Software Engineering Manager

Education Analytics (EA) is a national non-profit organization located in downtown Madison, WI that uses data and analytics to improve outcomes for students and increase equity in education. We work closely with our partners to illuminate patterns in data that drive change. At EA, we believe in a culture that is collaborative, equitable, mission-driven, human-centered, innovative, and rigorous. We believe in the potential of people to foster continuous improvement. 

Learn about EA 

Connect with EA! Learn more about EA on our blog and our website. 

Position Description 

Software engineers at EA enable our mission by building web applications to get data in the hands of educators at the right time for them to take action to improve student outcomes. We are seeking a Software Engineering Manager to lead a small team of engineers in the design and development of web applications and tools to support our mission. The person hired for this role will supervise full-stack software engineers and work as part of a team of managers across other engineering specialties within EA. People management responsibilities will constitute about a third of the role, with two thirds remaining for hands-on technical work.

An ideal candidate for this role will bring at least a Senior Engineer’s level of technical proficiency in a web-focused engineering discipline, but preexisting expertise in our stack is not required. A typical project of ours is a full-stack web application built in TypeScript, React, Express, PostgreSQL, and AWS, and prior experience with any of these tools is helpful. Previous people management experience is preferred, but we also encourage candidates who do not yet have direct people management experience to apply, and we will consider other types of leadership experience as well.

If you are looking to build software with an eye towards a social mission to help students, we encourage you to apply. We are looking for passionate technologists that accept nothing but the best for our education systems. For some background on the kinds of tools we build, check out this blog post on EA’s website.

Job duties

Management:

• Supervise and support software engineers
  • Deliver regular feedback & coaching
  • Construct and deliver performance reviews
  • Monitor morale for individuals and teams and proactively address problems
• Foster professional development opportunities and technical skills development
• Contribute to engineering management and strategy; lead team level initiatives and contribute to team policies
• Contribute to and/or manage hiring processes
• Engage in organizational processes to prioritize and staff projects and communicate priorities to staff
• Guide, coordinate, and contribute to technical discussions
• Guide new staff through onboarding processes
• Lead development of team practices for workflow management and support individuals on projects with timelines, planning, prioritization
• Lead projects / implementations and perform Senior Engineer job expectations as needed (time could vary depending on management responsibilities)
• Foster diversity and inclusion by respecting and seriously considering differing viewpoints

Software Engineering:

• Build, deploy and maintain complex web applications
• Communicate accurate and timely project status, issues, risks, and scope changes to all stakeholders
• Collaborate with other engineering leaders, product managers, and designers on UI design

Qualifications

• Experience leading people in software engineering, whether in people management, project, or product leadership
• Experience communicating tasks and overseeing, reviewing, and scoping the work of other software engineers
• Experience with Git (ideally Github) and management of approval processes and team-based version control
• Significant experience building web applications and creating and working with APIs. We typically use TypeScript with a React front end and a NodeJS back end, so experience in those technologies is helpful, but not required.

What to expect in the hiring process

• Hiring team reviews resumes, cover letters, and application question responses.
• Selected candidates are invited to a 30-minute Zoom with two team members
• Selected candidates are sent a technical skills project
• Selected candidates are invited for a full day final interview (in person in our downtown Madison office or virtual). This interview will include a discussion of the technical skills project, an opportunity to meet the team, and to learn more about Education Analytics & the role.

Additional details

Our office is in Madison, WI and applicants who live in the area, or are interested in moving here, can work in the office alongside other members of the team. Currently, our software engineers include a mix of people who are working from office, hybrid, and fully remote. We are open to remote or on-site candidates for this position.

Compensation and Benefits 

The expected salary range for the Software Engineering Manager position is $100,000-$130,000, based on experience. EA also has a generous benefits package including: 

• A 12% employee salary contribution from EA to your 401k retirement plan 
• An additional 3% salary deferral match by EA to your 401k 
• 26.5 days of paid vacation annually + sick paid time off that accumulates per pay period
• 9 paid holidays of your choosing 
• 93% of health insurance premium paid for by EA 
• Paid parental leave (if eligibility requirements are met) 

EA’s primary location is in downtown Madison, WI, on the Capitol Square. Steps away from coffee shops, a weekly summer farmers’ market, restaurants, shops, and two lakes. Many staff walk, bike, or use public transportation to commute to a well-appointed office.

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Education Analytics is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.