Software Development Manager, Horizontal Services

Autodesk; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Autodesk is seeking a seasoned Software Engineering Manager to lead a high-performing full-stack team responsible for horizontal services and core platforms. You will mentor engineers, manage roadmaps, and drive architectural decisions across distributed systems and CMS integrations.

You’ll partner with Product, Design, and other engineering teams to deliver scalable, reliable software while promoting best practices and high-quality code.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of people leadership experience
• 10+ years of total software engineering experience
• Strong foundation in computer science, software architecture, and software design principles
• Proven experience leading engineering teams through complex technical projects
• Strong experience designing and scaling distributed systems, microservices, and RESTful APIs
• Experience with event-driven development and streaming/messaging technologies such as Kafka
• Strong understanding of modern frontend ecosystems, including React
• Experience with modern CMS platforms
• Proficiency in Java, Python, or Node.js
• Strong communication skills with stakeholders and leadership
• Demonstrated ability to partner with Product, Design, and Engineering organizations

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and support the growth of a high-performing full-stack engineering team
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative environment that empowers engineers to make autonomous technical decisions
• Own project delivery, including roadmap execution, planning, risk management, and operational follow-through
• Provide regular project status updates, metrics, progress reporting, and risk assessments to cross-functional stakeholders and leadership
• Identify and resolve technical and project bottlenecks, escalating issues effectively
• Partner with Product Management, Visual Design, and engineering teams to align priorities and deliver outcomes
• Drive technical direction and architectural decisions for core horizontal services and platforms
• Champion software engineering principles, code quality, scalability, maintainability, and reliability
• Design and scale distributed systems, microservices, and RESTful APIs
• Guide engineering teams in developing backend services
• Promote engineering best practices across architecture, development, testing, deployment, and operations
• Oversee development and scaling of experimentation frameworks, CMS, and self-service workflows
• Build platforms and tools that enhance efficiency for engineering teams and customers
• Identify opportunities for automation, scalability, and improved developer experiences
• Drive technical solutions for evolving business requirements and high-scale environments
• Design and support event-driven architectures and distributed systems
• Work with Kafka and streaming technologies
• Guide development of reliable APIs, microservices, and asynchronous workflows
• Evaluate and improve system scalability, performance, reliability, and resilience

Skills

People leadership

Full-stack engineering

React

Kafka

RESTful APIs

Tools

CMS

Job description

Position Overview

We’re looking for a seasoned, hands-on Software Engineering Manager to lead a high-performing full-stack engineering team supporting our horizontal services and core technology platforms.

In this role, you’ll balance technical leadership with people management while guiding engineers through complex architectural decisions, delivering scalable solutions, and driving technical strategy across core domains. You’ll partner closely with Product Management, Visual Design, and engineering teams to translate business requirements into reliable, scalable, and developer-friendly solutions.

This is a hands-on leadership opportunity where you’ll mentor and grow engineers, remove technical and delivery blockers, communicate project health and risks to stakeholders, and drive engineering excellence across modern application and platform environments.

The ideal candidate brings strong software engineering fundamentals, robust backend infrastructure experience, and experience building and scaling (CMS), experimentation frameworks, and self-service platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and support the growth of a high-performing full-stack engineering team
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative environment that empowers engineers to make autonomous technical decisions
• Own project delivery, including roadmap execution, planning, risk management, and operational follow-through
• Provide regular project status updates, metrics, progress reporting, and risk assessments to cross-functional stakeholders and leadership
• Proactively identify and resolve technical and project bottlenecks, escalating issues effectively to keep initiatives on track
• Partner closely with Product Management, Visual Design, and engineering teams to align priorities and deliver business outcomes
• Drive technical direction and architectural decisions for core horizontal services and platforms
• Champion strong software engineering principles, code quality, scalability, maintainability, and system reliability
• Design and scale distributed systems, microservices, and RESTful APIs
• Guide engineering teams in developing resilient, scalable, and maintainable backend services
• Promote engineering best practices across architecture, development, testing, deployment, and operational excellence
• Oversee the development and scaling of experimentation frameworks, (CMS), and self-service workflows
• Build platforms and tools that enable engineering teams and internal customers to work more efficiently and independently
• Partner with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for automation, scalability, and improved developer experiences
• Drive technical solutions that support evolving business requirements and high-scale application environments
• Design and support event-driven architectures and distributed systems
• Work with streaming and messaging technologies such as Kafka
• Guide the development of reliable APIs, microservices, and asynchronous workflows
• Evaluate and improve system scalability, performance, reliability, and operational resilience

Minimum Qualifications

• 3+ years of people leadership experience managing and developing software engineers
• 10+ years of total software engineering experience
• Strong foundation in computer science, software architecture, and software design principles
• Proven experience leading engineering teams through complex technical projects and delivering business-critical solutions
• Strong experience designing and scaling distributed systems, microservices, and RESTful APIs
• Experience with event-driven development and streaming/messaging technologies such as Kafka
• Strong understanding of modern frontend ecosystems, including React
• Experience with modern (CMS)
• Proficiency in at least one programming language such as Java, Python, or Node.js
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate project health, technical risks, dependencies, and escalation resolutions to stakeholders and leadership
• Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with Product, Design, and Engineering organizations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building or operating experimentation or A/B testing platforms
• Experience developing self-service platforms and internal engineering tools
• Experience with large-scale content management platforms and workflows
• Strong understanding of cloud-native application architecture and distributed infrastructure
• Experience with asynchronous processing, event-driven systems, and messaging architectures
• Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives spanning multiple engineering teams
• Experience improving developer productivity through automation, platform capabilities, and reusable services
• Strong track record of developing engineering talent and building high-performing technical organizations

About Autodesk

Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.

We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk – it’s at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.

When you’re an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!

Benefits

From health and financial benefits to time away and everyday wellness, we give Autodeskers the best, so they can do their best work. Learn more about our benefits in the U.S. by visiting https://benefits.autodesk.com/

Salary transparency

Salary is one part of Autodesk’s competitive compensation package. For U.S.-based roles, we expect a starting base salary between $148,000 and $264,990. Offers are based on the candidate’s experience and geographic location, and may exceed this range. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Equal Employment Opportunity

At Autodesk, we're building a diverse workplace and an inclusive culture to give more people the chance to imagine, design, and make a better world. Autodesk is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic. We also consider for employment all qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

Belonging

We take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here: https://www.autodesk.com/company/global-belonging

In-Person Onboarding and Identity Verification

This role may require in-person onboarding and/or in-person ID verification.