Senior Software Engineering Manager

Cars.com LLC; United States; Remote; USD 154,200 - 192,750; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Performance-based bonuses

New-hire stipend

Generous PTO

Job summary

Cars.com LLC is seeking a Senior Engineering Manager for a remote position to lead the transformation of core services driving the Cars Commerce platform. In this role, you will guide an autonomous team and influence backend architecture, front-end strategy, and technical direction.

The ideal candidate has over 10 years of software engineering experience, strong leadership skills, and a background in cloud-native architectures. A comprehensive benefits package and performance-based bonuses are offered.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering with 5+ years leading engineers.
• Strong background in cloud-native architectures like AWS, Docker, Kubernetes.
• Proven ability to plan and forecast capacity using metrics.
• Skilled at coaching senior engineers and fostering a high-trust culture.

Responsibilities

• Direct teams that own backend services and front-end applications.
• Partner with Product Managers to translate business goals into milestones.
• Provide feedback and growth plans for senior engineers.
• Own SLOs, incident command, and ensure security compliance.

Skills

Software engineering

Leadership

Cloud-native architectures

API-driven systems

Incident management

Job description

About the Role

Senior Engineering Manager – Remote (May require onsite interviews). Lead the transformation of core services that power the Cars Commerce platform, delivering customer‑facing tooling across APIs and web applications. Guide an autonomous team responsible for high‑throughput, API‑first backend services and dealer‑focused front‑end experiences. Work closely with Product leadership, turn business goals into measurable roadmaps, champion engineering best practices (observability, security, modular architecture, on‑call health), and act as incident commander for your domain. Influence backend platform architecture, front‑end component strategy, cross‑domain integrations, and the broader technical direction of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead full‑stack delivery: Direct one or more teams that own backend services and front‑end applications; set objectives, groom sprints, and enforce high standards in Jira hygiene and velocity.
• Drive product road‑mapping & prioritization: Partner with Product Managers to translate business goals into measurable milestones, balancing new features with technical debt and platform investments.
• Coach, develop, and scale talent: Provide frequent 1–1s, actionable feedback, growth plans for senior engineers and leads; mentor emerging managers as the organization expands.
• Steward production reliability & security: Own SLOs, on‑call rotations, incident command, and post‑mortem learning; ensure adherence to security and compliance guidelines.
• Operational excellence through metrics: Use data‑driven approaches to monitor DORA, change‑failure rate, incident MTTR, and capital‑expenditure accuracy; initiate improvement plans when trends deviate.
• Architectural guidance & modernization: Review designs for scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency; guide reusable component strategy and promote modern CI/CD, observability, and DevSecOps practices.
• Cross‑functional influence: Coordinate integrations with adjacent domains, negotiate API contracts, and represent Core Services in company‑wide program reviews.

Qualifications

• Experience: 10+ years in software engineering with 5+ years leading engineers; proven track record shipping and operating business‑critical backend services and front‑end web applications at scale.
• Technical Depth: Strong background in cloud‑native architectures (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes/EKS); expertise in event‑driven, API‑driven systems; comfortable reviewing designs for scalability, resilience, and cost.
• Delivery Mastery: Demonstrated ability to plan, forecast capacity, and use Jira, DORA, and DX metrics to drive predictable outcomes and continuous improvement.
• Leadership & People Development: Skilled at coaching senior and staff engineers, providing feedback, resolving conflict, and fostering an inclusive, high‑trust culture aligned with company values.
• Product Partnership: Comfortable co‑authoring OKRs, making scope/risk trade‑offs, and communicating decisions to executives and cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Security & Reliability Mindset: Familiar with incident management best practices, observability stacks (DataDog), vulnerability remediation, and DevSecOps pipelines.
• Communication Excellence: Able to tailor technical and non‑technical narratives to engineers, product managers, and executives alike.
• Bonus Points: Experience with Elixir/Phoenix and/or TypeScript/Deno/Next.js.

Benefits & Compensation

• Base salary range: $154,200–$192,750
• Performance‑based bonus opportunities and equity programs (depending on level and role)
• Comprehensive benefits package: Medical, Dental, Vision, and Health Plans
• New‑hire stipend for home‑office set‑up
• Generous PTO, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, and Recharge Day
• Paid holidays and paid time‑off for learning and growth

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.