW commitments are achievable and well-understood 
• Establish standards, processes, and best practices that improve SW design quality, consistency, and execution efficiency

What You Will Need:

• Bachelor’s degree (Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or Science, Physics, Systems Engineering, or related field)
• 7+ years in an software engineering and hardware development role for aerospace, industrial automation, and/or robotics, especially for tightly coupled systems
• 5+ years of progressively impactful software engineering leadership roles
• Previous experience in both a people management and engineering design leadership role
• Aptitude for cross functional community building and collaboration with mechanical, electrical, systems and test engineers to improve the output of the software engineering team
• Expertise in successfully executing end-to-end embedded system design from requirements generation through software bring-up
• Proven hands-on experience designing and implementing software development processes (SDLC, SecDevOps, CI/CD) including evaluating, selecting, and configuring supporting toolchains and infrastructure to establish scalable development workflows
• Strong communication skills; ability to synthesize and communicate technical information to non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to evaluate and manage project risk, including scope creep, remediating missing critical requirements, and ensuring that technical challenges are sufficiently addressed 

What Would Be Useful:

• Master’s degree (Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or Science, Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, Physics, or related field)  
• Experience in startup, tech, or consulting environments, managing multiple responsibilities simultaneously
• Experience with client interaction for a complex technical product or service
• Demonstrated experience leading software lifecycle development, including utilizing tools such as jira to manage sprints
• Demonstrated experience in navigating ambiguous situations and delivery of difficult information to senior leadership, employees and clients

Benefits:

• Compensation range of $159,980-$197,700 + equity incentive plan
• Flexible work hours and work from home policy 
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision) for employees + 50% dependent coverage
• Unlimited paid time off policy, 11x paid company holidays, 12x paid sick days
• 401(k) retirement account and employer matching (Safe Harbor 4%)
• Generous paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance available if 50+ miles away from the office
• Catered lunches, snacks, and accessible kitchen

Additional Requirements:

• Applicant must be willing to work 40 hours a week on-site in Redmond, Washington, USA
• Applicant must be eligible to work on export controlled projects
• Applicant must be willing to travel monthly to the El Segundo, CA office 
• Job Type: Full-time (Salary)

Export Control Requirements:
To conform with U.S. Government export control regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship at this time.

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply!
Second Order Effects is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SOE is governed on the basis of excellence and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.