Manager, Software Engineering

Worker Type Regular Job Description Summary   The Manager, Software Engineering, leads a software QA, automation, and DevSecOps team, growing the people, processes, and tools that systematically verify mission systems software and maintain robust development and test infrastructure. As a member of the Engineering management team, the Manager defines and executes the team's strategy, budget, staffing, and development, and coordinates across software engineering, the system test team, programs, and information security to reduce software quality and program risk.   Position Responsibilities:   Manages a group of software QA, automation, and DevOps engineers, including budget planning, staffing, training, performance evaluation and career development. Attracts and retains high caliber staff and provides mentorship   Defines the team's roles, ways of working, and a clear scope that complements (rather than duplicates) the software development and system test teams   Sets the strategy for test coverage, automation frameworks, and CI/CD and lab infrastructure across programs   Establishes and owns QA standards, metrics, and reporting; the bug reporting and review process; and go/no-go release recommendations to the system test team   Leads software risk identification, tracking, and mitigation across programs   Collaborates with software engineering, the system test team, programs, and information security to align quality goals and engineering processes   Works in an Agile environment to coordinate the team's work including scope, scheduling and resourcing   Frequently interacts with subordinate supervisors, customers and/or functional peer group managers, normally involving matters between functional areas   Establishes and assures adherence to budgets, schedules and work plans. Interacts with senior management   Other duties as assigned   Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience):   BS degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related is required or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience   10+ years of software engineering experience, with a strong background in software quality, test automation, and/or DevOps/CI-CD   At least 2+ years in a supervisory or technical lead role, successfully managing or leading a technical team   Experience defining test strategy, automation frameworks, and quality processes for complex software   Experienced with modern development and CI/CD tooling (e.g., Git/GitLab, CI pipelines, containerization) and Linux environments   Demonstrated ability to work across engineering, test, and program teams to drive quality and reduce risk   Occasionally may be required to travel within the Continental U.S.   Other Qualifications & Desired Competencies:   Advanced degree is desired   Background testing embedded, robotics, UAS, or other safety- or mission-critical software is a strong plus   Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and managing lab/test infrastructure (hardware-in-the-loop environments) is a plus   Demonstrates competency in communicating technically and effectively across engineering, test, and program groups and staff   Skilled at identifying, communicating and mitigating technical risks and issues   Embraces AI-assisted development and test tooling and encourages its adoption to improve team efficiency and quality   Demonstrates strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills   Exercises independent judgment in methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results   Uses vision to think beyond the immediate situation, explore multiple potential paths, and adapt decision-making style based on the situational circumstances   Inspires, motivates, and empowers people to deliver organizational goals, while also delivering value back to employees   Brings organizational values to life using personality, uniqueness and the creation of a shared vision   Champions the process of change and promotes a culture of quick adaptation while helping others deal with the effects of change   Demonstrates the ability to develop and maintain internal and external trusting, professional relationships   Assesses the degree of risk and opportunity in plans or actions and takes appropriate action to mitigate them or makes plans to build on the opportunity   Physical Demands:   Ability to work in an office and production environment (Constant)   Required to sit and stand for long periods; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard (Frequent)   Special Requirements:   U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) or asylee/refugee status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) required.   Occasionally may be required to travel within the Continental U.S.   Clearance Level Secret The salary range for this role is: $117,500 - $179,250 AeroVironment considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the location, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills. ITAR Requirement: This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants must qualify as a U.S. person under the ITAR and the EAR, or a person to be approved for an export license by the governing agency whose technology comes under its jurisdiction. Please understand that any job offer that requires approval of an export license will be conditional on AeroVironment’s determination that it will be able to obtain an export license in a time frame consistent with AeroVironment’s business requirements. A “U.S. person” according to the ITAR definition is a U.S. ci