First Mode is seeking a leader to join our software team and manage the development of our clean energy technologies. Applicants from all industries are welcome, with particular emphasis in software development in complex, multidisciplinary systems.

You will be responsible for the software that powers our clean energy product line, leveraging modern tools, techniques, and best practices to craft solutions to real-world problems. Our software projects span a wide range from embedded systems to large-scale distributed computing, but usually involve interaction with a physical system. You will work alongside -- and learn from! -- engineers of mixed disciplines as you think outside the boundaries of your own code to make a major impact on the systems we design and implement.

A successful leader in this role will thrive in an inventive environment and be excited by researching and teaching themselves new technologies and skills. Your team will be hands-on with hardware and be learning about the clean energy space in the lab, in the field, and in building the software to operate our vehicle fleets.

As a manager, you will be responsible for leading, growing, sustaining a product-focused team. You will drive team-building and strategic planning, interfacing with internal customers and software technical leadership to develop and execute our product roadmap. You will own end-to-end delivery, ensuring quality and operational excellence as we deliver outstanding products to customers in the field. Our products include embedded software, testbed software and hardware-in-the-loop simulation, and services for over-the-air updates and remote tele-commanding of our fleets. As we continue to grow, we are expanding our product portfolio and expect to integrate new products on a regular basis.

Position Responsibilities

• Grow your team, driving interviewing and hiring. Mentor and teach team members in engineering best practices via coaching and design/code review. Work with team members to facilitate career growth.
• Own and manage the end-to-end development roadmap for software team products. Work with customer teams and internal team leads to create development plans and prioritize tasks.
• Lead software development within your team, planning/executing sprints and releases. Solve problems and eliminate roadblocks. Utilize metrics and feedback to establish and improve a high performing team.
• Drive operational excellence within your team, creating mechanisms to deliver high quality software products efficiently via automated testing and tooling.
• Work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic team environment.
• Collaborate with hardware, controls, and systems engineers in development, integration, and debugging.
• Represent software as a stakeholder within a multi-disciplinary team, from system formulation through design, build and test.
• Travel internationally to represent First Mode to its customers, vendors, and partners.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum three years of experience in engineering leadership and/or software team management.
• Minimum five years of experience with software engineering in a language such as C++, Rust, Go, or Java.
• Experience with system-level design and software architecture.
• Experience with new product development, working across disciplines to capture use cases and requirements, developing and executing software development roadmaps.
• Experience driving software operational excellence, deploying software products to customers and providing support in a production environment.
• Experience completing one or more complete product life cycles.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building software services within AWS or similar cloud technologies.
• Experience in a relevant domain, such as robotics, automotive, aerospace, video games, networking, medical, or other embedded systems.
• Experience with principles, best practices, and technologies for software security.
• Possess a diverse experience base, with comprehension of low and high-level software.
• Experience in testing and validation approaches for embedded systems.
• A knack for thinking about how the parts of a system work together.
• Have gleaned insights from interesting projects (school, personal, or professional) and can tell a great story about the lessons they learned.

Additional Requirements

• Experience with the development and execution of agile software and test plans.
• Experience with software quality metrics (path coverage, static analysis, etc.)
• Experience with leading a team of embedded software engineers to deliver to higher-level goals.
• Experience in real-time embedded systems, mission-critical software, or distributed system software.
• Experience with high-reliability safety-critical software development, deployment, and operation in resource-constrained environments.
• Ability to write and speak clearly about technical subject matter.

Location

• This position will be located at First Mode’s headquarters in Seattle, WA and will be required to work in office >60% of working hours

Total Rewards

Base Salary Range: $141,000 - $211,500

      Software Engineering Manager I: $141,00 - $191,000

      Software Engineering Manager II: $156,500 - $211,500

Benefits & Perks

• Annual bonus incentive
• Equity-based awards
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
• 401(k) retirement account with a 3% employer contribution from the start of employment
• Flexible PTO with 12 weeks of supplementary paid parental leave
• Commuter benefits (parking & public transportation)
• A culture that encourages professional growth with learning and development reimbursements
• Open and collaborative workspace with free office snacks and lunches
• Hybrid work model

#LI-Hybrid