Manager - Software Engineering

Acentra; Chennai District; On-site; INR 3,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Acentra is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the modernization of a flagship .NET product into a scalable, cloud-ready microservices platform. The role focuses on technical leadership, architecture conformance, and delivering high-quality software with AI-enabled development practices.

The candidate will mentor engineers, drive CI/CD, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure timely delivery and engineering excellence. This is a leadership role in Chennai.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field.
• 13+ years in software engineering with 4–5+ years leading teams.
• Strong hands-on background in .NET technologies (C#, ASP.NET, MVC, .NET Core/.NET 8+).
• Experience designing RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Cloud experience (AWS or Azure).
• Experience CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Leadership of Agile/Scrum teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership for modernization of .NET applications and APIs.
• Lead multiple Agile teams; manage sprint planning, backlog, estimation and releases.
• Ensure quality, security and architecture alignment with non-functional requirements.
• Champion AI-enabled development practices and tooling adoption.
• Mentor engineers and build a high-performing engineering culture.
• Collaborate with architects, product management, QA, DevOps and stakeholders.

Skills

Engineering Leadership

Microsoft .NET

REST APIs

Microservices

Cloud (AWS/Azure)

CI/CD

Agile/Scrum

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD tools

Job description

Job Description – Engineering Manager, Product Transformation (.NET)

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead engineering execution for the transformation of one of our flagship product. This role will report to the Director of Product Transformation and will play a critical role in modernizing a mature .NET application into a scalable, cloud-ready, microservices-based platform while enabling engineering excellence and AI-driven software development practices.

The ideal candidate is an experienced technical leader who combines strong engineering expertise with people leadership. They will partner closely with Solution Architects, Product Management, QA, DevOps, and Engineering teams to ensure architectural designs are translated into high-quality, scalable solutions while building a high-performing engineering organization.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Provide technical leadership for modernization initiatives involving .NET technologies, APIs, SQL server, Postgres, cloud-native architecture, and microservices.
• Partner with Solution Architects to review, validate, and refine solution designs prior to implementation.
• Ensure engineering solutions align with architectural standards, scalability goals, security requirements, and non-functional requirements.
• Drive engineering best practices including coding standards, design reviews, code quality, CI/CD, automated testing, and DevSecOps.
• Collaborate with architects to evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to the technology landscape.
• Support technology decisions related to application modernization and future platform redesign.

Engineering Delivery

• Lead multiple Agile engineering teams delivering modernization and product enhancement initiatives.
• Own sprint planning, backlog readiness, estimation, capacity planning, and release execution.
• Facilitate Scrum ceremonies including sprint planning, stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Monitor engineering metrics including velocity, predictability, quality, and technical debt.
• Identify delivery risks early and implement mitigation strategies.
• Partner with Product Managers and Program Leadership to ensure timely delivery of committed outcomes.

AI Enablement & Engineering Productivity

• Champion adoption of AI-assisted software development (Codex/Copilot etc)across engineering teams.
• Evaluate and implement AI tools that improve developer productivity, code quality, testing, documentation, and knowledge management.
• Coach engineers on effective use of AI coding assistants while maintaining engineering quality standards.
• Establish governance and best practices for responsible AI usage within the software development lifecycle.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives leveraging automation and AI.

People Leadership

• Manage and mentor software engineers and technical leads.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing engineering culture.
• Support hiring, onboarding, coaching, career development, and performance management.
• Identify skill gaps and build technical capability across the team.
• Encourage innovation, ownership, and continuous learning.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Architects, Product Managers, QA, DevOps, Security, Infrastructure, and Business stakeholders.
• Translate architectural direction into actionable engineering plans.
• Provide technical guidance during planning and estimation discussions.
• Communicate technical risks, dependencies, and implementation progress to leadership.
• Support organizational transformation initiatives and engineering process improvements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 13+ years of software engineering experience with at least 4–5 years leading engineering teams.
• Strong hands-on background in Microsoft .NET technologies (C#, ASP.NET, MVC, .NET Core/.NET 8+), LINQ, HTML5, CSS3, Angular(optional)
• Experience designing and delivering RESTful APIs and microservices architectures.
• Experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
• Strong understanding of software architecture principles, distributed systems, scalability, and secure application design.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices.
• Experience leading Agile/Scrum software development teams.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience modernizing large enterprise or legacy applications.
• Experience decomposing monolithic applications into microservices.
• Familiarity with containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience implementing event-driven architectures and messaging platforms.
• Knowledge of healthcare interoperability standards such as FHIR is a plus.
• Experience working in regulated industries such as healthcare or insurance.
• Experience leading cloud migration initiatives.
• Experience implementing engineering metrics and continuous improvement programs.

Leadership Competencies

• Technical credibility with engineers and architects.
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to balance technical excellence with delivery commitments.
• Excellent coaching and mentoring capabilities.
• Collaborative leadership style with strong cross-functional influence.
• Ability to lead teams through organizational and technology transformation
• Continuous learning mindset with passion for innovation.

Education, Experience:

1. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
2. 13+ years of software engineering experience with at least 4–5 years leading engineering teams.