Software Development Manager @ Stoke Space

At Stoke, we believe a thriving space economy will enable a vibrant, sustainable, and equitable future here on Earth. That is why we’re building Nova, our fully and rapidly reusable launch vehicle. Designed for daily flight, Nova tackles the core challenges of space transportation by reducing cost, increasing availability, and improving reliability. By radically lowering launch costs and increasing flight cadence, we’re helping create a truly scalable space industry.

Our team is mission-driven, collaborative, and empowered to take ownership of their work. If you want to work alongside some of the most dedicated and talented people on Earth, we’d love to have you join us.

Description

Reusable launch systems are the key to seamlessly connecting Earth and space. An instrumental ingredient to making reusable launch vehicles is the ability to move fast. That is our goal for Boltline by Stoke Space, our commercial software platform that helps advanced hardware manufacturing teams integrate, track, iterate, build, and test efficiently.

As a Software Development Manager on the Boltline by Stoke Space Team, you will lead a team of 6-8 software engineers responsible for a vertical slice of the product. You and your team will accelerate the development of Stoke’s reusable rockets. Your responsibilities and activities will cross three boundaries: (1) Product Ownership and Management, (2) People Management and (3) Individual Contributor. You will be the spokesperson for the team, working closely with external stakeholders and technical leaders on the team.

The ideal candidate cares deeply about their team and leads from a place of servitude while driving the team to deliver with quality through repeatable and measurable engineering practices. They embody extreme ownership and have a high degree of autonomy while communicating in a crisp and clear manner.

As a product owner you will be responsible for the backlog and active projects on your team. As a People Manager you will be responsible for the career growth, hiring and firing for your team. As an individual contributor you will be expected to contribute to the code base, fixing bugs, implementing features and performing code reviews.

This is a Hybrid role, requiring at least 3-days a week on-site at Stoke’s Kent Headquarters.

Responsibilities

Manage the backlog and active projects for the team
Create detailed product requirements and make priority decisions in concert with the strategy of the product team
Manage your team’s software development lifecycle
Manage individual team members’ career growth and development
Manage headcount, interviewing and hiring for the team
Contribute production code to the code base, fixing bugs, implementing features and performing code reviews
Collaborate with Product and Design to understand priority, focus and scope
Collaborate with Team Technical Leaders to improve the technical architecture, improve quality and reduce technical debt
Collaborate and contribute to Technical and Operational excellence across all Boltline Engineering teams

Qualifications

8+ years professional software development
Strong IC experience in delivering quality SaaS systems
Experience in driving product requirements and priority
Experience managing and leading strongly technical software developers
Excellent verbal/written communication
Prior on-call/incident response participation
Proven ownership of features from design through production

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with modern web development frameworks (ReactJS)
Experience with building reliable APIs
Experience with RDBMS
Familiarity with Next.js or similar meta-frameworks
DevOps basics (Docker, Kubernetes/ECS, AWS)
Experience with Apollo (Client/Server), Hasura or similar
Hands-on CI/CD experience (GitHub Actions, CircleCI, etc.)
Interest in aerospace, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing workflows

Benefits

Equity – We know that our employees are the reason we succeed. To give everyone a stake in our future, we are pleased to offer equity in the form of stock options to all regular, full-time employees.
Comprehensive benefits program including subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance
Company-paid life and disability insurance
401(k) plan with employer match
4 weeks’ Paid Time Off
Holidays – 10 days (including an end-of-year closure)
Paid Family/Parental Leave
On-site gym or monthly wellness stipend (depending on location)
Dog friendly offices!

Compensation

Target Levels:

Level 4 Range: $192,885 - $289,380
Level 5 Range: $231,525 - $347,235

Our job posts are intentionally written to attract a wide variety of experience levels, and we make decisions about the right fit on a per-candidate basis.

Your actual level and base salary will be decided based on your specific experience and skill level.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity

The Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including with respect to disability and veteran status. It is committed to compliance with all equal opportunity laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Title VII. It does not discriminate on the basis of nationality, race, citizenship, immigration status, or any other protected class when it comes to employment practices, including hiring.

Employment at the Company is contingent upon satisfactory completion of reference and backgroundchecks, and on your ability to prove your identity and authorization to work in the U.S. for the Company. Employees must comply with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services employment verification requirements, and, therefore, they must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 at the start of employment and re-verify authorization to work periodically.

Separate from this I-9 process, this position entails access to certain technology and technical data that is restricted under U.S. export control laws and regulations. Employment or continued employment may be conditioned on your legal authorization to work with or have access to export control materials as necessary to perform your job.

E-Verify

Stoke Space uses E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires.

Software Development Manager

Stoke Space

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