Software Development Manager

Caltech; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 144,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Generous paid time off

Retirement savings plans

Job summary

Caltech's Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) software team seeks a Software Development Manager to provide both technical and people leadership for a ~10-person group. You will plan, staff, set priorities, and ensure delivery of critical software across several workstreams, coordinating with scientists, engineers, faculty, and contractors.

Travel to Caltech, OVRO and other project locations as needed; promote best practices, CI/CD, and agile processes; help grow the software organization for the DSA's

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS or related field required.
• Eight years of professional software engineering experience with team leadership.
• Experience with C/C++ and Python in software development.
• Experience with Agile methodologies and software lifecycle management.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership for a software team of ~10 engineers.
• Plan, prioritize, and drive software development across multiple workstreams.
• Guide architecture, standards, and best practices across distributed teams.
• Oversee agile processes, configuration management, testing, and CI/CD.
• Collaborate with project leadership, scientists, engineers, and contractors.
• Support staffing, budgeting, and long-term resource planning.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Leadership / Mentoring

Agile methodologies

Software architecture

Distributed teams

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

DevOps practices

Job description

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community.

The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) is a next-generation radio telescope being developed for deployment in a radio-quiet valley in Nevada. Comprising 1,650 dishes, the DSA is designed to survey the sky at unprecedented speed and sensitivity. During its five-year initial survey, the DSA is expected to detect more than one billion astronomical sources, produce images and transient alerts in real time, and rapidly deliver science-ready data products to the astronomical community. The DSA brings together scientists, engineers, technical experts, and project professionals across a large, multidisciplinary collaboration. As the project advances toward construction and operations, the DSA offers an opportunity to contribute to the development and delivery of a major new facility at the forefront of radio astronomy.

Job Summary

The Software Development Manager is responsible for providing both technical and personnel leadership for the DSA software organization. This position manages a team of approximately ten software engineers and developers responsible for designing, developing, integrating, and supporting software systems across multiple project workstreams.

The successful candidate will lead software planning and execution, oversee staffing and resource allocation, establish development priorities, and ensure delivery of software critical to project milestones. Working closely with project leadership, scientists, engineers, subsystem managers, collaborators, and contractors, the Software Engineering Manager will guide software architecture, promote engineering best practices, foster collaboration across distributed teams, and support the long-term growth and effectiveness of the software organization.

• Provide direct management and leadership for a team of approximately ten software engineers and developers supporting the DSA project.
• Manage day-to-day personnel activities, including work prioritization, workload balancing, mentoring, coaching, performance management, professional development, and hiring support.
• Lead planning, coordination, and execution of software development activities across multiple technical workstreams to ensure timely achievement of project milestones.
• Establish software development priorities, monitor schedules and deliverables, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies.
• Serve as the primary software management lead, partnering with project leadership, faculty, scientists, subsystem managers, engineers, collaborators, and contractors to align software development with project objectives.
• Guide software architecture, technical direction, development standards, and engineering best practices across a geographically distributed software organization.
• Oversee implementation of agile software development processes, configuration management, code quality practices, testing strategies, and continuous integration/deployment methodologies.
• Participate in strategic planning, organizational development, staffing decisions, budgeting discussions, and long-term software resource planning.
• Coordinate software development activities performed by internal staff, external collaborators, and contractors to ensure integration and consistency across the project.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing engineering culture focused on innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Serve as a technical resource and advisor to DSA- subsystem leads regarding software architecture, design, implementation strategies, and project integration.
• Travel to Caltech, OVRO, and other project locations as required to support collaboration with faculty, engineering staff, and project partners.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related discipline in science, engineering, mathematics, or a closely related technical field.
• Eight years of progressively responsible professional software engineering experience, including demonstrated experience leading technical teams or software development projects.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or managing software engineers or multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Demonstrated expertise in software development using C/C++ and Python.
• Experience leading software development using modern engineering methodologies, including Agile practices and collaborative software lifecycle management.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with scientists, engineers, technical staff, and project leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience managing software teams supporting large-scale scientific, research, or engineering projects.
• Experience working within distributed or multi-institutional scientific collaborations.
• Experience leading software architecture and technical strategy for complex software systems.
• Knowledge of high-performance computing, distributed systems, GPU computing, or large-scale data processing environments.
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD, software quality assurance, and software process improvement.
• Professional certification in Software Architecture, Solutions Architecture, Agile Project Management, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated success building and developing high-performing technical teams.

Required Documents

• Resume.

Hiring Range

$143,900 - $180,000
The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training.
As one of the largest employers in Pasadena, CA, Caltech is committed to providing comprehensive benefits to eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Our benefits package includes competitive compensation, health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plans, generous paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick time, parental leave, bereavement, etc.), tuition reimbursement, and more. Non-benefit eligible employees will have access to some benefits such as onsite counseling and sick time. Learn more about our benefits and staff perks .

EEO Statement

Caltech is an equal opportunity employer and, as a federal contractor, takes affirmative action to employ qualified individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Disability Accommodations

Caltech complies with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We consider reasonable accommodation measures that may be necessary for eligible applicants and employees to perform the essential functions of a position.

If you would like to request an accommodation to complete this application, interview, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please contact Caltech Recruiting at [e-mail] .

Additionally, if you do not meet the basic qualifications of a role but believe you can perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation, please contact Caltech Recruiting at [e-mail] .