Application Development Manager — Lead, Hands-On, with PTO

Newton

Newton (NJ)

On-site

USD 142,000 - 150,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental and vision insurance

Company paid life insurance

401(k) plan

Tuition reimbursement

Generous PTO

Job summary

Thorlabs is seeking an experienced Application Development Manager in Newton, NJ, to lead a technical team responsible for custom application development, integrations, automation, QA, DevOps, and support for enterprise applications.

You will blend operational leadership with hands‑on software development, collaborating with IT leaders and stakeholders to prioritize work, mature practices, and evolve the company’s application capabilities. Occasional travel to other locations may be required.

Qualifications

7+ years of experience in application development, enterprise applications & systems integration, software delivery, or a related technical field.
3+ years of experience leading technical teams, coordinating application delivery, or serving in technical lead, team lead, or player‑coach capacity.
Hands‑on experience designing, developing, supporting, or integrating software solutions using APIs, cloud services, Azure Functions, OData services, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, or related Microsoft technologies.
Experience working with agile software development methodologies, software development lifecycle practices, testing, release management, CI/CD, documentation, and production support processes.
Experience working across cross‑functional technical and business teams, including developers, QA, DevOps, business analysts, vendors, and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Lead the day‑to‑day operations of the Application Development team, including work coordination, prioritization, communication, and delivery follow‑up.
Manage, coach, and support team members across application development, QA, integrations, automation, and low‑code development, including performance feedback, professional development, and workload balancing.
Establish team operating cadence and accountability practices, including regular one‑on‑ones, team meetings, status updates, delivery reporting, and escalation of risks, issues, dependencies, and resource constraints.
Coordinate application development work intake, prioritization, resource planning, and delivery tracking across projects, enhancements, operational support, and production issues.
Perform hands‑on software development, application integration, troubleshooting, and technical problem solving as needed to support project delivery, production issues, and team execution.
Design, develop, and support application integrations using APIs, Azure services, Azure Functions, OData services, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and related Microsoft technologies.
Oversee and contribute to the design, development, testing, deployment, and support of application solutions, ensuring work is delivered with appropriate quality, documentation, maintainability, security, and support readiness.
Promote and reinforce software development lifecycle best practices, including requirements documentation, technical specifications, code reviews, testing, release management, CI/CD, production support transition, and post‑implementation follow‑up.
Collaborate with business stakeholders and cross‑functional IT teams to clarify requirements, manage expectations, communicate timelines, improve business processes, and support successful solution delivery.
Align priorities, improve delivery practices, support roadmap planning, and strengthen team operating discipline.