Contract Software Engineering Manager Jobs in Chicago, IL

Software Engineering Manager

We are seeking a highly skilled and forward-looking Software Engineering Manager to own and lead the development, scaling, and evolution of our commercial product. With V1 already released, this role is responsible for hardening the product for scale, onboarding customers, and building new versions - while championing the adoption of AI across the full software development lifecycle. This individual will be an integral member of the digital leadership team, partnering across engineering, product, and business functions to deliver high-quality solutions aligned with business objectives.

The platform is built on C#, React, Rest APIs and Databricks, and we are looking for a leader who can both guide technical direction and accelerate team velocity through modern AI assisted engineering practices.

What's in it For You

• The ability to make an impact and shape your career with a company that is passionate about growth.
• The support of an organization that believes it is vital to include and engage diverse people, perspectives, and ideas to achieve our best.
• Opportunity for a long-term advanced career path.
• Thrive in a company that values a culture of safety, sustainability, inclusiveness, and performance.
• Comprehensive benefits package starting day 1 of employment - medical, dental, vision, matching 401k, company-paid pension, stock purchase plan, tuition reimbursement, and more!

What You Will Do

Product Ownership: Scale, Onboard & Evolve

• Take full ownership of the product (V1 released) and lead efforts to scale into broad production use.
• Harden the product for scale: eliminate critical bugs, address technical debt, and implement observability and monitoring.
• Define and enforce SLAs for performance and uptime.
• Drive customer onboarding and lead the design and delivery of new product versions.
• Define and publish a clear roadmap for scaling to meet business and technical requirements.

Delivery Operating Model & Team Leadership

• Lead and attend Scrum ceremonies; establish Definition of Ready/Done.
• Conduct code reviews and design reviews personally.
• Mentor and guide the engineering team to ensure alignment with project goals.
• Assign tasks effectively based on team strengths and priorities.
• Foster collaboration, maintain high team morale, and build a culture of accountability and high performance.

Technical Roadmap & Architecture

• Align architecture with the broader platform and intelligence vision.
• Drive federated integration across systems.
• Publish and execute a roadmap covering authorization/CDM, platform alignment, data mapping, insight serving, conversational interfaces, CI/CD pipelines, and performance testing.

AI Adoption & Engineering Acceleration

• Champion the application of AI across the full SDLC from design to deployment.
• Evaluate, pilot, and roll out AI-assisted engineering tools and practices; define guidelines and standards for their effective and responsible use.
• Stay forward-looking on emerging AI capabilities and translate them into practical productivity and quality gains for the team.
• Coach and upskill engineers to adopt AI tooling effectively, building it into everyday workflows

Delivery & Quality Assurance

• Implement iterative improvements based on performance metrics and user insights.
• Establish and monitor KPIs for project success.
• Ensure timely delivery of high-quality, reliable features.
• Establish governance around key quality functions such as performance testing, security testing, and tool selection.

Communication, Reporting & Stakeholder Partnership

• Provide regular updates to leadership on progress, risks, and mitigation plans.
• Act as the primary liaison between technical teams, Product Management, PMs, and business stakeholders.
• Partner across delivery, quality, program management, and product teams to drive consensus and remove obstacles.
• Maintain a readiness cadence for stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field; or equivalent work experience.
• 8 years of software engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience building and scaling enterprise-grade, customer-facing applications.
• Hands-on experience applying AI across the software development lifecycle and helping teams accelerate through AI-assisted practices.
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms, CI/CD, and observability tools.
• Experience with C#, React, and Databricks (or comparable modern stacks).
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with Agile methodologies and team leadership.
• No immigration sponsorship available for this position

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing both direct reports and "dotted line" professionals, including onshore/offshore and full-time/contract team members.
• Familiarity with intelligence and data platforms.
• Experience with federated architectures and multi-tenant systems.
• Strong understanding of security and compliance frameworks.
• Experience driving performance testing initiatives and standards.

Benefits

Ecolab strives to provide comprehensive and market-competitive benefits to meet the needs of our associates and their families.Click here to see our benefits.

If you are viewing this posting on a site other than our Ecolab Career website, view our benefits at jobs.ecolab.com/working-here.

Potential Customer Requirements Notice

To meet customer requirements and comply with local or state regulations, applicants for certain customer-facing roles may need to:

- Undergo additional background screens and/or drug/alcohol testing for customer credentialing.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Ecolab will provide reasonable accommodation (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with our application process upon request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require accommodation assistance in this application process, please visit the Recruiting Support link in the footer of each page of our career website.