Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure

The Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure at EasyPost is responsible for leading the engineering team focused on the financial platform, which includes systems for billing, payments, and maintaining financial data integrity. The role demands overseeing platform stability, guiding technical decisions aligned with business needs, and coordinating cross-department efforts for real-time billing. Additionally, you will foster a strong engineering culture through mentoring and staffing, ensuring that the team delivers secure and scalable infrastructure vital for the company’s operations.

To qualify for the Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure position at EasyPost, candidates need a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, alongside a minimum of 7 years of software development experience. At least 3 years in an engineering leadership position is also necessary. A deep understanding of software design and system architecture, especially within Finance or SaaS environments, is crucial. Strong communication skills and the ability to align technical decisions with business objectives are essential for success in this role.

The Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure is pivotal in shaping the team's culture at EasyPost by promoting high trust, accountability, and collaboration. This role involves mentoring team members, conducting regular 1:1s, and creating staffing plans that emphasize personal and professional growth. By advocating for best engineering practices and maintaining a focus on team health and motivation, the manager ensures that the team remains engaged and passionate about their work and contributions.

In the Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure role at EasyPost, you will oversee projects centered around enhancing our financial platform. This encompasses developing secure and scalable billing systems, promoting effective usage tracking, and ensuring that financial data systems are compliant and reliable. You will also work on cross-departmental projects aimed at integrating real-time capabilities and delivering tools that enhance the product development lifecycle, making your contributions essential to the company's growth.

Key skills required for the Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure at EasyPost include a robust understanding of software design and system architecture, particularly in finance or SaaS contexts. Leadership skills to guide engineering teams effectively, strong relationship-building and communication abilities, and a proven capacity to manage risk while maintaining a clear focus on long-term business objectives are also crucial. Knowledge of service-oriented architectures and best practices around security and observability will further ensure success in this role.

When discussing your experience with building financial systems, emphasize projects where you played a significant role in design and implementation. Highlight your understanding of compliance requirements, challenges faced, and how you ensured data integrity and security throughout the project. It’s important to articulate the technologies you used and the outcomes achieved, as these specifics can showcase your expertise relevant to the Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure role.

Effective prioritization is crucial for the Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure role. Share your approach to assessing project urgency and importance, perhaps using a framework like the Eisenhower Matrix. Discuss how you involve your team in the planning process, allowing for transparency and collaboration, thereby ensuring that the workload is evenly distributed and aligns with individual strengths.

To foster a strong team culture, share specific strategies you implement, such as promoting open communication and trust. Discuss how you facilitate team-building activities and ensure regular check-ins to provide feedback. Highlight the importance of recognizing achievements and creating an environment where everyone feels heard and valued, which aligns with the company's culture at EasyPost.

Ensure to focus on the importance of security measures in today's digital landscape. Discuss the frameworks and best practices that you implement to safeguard financial data, such as regular audits, compliance checks, and employing secure coding techniques. Your response should also mention how you promote a culture of security awareness within your team and across the organization.

When providing an example of a challenging technical decision, detail the context around the decision, including the problem you faced and the various solutions considered. Focus on your reasoning for choosing a particular approach, the outcomes of that decision, and what you learned from the experience. This will demonstrate critical thinking and how your decision-making aligns with the objectives of the Senior Manager position at EasyPost.

Emphasize that cross-department collaboration is vital for the success of engineering leadership. Discuss how you establish strong communication channels between finance, product teams, and engineering to align goals and streamline project progression. Talk about your methods for managing stakeholder expectations and how you ensure that the technical and business sides are in sync throughout project lifecycles. This approach will resonate well with EasyPost's collaborative culture.

Mentoring junior engineers is a key aspect of your role as a leader. Share your approach to mentorship, such as setting up regular one-on-one meetings, providing constructive feedback, and crafting individualized development plans. Highlight any programs you’ve initiated that focus on skill development, and emphasize how you create an environment where junior engineers feel comfortable asking questions and seeking guidance.

Regarding high availability, share techniques you’ve implemented, such as load balancing, regular system monitoring, and failover procedures. Discuss your experience with incident response and how you ensure that the team is equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to maintain uptime, which is critical for the Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Financial Infrastructure role at EasyPost.

When answering this question, provide a scenario where you had to present a technical solution to stakeholders who may not have a technical background. Describe how you communicated the benefits and potential risks clearly and effectively, ensuring that they understood your proposal. Highlight how your interpersonal skills helped you gain buy-in, reflecting your ability to influence as a Senior Manager.

Keeping updated with trends in financial technology is crucial for a Senior Manager. Share your strategies for staying informed, such as attending industry conferences, participating in webinars, or following thought leaders in the space. Discuss your practice of reading relevant publications and how you integrate new knowledge into your team's strategies, ensuring that EasyPost remains at the forefront of shipping technology.