What does a senior software engineer manager do?
A Senior Software Engineer Manager oversees software development and helps manage the team to accomplish milestones on a specific project. The Senior Software Engineer Manager's task is to guide, instruct, and junior train developers and ensure efficiency and quality. The senior developer also checks every detail of the software, order adjustments in problematic areas of the program, and does troubleshooting during finalization. The Senior Developer is the primary contact person in the software development team and advises the company on the proper path to take when planning a new software.
Senior software engineer manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior software engineer manager resumes:
- Manage projects in an ISO 9000 and CMM environment.
- Cultivate strong client relationships to effectively gather and manage technology requirements throughout the entire SDLC.
- Create UI widgets utilizing HTML, JavaScript, CSS and the Dojo JavaScript library.
- Use Javascript to structure APIs to increase performance.
- Team process management, implementing new methodologies (scrum, agile).
- Develop fault injection tools (Linux modules) for testing file system derive from XFS.
- Deliver application design changes to load balance, scale and reduce infrastructure cost by many folds.
- Develop various parts of the GCCS-J/M system including communications, mapping overlays, track management API set and APM.
- Design, develop and maintain embedded firmware for Sheffield CMM controllers to support a wide variety of CMM types.
- Develop custom server and user control that provide rich user experience utilizing CSS, AJAX and asynchronous web service calls.
- Build tools for management/deployment MicroServices.
- Develop windows serial and socket interfaces.
- Utilize Linux SMP techniques for Data/Variable synchronization.
- Improve system reliability of Hadoop job processing.
- Standardize and document sustaining engineering practices for Java SE sustaining groups.
Senior software engineer manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Senior Software Engineer Managers are proficient in Java, Emerging Technologies, and Software Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Software Engineer Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Java, 20%
Standardized and documented sustaining engineering practices for Java SE sustaining groups.
- Emerging Technologies, 12%
Evaluated and selected emerging technologies for suitability and compatibility with the existing infrastructure.
- Software Development, 6%
Developed customized software, products and manufacturing methods with a focus on defense contract manufacturing and project management software development.
- Cloud Computing, 5%
Co-authored and presented four proposals for mobile-friendly cloud computing products.
- Python, 4%
Performed software application development, verification, and tool development in C/C++, C#, ASP.NET, and Python.
- AWS, 4%
Led delivery of Batch Processing Framework, built on open source technologies(SpringXD) and hosted in AWS.
Common skills that a senior software engineer manager uses to do their job include "java," "emerging technologies," and "software development." You can find details on the most important senior software engineer manager responsibilities below.
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a senior software engineer manager to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what senior software engineer managers do because "developers are the creative minds behind new computer software." Additionally, a senior software engineer manager resume shows how senior software engineer managers use creativity: "worked in-depth on early phases of software development life cycle for client's inventory control module. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform senior software engineer manager duties is detail oriented. Senior software engineer managers responsibilities require that "developers often work on many parts of an application or system at the same time and must therefore be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail." Senior software engineer managers also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "worked on a fully object oriented, 3-tier web application using c# and asp. "
Interpersonal skills. senior software engineer managers are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior software engineer manager responsibilities, because "software developers must be able to work well with others who contribute to designing, developing, and programming successful software." A senior software engineer manager resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "core skills: exceptional interpersonal communication, program/product management. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what senior software engineer managers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to senior software engineer manager responsibilities because "because developers are in charge of software from beginning to end, they must be able to solve problems that arise throughout the design process." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior software engineer manager tasks: "refocused sustaining engineering efforts and systemized development; resolved core customer issues and decreased engineering customer support problems by 80%. "
Analytical skills. Another common skill required for senior software engineer manager responsibilities is "analytical skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior software engineer managers all the time, as "developers must analyze users’ needs and then design software to meet those needs." An excerpt from a real senior software engineer manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior software engineer manager does: "developed the j2ee based portable fuels analysis (pfa) client\server application for the office of naval research (onr). "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on senior software engineer manager job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in senior software engineer manager duties, since "developers must be able to give clear instructions to others working on a project." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day senior software engineer manager responsibilities: "used the dod variable message format (vmf) for lightweight communications between the remote client application and the j2ee server. "
The three companies that hire the most senior software engineer managers are:
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Compare different senior software engineer managers
Senior software engineer manager vs. Software architect
A Software Architect develops new programs for a variety of technological devices for businesses, computer games, mobile networks, and/or operating systems. They ensure architectural integrity and consistency across the entire product and work closely with executives to explain the benefits of the software.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior software engineer manager are more likely to require skills like "c #," "infrastructure," "devops," and "project management." On the other hand, a job as a software architect requires skills like "architecture," "cloud," "database," and "design patterns." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, software architects reach higher levels of education than senior software engineer managers. Software architects are 5.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior software engineer manager vs. Lead engineer
A lead engineer's duties vary on their line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities will revolve around overseeing the progress of operations and performance of the workforce, ensuring that everything is running smoothly. They are also responsible for addressing issues and concerns, assessing risks, monitoring the budget, coordinating with clients and architects, and even training workers. Furthermore, as a lead engineer, it is crucial to conduct regular inspections to ensure the quality of work and maintain a safe environment for all workers.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior software engineer manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "software development," "aws," "scrum," and "infrastructure." Meanwhile, a lead engineer has duties that require skills in areas such as "architecture," "git," "database," and "troubleshoot." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, lead engineers achieve similar levels of education than senior software engineer managers. They're 2.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior software engineer managers in the next 3-5 years?
Frank McCown Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Harding University
Senior software engineer manager vs. Senior applications engineer
A senior applications engineer specializes in designing and developing a variety of applications and systems, ensuring quality and efficiency. Their responsibilities typically revolve around utilizing feedback and client needs when making decisions, creating test structures for applications, performing installment and repairs, troubleshooting, and performing regular maintenance checks and upgrades. Furthermore, as a senior applications engineer, it is essential to lead and encourage the engineering team to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior software engineer manager is likely to be skilled in "software development," "python," "aws," and "scrum," while a typical senior applications engineer is skilled in "database," "provide customer support," "visualization," and "help support."
Senior applications engineers typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior software engineer managers. Specifically, they're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior software engineer manager vs. Software systems engineer
A software systems engineer is responsible for designing and creating software systems applications and programs according to clients' specifications or business' needs. They work to improve the features of existing applications to boost efficiency and optimal performance. Software systems engineers manage systems configuration and structural development to develop high-quality outputs and deliverables. They also run multiple diagnostic tests to ensure smooth navigations and server transitions and identify efficient technical solutions. A software systems engineer assists the end-users with application issues, performing troubleshooting operations, and creating resolution reports for reference.
Types of senior software engineer manager
Updated January 8, 2025
