Section Manager - Development Team (Kansas City)

Burns & McDonnell; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Burns & McDonnell is seeking a Development Lead Section Manager to build software and lead a US development pod with offshore counterparts. This hands-on leader writes production code, drives design, and ensures quality, pace, and health of the team's deliverables.

The role sits between Senior Developer and department manager, maintaining a coding focus while embracing leadership accountability. Responsibilities include end-to-end ownership, mentoring, hiring input, and coordinating offshore

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology or related field; 5+ years of related professional experience.
• Previous leadership or management experience is preferable.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; ability to present complex information to all levels.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end design, implementation, testing, and maintenance of significant components or applications.
• Lead code reviews and enforce coding standards across US and offshore teams.
• Manage a US development pod, including performance reviews and career development.
• Onboard new team members and drive timely contribution.
• Coordinate with offshore delivery and establish working rhythms across time zones.
• Drive planning and execution across the software development lifecycle and maintain delivery velocity.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Project management

Influence & change management

Collaboration & problem-solving

Distributed/offshore team experience

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/IT or related

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Description

The Development Lead Section Manager is a hands-on technical leader who builds software and leads the team that builds it. This role owns delivery for a product or platform through a US development pod working alongside offshore delivery counterparts, and carries direct people-management responsibility for the US team members. The Development Lead sets the technical bar through their own work, translates architectural direction into working software, and is accountable for the quality, pace, and health of what the team ships.

A Brief Overview

This role sits between Senior Software Developer and department manager. It is the first step where technical excellence is paired with formal leadership accountability, and it remains a coding role.

What You Will Do:

Build and Lead Technically

• Write production code as a regular part of the job, setting the standard for quality, testing, and documentation through personal contribution.
• Own end-to-end design, implementation, testing, and maintenance of significant components or entire applications.
• Lead code review, define and enforce coding standards, and drive consistency across US and offshore contributions.
• Conduct in-depth analysis of software defects, identify root causes, and engineer durable fixes that improve application stability and performance.
• Contribute to technical architecture and design decisions for assigned products, partnering with solution architects who hold final approval, and document decisions and trade-offs clearly.
• Evaluate emerging tools, frameworks, and practices, and pilot those that measurably improve delivery.

Lead the Team

• Manage a US development pod as direct reports, including performance reviews, career development, goal setting, and day-to-day coaching.
• Assign and balance work across the team based on skill, growth needs, and delivery priority.
• Mentor developers on technical craft, problem decomposition, and professional growth, building bench strength beneath the role.
• Participate in hiring: define role needs, interview candidates, and make hiring recommendations.
• Onboard new team members and reduce time to productive contribution.

Direct Offshore Delivery

• Serve as the technical point of accountability for offshore delivery counterparts contributing to the same product or platform.
• Break work into clear, well-specified units suitable for distributed execution, and define acceptance criteria that make quality verifiable.
• Review offshore output against standards, provide direct and timely feedback, and elevate persistent quality or capacity issues to the department manager.
• Establish working rhythms across time zones that keep the combined team aligned without requiring constant synchronous overlap.

Deliver

• Drive planning and execution across the software development lifecycle for assigned work, including estimation, sequencing, and release readiness.
• Apply agile practices to keep delivery iterative and adaptable, and refine team workflows to shorten cycle time and reduce rework.
• Track progress against commitments, surface risks early with proposed options, and report status and technical insight to the department manager and project leadership.
• Participate in client and business stakeholder meetings led by the project manager or department manager, explaining technical approach, constraints, and trade-offs in terms the audience can act on.
• Apply security, compliance, and DevOps practices to work delivered by the team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology or related degree and 5 years related professional experience required.
• Previous leadership and/or management experience is preferable.
• Must demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to clearly and effectively present complex information to all levels of employees, management, and clients.
• Position requires the ability to thoughtfully and positively influence, lead, and manage change.
• Must possess strong project management skills and a strategic perspective.
• Must be expert in the use of computer software (i.e., Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Strongly Preferred Qualifications:

Technical

• Demonstrated ability to design, build, and ship production software at enterprise scale.
• Working knowledge of cloud platforms and modern application development frameworks.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and code quality practices.
• Understanding of system architecture patterns, integration approaches, and performance optimization.
• Familiarity with security standards and compliance requirements applicable to enterprise software delivery.
• Experience applying agile methodologies in a delivery environment.

Leadership and Communication

• Demonstrated ability to mentor developers and raise the technical capability of a team.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Strong facilitation, collaboration, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work methodically and analytically in a quantitative problem-solving environment.
• Demonstrated critical thinking and sound judgment under delivery pressure.
• Experience working with or leading distributed or offshore development teams.
• Experience contributing to architecture reviews or authoring architecture decision records.
• Experience in a consulting or client-facing delivery environment.
• Ability to obtain applicable certifications.

This job posting will remain open a minimum of 72 hours and on an ongoing basis until filled.

EEO/Disabled/Veterans

Job Engineering

Primary Location US-MO-Kansas City

Other Locations United States

Schedule: Full-time

Travel: Yes, 25 % of the Time