AI-First Software Engineering Manager

Cengage Group; Charleston (WV); Remote; USD 102,000 - 163,000; Full time

Job summary

Cengage Group is seeking an Software Engineering Manager to lead a team delivering AI-first capabilities for the CLP platforms. You will guide technical direction, collaborate with product and design, and drive customer-focused, data-driven improvements.

You will champion modern delivery practices, cloud-native architectures, and scalable software delivery while balancing debt and new work across sprints. Strong Java and React experience are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and recent, relevant work experience.
• 2+ years of technology leadership experience, including developing technology strategies, fostering innovation, and leading globally distributed teams.
• Hands-on experience integrating or experimenting with GenAI technologies and toolkits (OpenAI, Hugging Face, LangChain).
• Experience modernizing legacy or monolithic architectures, migrating systems to modular, cloud-native platforms, and implementing hybrid cloud strategies.
• Strong hands-on Java development (5 years minimum) and React or other modern front-end technology (5 years minimum).

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing engineering team focused on quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Reimagine and optimize software delivery processes using modern tools, automation, and generative AI.
• Engage in driving POM Discovery activities including continuous customer engagement to derive solutions that meet end user, company, and technology goals.
• Track quality and efficiency improvements through well instrumented SDLC tools and report progress to executive teams.
• Balance technical debt and other maintenance activities alongside new feature development within each sprint.
• Work with partners and customers to establish and handle product backlogs, product estimates and budgets.
• Stay in front of emerging technologies and industry trends to inject continuous innovation into our product roadmaps.

Skills

Leadership

AI concepts

Java

React

Distributed teams

Agile delivery

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS or related field

Tools

Jira

Azure DevOps

Job description

Cengage Group is seeking an Software Engineering Manager to lead a team delivering AI-first capabilities for the CLP platforms. You will guide technical direction, collaborate with product and design, and drive customer-focused, data-driven improvements.

You will champion modern delivery practices, cloud-native architectures, and scalable software delivery while balancing debt and new work across sprints. Strong Java and React experience are required.