Manager, Software Engineering

Exostar; Cincinnati (OH); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Exostar seeks an engineering leader who writes production code, mentors engineers, and delivers on roadmap priorities. You will manage a software team focusing on identity, credentialing, and supply chain security, while modeling AI-native development practices with Claude Code and Copilot.

You’ll collaborate with product, architecture, and platform peers, operating in a FedRAMP Moderate / CMMC Level 2 environment serving defense primes.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years in an engineering leadership capacity
• Hands-on daily user of AI coding tools — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or equivalent
• Comfortable conducting meaningful PR reviews and writing production code when needed
• Cloud-native engineering experience on Azure or AWS, microservices, containerization, CI/CD, IaC
• Strong written and verbal communication in cross-functional planning sessions

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of software engineers building production features across identity, credentialing, and supply chain security platforms
• Own the technical quality of the team’s output: architecture decisions, PR reviews, code quality, production reliability
• Drive sprint execution: planning, backlog refinement, dependency management, delivery against milestones
• Identify and resolve blockers; escalate when needed but own outcomes
• Establish and maintain engineering metrics: deployment frequency, change failure rate, cycle time, defect escape rate
• Model AI-native development and drive adoption across the team; coach skeptics and measure impact
• Partner with product managers to translate roadmap priorities into engineering scope
• Hire, develop, and manage talent; maintain a high-performing team
• Ensure team ownership and accountability across end-to-end delivery

Skills

Leadership

AI tooling adoption

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical mentoring

Communication

Code reviews

DevOps/CI/CD

Tools

Azure

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

C#/.NET

Python

TypeScript

Angular

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

Job description

We’re looking for an engineering leader who stays close to the code, holds a high technical bar, and can translate product priorities into shipped software without losing momentum. You’ll manage a team of software engineers, collaborate directly with product management on roadmap execution, and operate as a peer to architecture and platform peers across Exostar’s R&D organization.

You will use AI coding tools — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot — yourself, daily. You will model that behavior for your team. AI-native development is not optional at Exostar; it’s how we build.

This role reports to the Director, R&D Engineering and operates in Exostar’s FedRAMP Moderate / CMMC Level 2 environment serving defense primes including Boeing and BAE Systems.

What You’ll Own

• Lead a team of software engineers building production features across Exostar’s identity, credentialing, and supply chain security platform.
• Own the technical quality of your team’s output — architecture decisions, PR reviews, code quality, and production reliability.
• Drive sprint execution: planning, backlog refinement, dependency management, and delivery against committed milestones.
• Identify and resolve blockers before they become delays — elevate when needed but own the outcome.
• Establish and maintain engineering metrics: deployment frequency, change failure rate, cycle time, defect escape rate.

AI-Native Engineering Leadership

• Use Claude Code and GitHub Copilot daily in your own workflow — not as optional productivity tools, as standard practice.
• Model AI-native development for your team: code generation, agentic workflows, AI-assisted PR review, and automated testing.
• Drive adoption across your team: coach skeptics, celebrate early adopters, measure impact, and share learnings org-wide.
• Stay current on the AI tooling landscape — surface new tools and workflows to the Director when they’re worth evaluating.
• Partner with product managers to translate roadmap priorities into engineering scope — push back on ambiguity, not on accountability.
• Participate in quarterly planning: capacity estimation, sequencing, and dependency identification across teams.
• Maintain clear line of sight from customer commitments to sprint execution for your team.
• Surface engineering constraints to product early — don’t absorb scope silently, negotiate it explicitly.
• Build and sustain a strong engineering team by hiring well, developing talent, addressing performance gaps, and making tough decisions when required.
• Lead consistent 1:1 conversation that prioritize coaching, development, and long‑term impact.
• Build a team culture of end‑to‑end ownership: engineers who ship, monitor, and stand behind their systems in production.
• Partner with the Director on career development frameworks and internal promotion pipelines.

Required:

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years in an engineering leadership capacity managing a team.
• Hands‑on daily user of AI coding tools — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or equivalent. You use these yourself, not just advocate for them.
• Comfortable in code: you conduct meaningful PR reviews, write production code when it unblocks the team, and can challenge architecture decisions with technical depth.
• Cloud‑native engineering experience on Azure or AWS — microservices, containerization, CI/CD, IaC.
• Strong written and verbal communication — you can write a crisp engineering spec and hold your own in a cross‑functional planning session.

U.S. Citizens only

• Due to customer requirements, U.S. Citizenship is required. Ability to gain and maintain Trusted Role is required.

Location: Hybrid- Cincinnati, OH (3x/week)

Preferred Qualifications:

You are exactly who we are looking for if you:

• Experience in a FedRAMP, CMMC, HIPAA, or equivalent regulated environment — understanding of how compliance requirements land in the SDLC.
• Exostar’s primary stack: C#/.NET, Angular, Python, TypeScript, Kubernetes, Terraform.
• IAM, PKI, credentialing, or federated identity domain experience.
• Experience building or operating agentic AI workflows: MCP, multi‑tool pipelines, AI‑assisted code review or testing.
• Track record of driving AI tooling adoption at team scale — teach‑the‑trainer models, adoption measurement, coaching skeptics.
• Deep understanding Microsoft Azure PaaS (Platform‑as‑a‑Service) offerings such as App Service, Functions, and Azure SQL.
• Hands‑on, working knowledge of Java and the Spring framework is required.

Why Exostar

• AI‑native engineering org: Claude Code and Copilot are standard, not experiments. Leadership actively backs it and uses it.
• Real compliance stakes: FedRAMP Moderate, CMMC 110/110, Azure Gov multi‑tenant. Engineering decisions matter here.
• PE‑backed (Arlington Capital Partners) with the resources to invest and the urgency to execute.
• Direct line to a Director who is hands‑on, technically credible, and invested in your development.
• Mission‑driven: securing collaboration infrastructure for the Defense Industrial Base.

About Exostar

Exostar’s cloud‑based platforms create exclusive communities within the Aerospace and Defense, Life Sciences, and other highly regulated industries where members securely collaborate, share information, and operate compliantly. Within these communities we build trust. By analyzing community data, we provide insights and intelligence enabling organizations to make better, timelier decisions, mitigate risk, and operate more efficiently.

• We believe in employee development: we promote internally and provide training and educational assistance.
• We provide a fun, engaged workplace, with social and community‑building events.
• We offer comprehensive benefits and flexible time off plans.

Exostar is an Equal Opportunity Employment Employer. The company provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, disability status or genetic information. Exostar is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all persons in all facets of employment including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotion, training, benefits, transfers and working conditions.