Manager, Software Engineering - Sustaining

Job Summary

Nordson Electronic Process Systems (EPS) is seeking a motivated and skilled engineering leader to manage our Software Sustaining Engineering team. This organization complements Software New Product Development (NPD) by maintaining and improving existing software products, supporting customers, resolving product and infrastructure issues, and driving continuous improvements in software quality, reliability, and performance.

The Manager, Software Sustaining Engineering leads a global team of software and quality engineers located both within and outside the United States. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership, establish priorities, coordinate cross-functional activities, and ensure timely resolution of customer and product issues while maintaining alignment with business objectives and product roadmaps.

This role requires a strong software engineering background, excellent leadership skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with product development, technical support, manufacturing, quality, and customer-facing teams.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a global team of software engineers and quality engineers responsible for software sustaining activities.
• Establish team objectives, priorities, processes, and performance expectations to support business and customer needs.
• Drive the investigation, root cause analysis, and resolution of complex software, system, and product issues reported by internal and external customers.
• Manage the maintenance and enhancement of released software products, including defect resolution, security updates, infrastructure improvements, and reliability initiatives.
• Partner closely with Software New Product Development teams to ensure smooth product transitions, effective knowledge transfer, and sustainable product support strategies.
• Collaborate with Product Management, Applications Engineering, Service, Manufacturing, and Quality organizations to address product quality concerns and customer escalations.
• Oversee software release planning, patch releases, service packs, and maintenance updates for deployed products.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on software quality, development efficiency, test coverage, automation, and customer satisfaction.
• Establish and monitor key metrics related to product quality, sustaining workload, customer issues, and engineering effectiveness.
• Support software architecture, technical debt reduction, modernization efforts, and infrastructure improvements across multiple product platforms.
• Facilitate design reviews, code reviews, risk assessments, and corrective action activities.
• Ensure adherence to software development processes, quality standards, and regulatory requirements where applicable.
• Coordinate activities across global teams and multiple time zones to ensure effective execution and communication.
• Support strategic planning, budget development, staffing, and resource allocation for the sustaining engineering organization.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline required.

Experience:

• Minimum of 8-10 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of engineering leadership experience managing technical teams.
• Experience supporting commercial, industrial, manufacturing, or automation software products throughout their lifecycle.
• Demonstrated experience leading geographically distributed engineering teams preferred.

Preferred Skills and Abilities

Technical Skills

• Strong proficiency in C# and C++ software development.
• Experience developing software in Microsoft Windows environments.
• Solid understanding of software architecture, debugging, troubleshooting, and performance optimization.
• Experience with source code management, continuous integration, automated testing, and software release processes.
• Familiarity with software quality assurance, defect tracking, and root cause analysis methodologies.

Industry Experience (Preferred)

• Factory automation systems.
• Machine vision and inspection systems.
• Motion control systems.
• Hardware/software integration.
• Semiconductor, electronics manufacturing, or industrial equipment industries.

Leadership Competencies

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to lead and motivate cross-functional and global teams.
• Excellent organizational, planning, and project management abilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Customer-focused mindset with demonstrated success resolving complex technical issues.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

Office environment. The employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to operate computer equipment; and communicate effectively with team members, customers, and business partners. The employee may occasionally be required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms. Noise levels are typically moderate.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Travel Required

  Estimated 15% - including domestic and occasional international travel to support engineering activities, customer engagements, and cross-functional collaboration.