Manager, Engineering (Open Syllabus)

VitalSource Technologies; United States; Remote; USD 154,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Culture of collaboration

Competitive salary + variable bonus

Health, vision, dental, life insurance

Job summary

VitalSource is seeking a Manager, Engineering (Open Syllabus) to lead the Open Syllabus engineering team, own the roadmap, and deliver on strategic priorities. The role combines hands‑on coding in Python with people leadership, data pipeline work, and collaboration with researchers and contractors.

As a working manager, you will hire, onboard, and develop engineers, manage external partnerships, and align product releases with performance and security considerations while prioritizing

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field.
• 5+ years of software engineering, including senior/lead experience.
• Experience with big data and Python data pipelines.
• Experience leading agile delivery and cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Open Syllabus engineering team, including engineers, contractors, and shared research roles; own hiring, onboarding, 1:1s, performance feedback, and career development plans.
• Own the team's roadmap and priorities: partner with the business owner to rationalize requests, create estimates, and keep delivery on track across concurrent workstreams.
• Contribute hands‑on as a working manager: write Python code, build and maintain data pipelines, and analyze data to support the Open Syllabus mission.
• Oversee the collection and processing of course catalog and syllabus data, including web scraping pipelines and the cleanup of unstructured source documents.
• Manage outside contractor relationships and shared‑management arrangements with research and academic partners.
• Partner with Product Management on release planning, technical concerns, and application performance and security.
• Communicate proactively with stakeholders on roadmaps, delivery goals, impediments, and risks; coordinate with engineering leadership on cross‑team integration, deployment, and service operations.
• Establish team practices for the responsible use of AI‑assisted development tools, including standards for code review, quality, and security.
• Own observability, alerting, and service level objectives for team‑supported services.
• Ensure team‑delivered software meets accessibility standards and supports VitalSource's customer accessibility commitments.

Skills

Python

Big data

Distributed systems

Agile leadership

Leading teams

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Jupyter

Data pipelines

Job description

VitalSource®, is hiring a Manager, Engineering (Open Syllabus) to contribute to our Engineering team. This is a remote role(United States).

For more than a decade, Open Syllabus has collected and analyzed syllabi from colleges and universities around the world, building the largest open record of what is actually taught in higher education: the books, articles, topics, and learning outcomes that make up courses across every field. Its public tools, the Syllabus Explorer and Co-Assignment Galaxy, are widely recognized contributions to the open learning ecosystem, and the project has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Nature, Time, and FiveThirtyEight. Today, as part of VitalSource, Open Syllabus data helps publishers, institutions, and faculty make better decisions about course content. As Manager, Engineering, you will lead the Open Syllabus engineering team and own its roadmap, priorities, and delivery. This is a working manager role: you will write Python, build and maintain data pipelines, and analyze data alongside the team while managing a small group of engineers, contractors, and research partners.

VitalSource is a mission-driven company delivering affordable, impactful learning to anyone, anywhere.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the Open Syllabus engineering team, including engineers, contractors, and shared research roles; own hiring, onboarding, 1:1s, performance feedback, and career development plans.
• Own the team's roadmap and priorities: partner with the business owner to rationalize requests, create estimates, and keep delivery on track across concurrent workstreams.
• Contribute hands‑on as a working manager: write Python code, build and maintain data pipelines, and analyze data to support the Open Syllabus mission.
• Oversee the collection and processing of course catalog and syllabus data, including web scraping pipelines and the cleanup of unstructured source documents.
• Manage outside contractor relationships and shared‑management arrangements with research and academic partners.
• Partner with Product Management on release planning, technical concerns, and application performance and security.
• Communicate proactively with stakeholders on roadmaps, delivery goals, impediments, and risks; coordinate with engineering leadership on cross‑team integration, deployment, and service operations.
• Establish team practices for the responsible use of AI‑assisted development tools, including standards for code review, quality, and security.
• Own observability, alerting, and service level objectives for team‑supported services.
• Ensure team‑delivered software meets accessibility standards and supports VitalSource's customer accessibility commitments.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of software engineering experience, including experience as a senior or lead engineer.
• Demonstrated experience working with big data.
• Strong Python experience, including building data pipelines.
• Demonstrated experience managing or significantly contributing to large‑scale, distributed systems.
• Experience leading agile delivery processes (Scrum, Kanban, or similar) and working with cross‑functional stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience managing direct reports. First‑time managers with a strong senior or lead engineering background are encouraged to apply.
• Experience building web scrapers.
• Experience with Jupyter notebooks and Python data pipelines.
• Academic background, or a background in data visualization, data science, or data analytics.
• Exposure to building applications on top of large data sets (React experience a plus).
• Experience managing contractors, outsourced engineering vendors, or research partnerships.
• Familiarity with observability tooling, SLO frameworks, and incident management practices.
• Curiosity and willingness to apply AI tooling as appropriate for the role; a demonstrated ability to learn and grow with current tooling is strongly preferred.

Salary Range: $154,000 – $170,000

What We Offer:

• Culture: Collaborative, Inclusive, and Mission‑driven
• More in your pocket: Competitive base salary and a strong variable component
• We take care of all aspects of our people: Generous, well‑rounded benefits such as Medical, Vision, Dental, Life, Disability, Critical Illness, Accident, FSA, HSA, ID Protection, Pet and Legal Insurance
• Retirement: 401K match up to 5%
• We support our families: 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• Continued education: Use our tuition reimbursement program
• The Importance of Balance: start at 4 weeks' vacation, 12 sick days, 11 company holidays, and 3 personal days
• Flexibility: flexible work schedules and remote capabilities (by team) - feel free to skip the commute and hit your deadlines from home
• Casual Dress: be as comfortable at work as you are in your own living room
• Wellness: lots of opportunities for fitness challenges and rewards

Who We Are:

VitalSource is the leading education technology solutions provider committed to helping partners create, deliver, and distribute affordable, accessible, and impactful learning experiences worldwide. As a recognized innovator in the digital course materials market, VitalSource is best known for partnering with more than 1,000 publishers and resellers to deliver extraordinary learning experiences to millions of active users globally—and today we're also powering new, cutting‑edge technologies designed to optimize teaching and learning for maximum results. Learn more at https://vitalsource.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, work related mental or physical disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information.

• EEO/AA Employer/Vet/Disabled
• We participate in EVerify.
• EEO Poster in English
• EEO Poster in Spanish

VitalSource is an Equal Opportunity Employer