Manager, Software Engineering - Full Stack Customer Applications

Early Warning (Zelle); Scottsdale (AZ); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Early Warning is seeking a Software Engineering Manager to lead a full-stack engineering team building and supporting customer-facing web applications and backend services. You will drive technical direction, architecture decisions, and governance for cloud migrations and AI-assisted tooling adoption.

The role focuses on hands-on leadership, modern front-end engineering with React/TypeScript, secure APIs, and end-to-end delivery with Cloud/SRE practices.

Qualifications

• Experience leading full-stack engineering teams.
• Proven ability to design secure, scalable backend services and APIs.
• Strong background migrating applications to cloud (AWS).

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction of the team's applications including UI, backend services, integrations and data layers.
• Set front-end standards using React with TypeScript and shared component libraries.
• Guide secure, scalable backend services and APIs (REST and event-driven) with third-party integrations.
• Define integration approaches for identity and CRM platforms with loosely coupled designs.
• Make architecture decisions with ADRs, addressing build-versus-buy trade-offs.
• Review designs and code; stay hands-on to unblock engineers.
• Lead migration of applications to the cloud (AWS) including assessment, cutover and decommissioning.
• Define migration approach per workload balancing cost and impact.
• Design cloud-native architectures with IaC, containers, and multi-AZ resilience.
• Establish cloud operations: observability, FinOps, and shared security controls.
• Lead AI-assisted engineering adoption (Claude Code) including guardrails and governance.
• Coach engineers on prompts and workflows; share best practices across teams.
• Measure AI’s impact on delivery speed and quality, iterating practices accordingly.
• Translate product goals into a technical plan in collaboration with Product and UX.
• Drive CI/CD, testing automation, and release readiness.

Job description

At Early Warning, we've powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze®, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Early Warning follows a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose

The Software Engineering Manager leads a full-stack engineering team that designs, builds, delivers and supports customer-facing web applications and the backend services behind them. The role has a strong user-interface focus, with hands-on leadership of modern front-end engineering, and also owns the APIs, integrations and data flows that make the experience work end to end. The Manager provides technical leadership and architecture guidance, is accountable for delivery, quality, security and production support, and leads the team's migration of applications and services to the cloud and its adoption of AI-assisted engineering tools such as Claude Code. The Manager is also responsible for the career planning, mentoring, goal setting and performance management of the team. The Manager also contributes to the continued maturity of the Agile SDLC within Software Engineering.

Essential Functions

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Own the technical direction of the team's applications across the user interface, backend services, integrations and data layers.
• Set front-end engineering standards for a modern component-based framework (e.g., React with TypeScript), including shared component libraries, performance, accessibility and testing.
• Guide the design of secure, scalable backend services and APIs (REST and event-driven) and their integration with internal systems and third-party platforms.
• Define integration approaches for enterprise identity (single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, role- and attribute-based access) and for customer-relationship / service-management platforms, using standards-based, loosely coupled designs so vendors can be replaced with limited rework.
• Make and document key architecture decisions (e.g., through Architecture Decision Records), including build-versus-buy and build-versus-configure trade-offs.
• Review designs and code, and stay hands-on enough to unblock engineers and maintain technical credibility.

Cloud Migration & Modernization

• Lead the team's migration of applications, services and data from on-premises or legacy hosting to the cloud (AWS preferred), from assessment and target architecture through cutover and decommissioning.
• Define migration approach and sequencing for each workload (rehost, replatform, refactor, retire), balancing customer impact, risk, cost and delivery commitments.
• Design cloud-native, resilient and cost-aware architectures, including infrastructure as code, containerization or serverless where appropriate, autoscaling, and multi-AZ availability and disaster recovery.
• Plan and execute data migration, integration cutover and rollback strategies with minimal customer disruption, and validate performance, security and compliance before and after each cutover.
• Establish cloud operations practices for the team, including observability, cost monitoring (FinOps), and shared-responsibility security controls.

AI-Assisted Engineering (Claude Code Adoption)

• Lead adoption of AI coding assistants, including Claude Code, across the team's development lifecycle: design exploration, code and test generation, code review, refactoring, documentation, and migration/modernization work.
• Define team standards and guardrails for responsible use, including human review of all AI-generated changes, no secrets, credentials or Restricted/Confidential data in prompts or generated code, adherence to dependency and vulnerability policies, and clear attribution of AI-assisted commits for audit.
• Coach engineers on effective prompting, project context files, and agentic workflows; share working patterns across the team and the broader Software Engineering organization.
• Measure and report the impact of AI-assisted engineering on delivery speed, quality and cost, and adjust practices based on results.

Delivery & Operations

• Lead the team to meet project commitments, surfacing risks, dependencies and trade-offs early.
• Translate product goals and customer outcomes into a sequenced technical plan in partnership with Product and UX.
• Direct the identification, enhancement and automation of testing processes (unit, integration, end-to-end, performance); enforce test policies and quality control standards across the development lifecycle.
• Drive CI/CD, release readiness and o