Digital Engineering Manager

An Engineering Manager in the Acquisition Portfolio leads a team of 5-8 full-stack engineers, bridging technical expertise and product partnerships. The day involves being a hands-on technical partner to product management and tech leads, overseeing delivery, and maintaining hands-on technical understanding. This includes actively guiding architecture, code quality, and system design decisions to ensure scalable, high-quality solutions aligned with business objectives.

Overall Tasks and Responsibilities

Overall, the role requires providing strategic direction across teams, establishing operating practices, priorities, and metrics aligned with organizational goals. The manager interprets and applies company-wide policies within the context of engineering delivery, driving effective execution and continuous improvement. They collaborate closely with Product, business leaders, and senior stakeholders to translate complex compensation and advisor needs into well-designed technical solutions. Additionally, the manager leads technical discussions and forums that shape direction, ensure clarity, and support the delivery of business and technology outcomes. The team maintains and builds highly integrated products and experiences, requiring cross-functional collaboration across Thrivent.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Designing Solutions

• Review technical solution design and architecture and provide guidance and direction.
• Take part in system design and architecture conversations with the team to land approaches to deliver solutions.
• Review technical solution and supports the execution of the solution

Developing Software

• Has Developed software.   Can read code and stays up to date on best practices.
• Ensure Code reviews are completed - Problem solving and analytical skills

Learning and applying new techniques

• Promotes and empowers sharing ideas, best practices, etc. They need to make space so teams can take time for these activities.
• Anticipates and analyzes trends in technology and assesses the impact of emerging technologies on the business

Collaborating within team

• Supports the team agile practices and learning events / trainings
• Helps break down barriers for the team
• Engages in sprint demos; Understands the desired and actual outcomes as well as the technology delivered by the team
• Partner with Product Manager on Initiatives/ Features/ Epics and provides clarity on desired outcomes as well as technical expertise.
• Collaborates with Product manager for strategies, operating plans, targets and measures for product groups 
• Creating a positive team environment where individuals have psychological safety and work collaboratively while understanding, respecting, challenging and appreciating each other’s ideas

Collaborating across teams

• Supports and empowers teams to broker solutions across products
• Understands how the product integrates with other products and ensures consistency in approach to work towards a common goal / outcome.
• Builds strong working relationships with peers across teams
• Proactively identifies cross team challenges and works to empower teams in solve collaboratively

Collaborating across the organization

• Align your team with the priorities of the company and the technology organization for a given product area

Setting product/platform technology strategy

• Participates in setting the product and platform technology vision, strategies, initiatives, roadmaps , objectives and alignments
• Represents the business value of technology upgrades, etc. and influences prioritization in the product roadmap
• Empowers the team to select the right tool and platforms for the given product area.

Defining Engineering standards/patterns

• Collaborating with Engineers to ensure Engineering practices and be an advocate to bring the engineering disciplines.
• Promoting engineering practices and continuous improvement such as develops and observability
• Contributes to the creation of enterprise frameworks and patterns

DevOps

• Define and supports the development Lifecyle processes
• Supports the team and removes barriers to resolving production incidents/problems
• DevOps continuously evaluated through observability, monitoring and alerting
• Understands the health of technology products and promotes prioritization of work to maintain and continuously improve
• Serve as an escalation point in product level support for ongoing maintenance and production issues 

Selecting & Managing Technology Vendors

• Be an advocate to the team to define criteria’s for selecting the right platform/technology
• Guides the team to build consensus on an approach and driving a build vs buy decision with the team. In a buy decision, works with the team to decide on criteria and vendor selection.
• Execute or manage the overall technology solutions, platforms for the product groups and associated vendor relationships.

Coaching Engineers

• Holding regular 1:1s with team members and team meeting,
• Provides constructive feedback, guidance and coaching to help engineers grow their skills and experience.
• Provides career planning advice to engineers and creates development plans to help them achieve their career goals which leverages their skills and capabilities and provides them with learning opportunities.

Recruiting/building talent

• Leads the process of selecting and engaging the right consulting partners
• Planning in advance for future people needs for the product groups, collaborate with the other teams on the recruitment process
• Recruits, develops, and sustains a high-performing team while promoting a culture of shared accountability, operational excellence, and partnership across the organization.
• Models Thrivent’s leadership competencies – courage, collaboration, and commitment by demonstrating resiliency, working together to make the best decisions, and holding yourself and others accountable.  ​
• Supports and/or develops an environment in which Thrivent employees and colleagues are focused on continuous improvement, exceptional employee engagement, and an unwavering commitment to our clients.  Shapes and/or supports a culture that represents the Thrivent purpose, promise and values, ensuring that Thrivent’s trust and reputation remain strong with its clients.  
• Manage a team of direct and indirect staff 

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QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS:  

 Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or other technical field or equivalent work experience 
• 8+ years of progressively responsible positions in Information Technology including 5+ years’ experience in IT discipline, e.g., customer relationship management, portfolio strategy and roadmap development. 
• 3+ years of leadership experience in all aspects of a specific IT discipline, e.g. IT/LOB customer relationship management, portfolio strategy and/or demand management. 
• 3+ years’ management/supervisory experience in specific IT functional area discipline, e.g. applications development or equivalent skills leading major technical projects with accountability for enforcing talent management needs and performance standards. 
• Demonstrated leadership and experience managing multidiscipline, high-performance work teams. 
• Strong competency in project management and execution of multiple or large projects. 
• Experience working with customers to develop solutions to complex business problems. 
• Proven ability to communicate effectively with internal/external stakeholders to support business initiatives. 
• Proven ability to function in an environment which requires flexibility, good judgment and intelligent decision making, often based on limited information and/or extreme conditions. 
• Ability to formulate, implement and evaluate plans, programs and procedures applicable to customer relationship and demand management. 

 Preferred: 

• MBA 
• Financial Services industry experience 
• Experience in IT planning and business relationship management 
• Experience working in a matrix management organization 
• Experience with product development and management 

Pay TransparencyThrivent’s long-term growth depends on attracting, rewarding, and retaining people who are committed to helping others thrive with purpose. We accomplish this by offering a wide variety of market competitive compensation programs to attract, reward, and retain top talent. The applicable salary or hourly wage range for this full-time role is $139,455.00 - $188,676.00 per year, which factors in various geographic regions. The base pay actually offered will be determined by a variety of factors including, but not limited to, location, relevant experience, skills, and knowledge, business needs, market demand, and other factors Thrivent deems important.Thrivent is unique in our commitment to helping people to be wise with money and live balanced and generous lives. That extends to our benefits.The following benefits may be offered: various bonuses (including, for example, annual or long-term incentives); medical, dental, and vision insurance; health savings account; flexible spending account; 401k; pension; life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance; disability insurance; supplemental protection insurance; 20 days of Paid Time Off each year; Sick and Safe Time; 10 paid company holidays; Volunteer Time Off; paid parental leave; EAP; well-being benefits, and other employee benefits. Eligibility for receipt of these benefits is subject to the applicable plan/policy documents. Thrivent’s plans/policies are subject to change at any time at Thrivent’s discretion.

Thrivent provides Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) without regard to race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, marital status, citizenship status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any otherstatus protected by applicable local, state, or federal law. This policy applies to all employees and job applicants.

Thrivent is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected] or call 800-847-4836 and request Human Resources.

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