Sr. Manager, Software Engineering

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office, Some degree of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) required (safety glasses, gowning, gloves, lab coat, ear plugs etc.)

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

Discover Impactful Work

We are seeking a Sr. Software Engineering Manager to lead our Software Applications Development team in Fremont, CA, developing advanced software for semiconductor failure-analysis instrumentation. This role will serve as a central point of contact for software activities, driving software strategy, product roadmap execution, engineering excellence, and organizational development. The successful candidate must combine strong hands-on software engineering expertise with proven leadership capabilities, working closely with Product Management, Business Unit leadership, customers, and global R&D teams to deliver business-critical software while building a high-performing engineering organization.

 

Location

This is a fully onsite role based at our Fremont, CA site as it requires close collaboration with engineering, product development, and R&D teams. Occasional domestic and international travel may be required. Relocation assistance is not provided for this position.

 

A Day in the Life

Software Strategy and Business Leadership

• Own the software development and execution roadmap, aligned with product strategy, customer requirements, and business priorities.
• Serve as a central software leadership contact, driving cross-functional alignment, prioritization, and critical decisions.
• Establish 1–2 year operational objectives and actively participate in annual business planning, including resource, capacity, and investment planning.
• Maintain broad technical and product knowledge across the supported product portfolio and partner closely with Product Management, Business Unit leaders, customers, and R&D.

 

Engineering Execution and Technical Excellence

• Lead software execution supporting PMP programs, ensuring quality, schedule adherence, and delivery of critical customer commitments.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership in C#, .NET, WPF, and Windows desktop application development, including architecture, design reviews, code reviews, debugging, and resolution of complex technical issues.
• Drive software engineering standards, technical excellence, architecture improvements, reuse, and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrate strong leadership under pressure, making difficult decisions, resolving escalations, and driving accountability and organizational change.
• Lead cybersecurity compliance initiatives, reducing product and revenue risks while ensuring secure software development practices.
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted engineering tools, automation, DevOps, and modern development practices to improve productivity and software quality.

 

Organizational Leadership and Global Strategy

• Build and develop high-performing engineering teams with clear ownership, accountability, and execution discipline.
• Establish performance expectations, individual growth plans, mentoring, and succession strategies for high-performing engineers and future technical leaders.
• Own team capacity, staffing priorities, resource allocation, and operational performance improvements.
• Develop and execute a strategic plan for expanding software development in lower-cost regions, improving engineering capacity, cost efficiency, and global collaboration.
• Establish effective engineering practices, technical ownership, and knowledge transfer across global development teams and external partners.

 

Keys to Success

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field with 10+ years of experience, or an advanced degree with 8+ years of experience.

 

Experience

• 5+ years of software engineering leadership and people-management experience, with demonstrated success building and developing high-performing teams.

• Strong hands-on programming experience in C#, .NET, WPF, and Windows desktop application development, including design, implementation, debugging, and performance optimization.
• Proven experience designing and developing complex, object-oriented, multithreaded, and maintainable desktop software applications.
• Strong technical background in software architecture, development methodologies, system integration, Agile, DevOps, and software quality.
• Ability to remain technically engaged, review complex designs and code, guide implementation decisions, and help resolve challenging software problems.
• Proven ability to lead complex software programs, establish operational plans, manage resources, and deliver business-critical results.
• Strong decision-making, problem-solving, and organizational leadership skills, including the ability to lead under pressure and drive change.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to balance strategic priorities with operational execution and customer commitments.

 

Preferred

• Experience with scientific instrumentation, semiconductor equipment, automation, imaging, or complex hardware-integrated software.
• Experience driving AI tool adoption across engineering teams, including developer enablement, workflow integration, and measuring productivity improvements.
• Experience with software platform modernization, cybersecurity compliance, and reusable software architectures.
• Experience managing globally distributed teams and expanding engineering capabilities in lower-cost regions.

 

Other

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future. 

• Must be able to pass a comprehensive background check and drug screen. 

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range estimated for this position based in California is $165,800.00–$220,000.00.

This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package that our U.S. colleagues and their families can count on, which includes:

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs

• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement

• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy

• Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan

• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

For more information on our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/total-rewards