Tech Lead/Manager, Software Engineering

Cengage Group; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 101,900 - 132,450; Full time

Job summary

A global educational technology company is seeking a Software Engineering Manager in Chicago. The role involves leading a team to innovate and optimize content delivery using modern technologies and AI. Candidates should possess a degree in Computer Science and have at least 3 years of technology leadership experience. Key responsibilities include enhancing workflows, collaborating with product teams, and driving project success using agile methodologies. Comprehensive compensation packages and potential bonuses are offered.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to lead a team and drive innovative solutions.
• Hands-on experience with generative AI technologies and toolkits.
• Strong experience in software engineering and product delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach a high-performing engineering team.
• Optimize content creation workflows using modern platforms.
• Collaborate on product backlogs, estimates, and budgets.

Skills

Leadership

AI concepts

API design

Agile delivery

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

3+ years of technology leadership experience

Tools

Jira

Azure DevOps

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

What you’ll do here:

As the Software Engineering Manager, you will lead a team dedicated to creating tools to deliver world‑class content for our Cengage Learning Platforms (CLP). Working closely with internal partners, you will define and implement an innovative, AI‑first roadmap ensuring content quality and accessibility remain a primary focus.

Following the Product Operating Model (POM), you will collaborate with product and design teams in your role as technical lead. Together you will focus on improving customer outcomes through frequent stakeholder engagements and data‑driven insights.

• Lead, coach, and grow a high‑performing engineering team focused on quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Reimagine and optimize content creation workflows using modern platforms, automation, and generative AI.

• Engage in driving POM Discovery activities including continuous customer engagement, both internal and external, to derive solutions that meet end user, company, and technology goals.

• Track quality and efficiency improvements through well instrumented SDLC tools and report progress to executive teams.

• Balance technical debt and other maintenance activities alongside new feature development within each sprint.

• Work with partners and customers to establish and handle product backlogs, product estimates and budgets.

• Stay current on emerging technologies and industry trends to inject continuous innovation into our product roadmaps.

Skills You Will Need Here:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and recent, relevant work experience.

• 3+ years of technology leadership experience, including developing technology strategies, fostering innovation, and leading globally distributed teams.

Generative AI & Emerging Technologies

• Working knowledge of AI concepts, including machine learning, LLMs, multimodal models, prompt engineering, AI agents, RAG, and vector databases.

• Hands‑on experience integrating or experimenting with commercial and open‑source GenAI technologies and toolkits (e.g., coding assistants, OpenAI, Hugging Face, LangChain).

Architecture & Cloud Platforms

• Experience in modernizing legacy or monolithic architectures, migrating systems to modular, cloud‑native platforms, and implementing hybrid cloud strategies.

• Ability to design and develop APIs that integrate legacy systems with modern solutions.

• Comfortable designing and deploying solutions on AWS, GCP, or Azure, including containers, serverless, and cloud storage/compute services.

Software Engineering & Product Delivery

• Proven ability to build secure, resilient, scalable, high‑availability enterprise systems for global user bases.

• Strong experience with agile delivery (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and tooling such as Jira or Azure DevOps.

• Demonstrated success organizing teams and delivery around a Product Operating Model.

Collaboration & Communication

• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills in distributed, remote‑first environments.

• Ability to clearly communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executives.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here (https://www.cengagegroup.com/news/perspectives/2024/cengage-group-total-rewards-philosophy/) to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

In this position, you will be eligible to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program. This position’s bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.

10% Annual: Individual Target

$101,900.00 - $132,450.00 USD

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial, or local laws.