Software Engineering Manager

MS2 is a national leader in transportation data management and analysis and has the largest traffic count database in North America. More than 270 agencies in 31 US States, and 3 Canadian Provinces, including 28 state Departments of Transportation, are using MS2 software to manage their transportation data.

MS2 is located in the beautiful city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the home of high-tech industries and the University of Michigan. Residents of the city enjoy beautiful parks, mature neighborhoods, amenities of the Huron River and easy access to downtown Detroit or to colorful “Pure Michigan” woods and waterways.

MS2 is a friendly, open, team working to support our clients' software needs. Staff members work on a variety of tasks and are given a high degree of responsibility. We offer an excellent environment for transportation professionals and Software Engineers with competitive compensation and benefit packages. We're a small team and you'll have an opportunity to make a big impact!

We are seeking a Software Engineering Manager to lead multiple engineering teams and drive the delivery of scalable, high-quality software. This role focuses on team leadership, Agile practices, and operational excellence, while developing engineers and fostering a strong, collaborative culture. The position partners with technical leads and cross-functional teams to align on priorities and ensure successful execution.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Participates in hiring and onboarding within the Software Engineering Department
• Assigns duties and oversees the day-to-day work of team members
• Conducts regular one-on-ones and performance evaluations with direct reports
• Sets individual goals aligned with team delivery commitments
• Makes personnel decisions, including performance management actions, in accordance with MS2 policy and in coordination with senior leadership

DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Team Leadership & Development (30%)

• Manage software engineers across assigned teams through 1:1s, performance reviews, coaching, and growth conversations.
• Set development goals, hold engineers accountable to them, and build individual growth paths in partnership with each engineer.
• Partner across engineering leadership to surface performance signals, coaching needs, and growth opportunities.
• Develop senior individual contributors into technical leaders and mentors.
• Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and ramp plans for engineers joining the teams.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and customer-focused team culture.

Software Development and Execution (25%)

• Manage and reinforce Agile practices across the group, including standups, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Maintain healthy sprint cadence, backlog hygiene, and delivery predictability in partnership with the Product team.
• Translate product requirements and specifications into executable plans across assigned teams.
• Track and report on delivery health, risks, and impediments. Escalate early when scope, capacity, or dependency risk threatens commitments.
• Ensure inbound work is triaged and addressed in alignment with service level objectives.

Technical Leadership (15%)

• Partner with engineers on technical scoping, estimation, and review practices.
• Drive adoption of group engineering standards (code review, testing, documentation, deployment quality).
• Provide technical sign-off on team-level decisions where appropriate and escalate architectural questions to the Director of Software Engineering and Lead Architect.

Operational Support and Quality (15%)

• Partner with the QA team on test coverage, automation investment, and deployment-quality ownership.
• Coordinate with the Technical Support Manager on escalated customer issues.
• Maintain operational awareness of production health across Software Engineering's systems and support incident response when code is implicated

Collaboration and Communication (15%)

• Coordinate across engineering teams and with adjacent teams (QA, Support, Product) on planning, dependencies, and delivery risk.
• Own inbound triage and cross-team dependency resolution for assigned teams.
• Communicate status, risks, and outcomes clearly and directly to engineers, peers, and leadership.

• Experience leading software engineers as a tech lead, team lead, project lead, or first-line manager, including coaching, feedback, and growth conversations.
• Strong agile facilitation skills across standups, planning, review, and retrospective formats.
• Delivery ownership across one or more concurrent projects or teams.
• Clear, direct written and verbal communication. Comfortable holding people accountable while maintaining trust.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Hands-on software development experience supporting a SaaS product in production.
• Familiarity with Git-based source control and unit testing practice.

PREFERRED SKILLS/ABILITIES:

• Two or more years of direct people-management experience.
• Working experience with a Microsoft-based application stack (C# / .NET, MS SQL Server, Entity Framework) and modern web development (TypeScript, React), operating in AWS-hosted environments.
• Prior experience in a B2B SaaS or regulated-industry software environment.
• Exposure to transportation, government, or public-sector software space.
• Experience leading teams through methodology or structural transition.
• Familiarity with SLO-driven operations and production support workflows.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in science, engineering, a related field or equivalent experience 
• Experience leading software engineers as a tech lead, team lead, project lead, or first-line manager, including coaching, feedback, and growth conversations.

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package.

We promote a strong work/life balance at MS2. We encourage our employees to pursue their professional interests and take ownership of projects from start to finish. You’ll be working with big data and cloud-based solutions using the latest technologies as part of a fun and energetic team. It’s a great place to work.

Salary:

$140,000 - $150,000 a year, commensurate with skills and experience of the specific applicant

Benefits:

• Participation in the company's annual bonus program
• 401(k) with matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible schedule
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program
• Disability insurance
• Vision insurance

We Want You to Be You at MS2.

At MS2 a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees, whatever their race, gender, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, disability, religion, or veteran status, feel valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our departments and programs. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.

MS2 is committed to maintaining a welcoming environment with equitable treatment for all, and we strive to:

• Provide a working environment where all employees feel safe, comfortable, and valued.
• See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff and the agencies we serve.
• Examine and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report our progress to our employees.
• Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
• Encourage company-wide thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
• Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.
• Practice and encourage respectful and transparent communication in all interactions.
• Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership at all levels of our organization.
• Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.

MS2 wants every employee to feel our commitment to showing respect for everyone, and we encourage open communication that enables each person to be their best self.

MS2 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Hybrid work

We require you to work in the office generally at least one day per week. This is not a fully remote position, but we may provide relocation assistance to successful candidates