What does a senior software manager do?
A senior software manager leads a testing team. They are responsible for counseling junior staff, managing resources, conducting software testing, and ensuring quality standards are met. This position requires someone who is resourceful and dynamic. They must also hold an advanced degree.
Senior software manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior software manager resumes:
- Lead the transition to cloud using AWS and WSO2.
- Manage and oversee all QA and UAT environments, coordinate release schedule with release team.
- Manage a team of 7 engineers to draft technical requirements, develop UI flows and complete operator compliance specifications.
- Manage and routinely update application SharePoint site.
- Service workstation software are developed in Java and plugging into infrastructure applications (C++ applications) with JNI interface.
- Support for the ERP software application and integrate technologies, Unix system administration, Microsoft NT/SQL database system administration support
- Facilitate design, scrum and bug scrub meetings.
- Establish high value prototyping services winning strategic sales deals.
- Architect worlds first Java web-app MVC framework over Sun-Netscape AppLogic.
- Develop and teach VersaStor (storage virtualization) internal training.
- Provide technical direction in building a new in-house PC product support team.
- Network computers and printers at various locations in a WindowsServer 2003/Mac OS environment.
- Institute IaaS, PaaS and true SaaS technology for leading edge product offerings.
- Provide windows network print que support on server side and end user issues.
- Lead the development of cloud-base software tools and solutions utilizing the agile scrum process.
Senior software manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Senior Software Managers are proficient in Software Development, Java, and Cycle Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Leadership skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Software Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Software Development, 14%
Managed a software development framework combining multiple software development efforts supporting web services, software component deployment and partner framework integration.
- Java, 11%
Developed Web Server site for TI's Software Division using WebCenter, ColdFusion, Java, JavaScript, and HTML.
- Cycle Management, 9%
Provide input to Bi-weekly IPR and Life Cycle Management Leadership brief.
- Cloud, 7%
Web-based development leading 25 members to launch super large scale web-service to Amazon cloud with millions of users.
- Project Management, 6%
Researched project management system solutions to find a more efficient tool to manage revenue-generating solution projects.
- Product Development, 3%
Customized and led a company-wide product development process, Stage-Gate-Waterfall, to be adopted across multiple platforms.
Common skills that a senior software manager uses to do their job include "software development," "java," and "cycle management." You can find details on the most important senior software manager responsibilities below.
Business skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior software manager to have is business skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "it managers must develop and implement strategic plans to reach the goals of their organizations." Senior software managers often use business skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "participated in business development and proposal efforts while successfully leading application development teams. "
Leadership skills. Another essential skill to perform senior software manager duties is leadership skills. Senior software managers responsibilities require that "it managers must lead and motivate it teams or departments so that workers are efficient and effective." Senior software managers also use leadership skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided technical leadership to product design, implementation, integration and system testing. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior software managers is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday senior software manager duties, as "some it managers must coordinate the work of several different it departments to make the organization run efficiently." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "completed organizational and systems integration for legacy software delivery groups following the merger of aventis with sanofi-synthelabo. "
Analytical skills. For certain senior software manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "analytical skills." The day-to-day duties of a senior software manager rely on this skill, as "it managers must analyze problems and consider and select the best ways to solve them." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior software managers do: "developed advanced tech platform that helped deliver near-realtime big data analytics presented on a innovative visualization engine. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in senior software manager job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what senior software managers do. Senior software manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "it managers must explain their work to top executives and give clear instructions to their subordinates." You can also see how senior software manager duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "ensured consistent communications and first class technical support was delivered to over 350 implementations of custom software packages. "
The three companies that hire the most senior software managers are:
Choose from 10+ customizable senior software manager resume templates
Build a professional senior software manager resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior software manager resume.Compare different senior software managers
Senior software manager vs. Manager, systems engineering
A systems engineering manager is responsible for monitoring the efficiency of the company's technology systems and network infrastructure. System engineering managers inspect the output deliverables of computer systems, identifying process improvement techniques to improve optimal performance and maintain high-quality results. They handle the department's budget and allocate adequate resources to support project management operations and requirements. A systems engineering manager must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, handling technical complexities, and configuring system management tools.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior software manager are more likely to require skills like "cycle management," "c #," "cloud," and "ui." On the other hand, a job as a manager, systems engineering requires skills like "systems engineering," "architecture," "dod," and "infrastructure." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Managers, systems engineering earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $131,371. On the other hand, senior software managers are paid more in the professional industry with an average salary of $154,983.managers, systems engineering tend to reach lower levels of education than senior software managers. In fact, managers, systems engineering are 10.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior software manager vs. Information technology director
An information technology (IT) Director is an individual responsible for the management, strategy, and execution of an organization's IT infrastructure. He/She supervises a team of workers while working with the organization's management and external vendors and advisors. Aside from managing workers, an IT director should possess problem-solving skills and an aptitude for organizational thinking. An IT director must also identify new market opportunities and should lead an effort to improve the organization's IT process.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior software manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "java," "cycle management," "c #," and "product development." Meanwhile, an information technology director has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "network infrastructure," "disaster recovery," and "windows server." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Information technology directors earn a lower average salary than senior software managers. But information technology directors earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $145,076. Additionally, senior software managers earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $154,983 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Information technology directors tend to reach lower levels of education than senior software managers. In fact, they're 11.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior software 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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior software managers are more likely to have skills like "cycle management," "c #," "project management," and "product development." But a software architect is more likely to have skills like "architecture," "python," "database," and "aws."
Software architects earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $119,142. Senior software managers earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $154,983.software architects typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior software managers. Specifically, they're 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior software manager vs. Information technology manager
An information technology manager is responsible for supervising tasks for the company's network and information systems operations. Information technology managers require excellent knowledge of the information systems industry, a strong command of programming languages, and software and hardware application processes. An information technology manager reviews the performance of the IT department staff, ensuring that networks and systems maintain the highest quality and efficiency, and adjusting the specific system updates as needed. Information technology managers monitor the security of the system's database and identify business opportunities to utilize all business systems to improve the company's services.
Types of senior software manager
Updated January 8, 2025











