Job Description:
Manager Software Engineering
(Draper Utah, In-Office)
ABOUT UPBOUND
Upbound Group (NASDAQ: UPBD) is a technology and data-driven leader in accessible financial solutions, serving millions of consumers through trusted brands including Acima®, Brigit, and Rent-A-Center®. More than just a financial services company, we're a purpose-driven team focused on expanding financial inclusion, creating opportunity, and helping people achieve what's possible. Our mission is simple: leverage innovation, technology, and talent to build a better future and elevate financial opportunity for all.
ABOUT THE POSITION
The Manager, Software Engineering is a key engineering leader who partners closely with Product Management and cross‑functional stakeholders to deliver customer‑focused software solutions and measurable business outcomes. This role owns engineering execution for product initiatives, translating product strategy and priorities into clear, measurable delivery plans while providing strong technical direction, ensuring quality and non‑functional requirements, and driving release readiness and production excellence. The Engineering Manager leads cross‑team collaboration to balance speed, quality, and sustainability, continuously improving outcomes based on product and operational metrics. As the direct manager of engineers, this role hires and develops talent, provides ongoing coaching and performance feedback, supports career growth, and builds a high‑performing, product‑driven engineering team.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Engineering governance, standards, and operating model
- Own engineering governance execution for the team/program ensuring goals, scope, boundaries, and funding guardrails are translated into actionable engineering plans and enforced consistently.
- Drive definition and adoption of engineering standards and processes across the delivery lifecycle, partnering with technical leadership and architecture stakeholders to ensure consistent ways of working.
- Take accountability for engineering quality operating practices by ensuring the right quality standards/processes are in place and followed (including quality collaboration with QA and Scrum roles).
Capacity, staffing, and delivery planning
- Lead staffing and capacity planning to ensure teams are appropriately resourced to meet delivery commitments.
- Take accountability for delivery planning—including estimation, milestones, sprint plans, and dependency plans—ensuring plans are achievable, sequenced, and aligned to commitments.
Agile execution leadership (planning through delivery
- Own backlog health and readiness by leading backlog grooming outcomes and ensuring the team is prepared for predictable delivery.
- Enable and reinforce agile ceremonies and team execution rhythm, partnering closely with the Scrum Master while ensuring ceremonies produce decisions, clarity, and forward progress.
- Take accountability for refinement progression and delivery lifecycle execution, ensuring work moves effectively from refinement levels through execution with appropriate rigor and stakeholder engagement.
Technical leadership and solution accountability
- Own the solution approach at the team level, ensuring the chosen approach meets business outcomes and aligns with architectural direction and constraints.
- Take accountability for detailed technical direction, ensuring engineers/tech leads have clear direction, decisions are made in a timely way, and implementation choices support long-term maintainability.
- Lead technology selection within established guardrails (frameworks/libraries/services), ensuring choices are pragmatic, supportable, and aligned with platform/enterprise constraints.
- Own day-to-day integration contract and API design leadership, ensuring interfaces are robust, consistent, and coordinated with downstream/upstream partners.
Non-functional requirements, quality, and release readiness
- Take accountability for non-functional requirements (performance, resiliency, observability), ensuring NFRs are defined, implemented, and validated as part of delivery—not treated as an afterthought.
- Own test strategy and quality gates in partnership with QA, ensuring quality expectations are clear, and releases meet defined criteria.
- Own release planning and readiness orchestration, coordinating across engineering, QA, and delivery roles to ensure releases are planned, validated, and executed safely.
- Take accountability for go-live decisions, ensuring the organization has the necessary confidence, validation, and readiness signals before production deployment.
Production excellence and continuous improvement
- Own production incident execution leadership, ensuring incident response is effective, coordinated, and results in durable corrective actions.
- Take accountability for post-launch outcomes by driving KPI reviews, ensuring delivery meets expected results, and owning a sustainable technical debt paydown plan.
Leadership for the team
- Lead, coach, and develop team members to drive high performance, engagement, and continuous growth.
- Communicate clearly and effectively with stakeholders, actively listening to build alignment, trust, and shared understanding.
- Foster a culture of trust, inclusion, and accountability by modeling integrity, empathy, and professionalism.
- Build strong, collaborative relationships across teams and functions to achieve shared business outcomes.
- Manage conflict and difficult conversations constructively, balancing people needs with business priorities.
- Lead teams through change by providing clarity, adaptability, and support during periods of ambiguity.
- Set clear goals and expectations, ensuring accountability for results while empowering ownership and decision-making.
- Connect team efforts to broader organizational purpose, values, and customer impact.
SKILLS & COMPETENCIES
- 8+ years of demonstrated experience leading in an engineering or technology capacity.
- Considerable experience mentoring and guiding software developers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
- Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives with strong ownership, urgency, and a bias for execution.
COMPENSATION/BENEFITS
- Full health benefits-Medical/Dental/Vision
- DTO (discretionary time off)
- Health savings account (HSA) with company contribution
- College tuition reimbursement program (STEM degrees)
- Unlimited use of LinkedIn Learning
SPONSORSHIP
Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.
Upbound Group is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Upbound Group is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.