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Associate Manager, Software Engineering Lead and grow a software engineering team delivering aerospace-grade software on schedule

Location: Westminster, Colorado

Compensation: $136,000 - 167,000 USD / year

About The Role Associate Manager, Software Engineering

At CesiumAstro, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands‑on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward‑thinking individuals to join our team.

We are looking to add an Associate Manager, Software Engineering to our team. This position is responsible for leading a team of software engineers in the design, development, integration, testing, and sustainment of software solutions supporting aerospace systems and mission‑critical applications. This role provides day‑to‑day leadership, technical guidance, and performance management while fostering a collaborative, high‑performing engineering environment.

Working closely with systems engineering, hardware engineering, quality, integration and test, mission operations, program management, and product leadership, the Associate Manager, Software Engineering ensures software development activities align with technical requirements, program objectives, quality standards, and schedule commitments. This role balances people leadership with technical oversight and supports continuous improvement of engineering processes, product quality, and team development.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of software engineers by providing regular feedback, performance management, career development, and mentoring.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high‑performing team culture that encourages innovation, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Support recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, workforce planning, and employee development activities.
• Conduct performance reviews, establish development goals, and identify training opportunities to enhance individual and team performance.
• Promote compliance with company policies, engineering standards, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Partner with program management and engineering leadership to support technical planning, resource allocation, risk management, and program execution.
• Monitor team workload, priorities, and project progress to ensure successful delivery of engineering objectives.
• Collaborate with systems engineering, hardware engineering, quality, manufacturing, integration and test, and mission operations to resolve technical issues.
• Participate in customer meetings, technical reviews, design reviews, and program milestone activities.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives focused on engineering efficiency, quality, and process maturity.
• Ensure compliance with software development processes, configuration management, coding standards, and engineering best practices.
• Support implementation of Agile, DevOps, Model‑Based Engineering, or other engineering methodologies as applicable.
• Drive continuous improvement of engineering tools, processes, documentation, and software development practices.
• Perform additional duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Job Requirements and Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 4-7 years of relevant software engineering experience with a minimum of 1 year of leadership experience, including roles such as technical lead, project lead, team lead, or formal people manager.
• Experience leading software development teams in aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated industries.
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles, software development lifecycle (SDLC), software architecture, integration, verification and validation (IV&V), configuration management, and secure software development practices.
• Experience working in Agile development environments using Scrum, DevOps, CI/CD, and issue tracking tools such as Jira or Azure DevOps.
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g., C, C++, Rust, or Python) and version control systems (e.g., Git, GitLab, or Bitbucket).
• Experience with requirements management tools such as Jama or IBM DOORS.
• Strong leadership, coaching, mentoring, communication, collaboration, analytical, problem‑solving, organizational, and decision‑making skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast‑paced product development environment with changing priorities and deadlines.

$136,000 - $167,000 a year

CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full‑time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.

CesiumAstro is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Please note: CesiumAstro does not accept unsolicited resumes from contract agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited resumes submitted to our website or to CesiumAstro team members will be considered property of CesiumAstro, and we will not be obligated to pay any referral fees.