Job Summary & ResponsibilitiesPosition SummaryThe Software Engineering Manager leads software development at Onto Tucson, owning the team and the codebase for 4D branded products. 4D's product portfolio is primarily optical metrology - specifically laser interferometry - and industrial metrology - primarily fringe projection - along with the software tools used in production of these devices.
This is a player-coach role: the Software Engineering Manager runs the team, sets technical direction, and stays close enough to the code to make architecture and code-review calls - while owning hiring, performance management, and cross-functional partnerships with Engineering, Product Management, Manufacturing, Service, and Quality.
Key ResponsibilitiesTeam Leadership- Lead, hire, and develop a team of software engineers and QA engineers across desktop application development, firmware / embedded engineering, and internal tooling, partnering closely with the Software Architect on technical direction.
- Conduct performance reviews, succession planning, hiring, and career development; build progression paths from junior to mid / senior level.
- Establish team rituals: standups, code-review cadence, sprint planning, retrospectives.
- Restore disciplined Scrum practice across the team: sprint planning, daily standups, sprint review, retrospectives, and a well-groomed product backlog.
- Build a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement.
Technical Leadership- Set technical direction for the software portfolio: customer-facing analysis tools, instrument firmware, and internal manufacturing / test software.
- Own software development practices: code review, testing standards, branching and release strategy, CI / CD, version-control discipline.
- Make and document architecture decisions; participate hands-on in design reviews and complex code reviews.
- Maintain a roadmap for technical debt, platform health, and security / compliance updates.
Customer-Facing Software (Analysis & Visualization)- Drive development of customer-facing software.
- Partner with Product Management on roadmap, feature prioritization, and customer release commitments.
- Coordinate with the Senior Service Manager on field issues that originate in software, including hot-fix release planning.
Cross-Functional Collaboration- Partner with Engineering on product development, New Product Introduction (NPI), and Engineering Changes (ECs / ECOs) that have software impact.
- Partner with the Senior Service Manager on field-software issues, FSE diagnostic tools, and customer escalations with a software root cause.
- Partner with Quality on QMS-related software documentation, validation, software-related CAPAs, and audit support.
Software Quality & Release Management- Own the software quality program: defect tracking, regression testing, release validation, and customer-facing release notes.
- Plan, track, and deliver software releases on commitment using Jira; track program status against committed milestones.
- Track and report software KPIs to senior leadership; provide weekly program status.
- Ensure software development practices align with applicable QMS requirements
AI Adoption & Engineering Productivity- Drive adoption of AI-assisted development tools - GitHub Copilot, Claude Opus, and other LLM-based pair-programming and code-review tools - as a primary lever for engineering productivity and code quality.
- Establish prompt-engineering and AI pair-programming best practices; build internal playbooks for when and how AI tools are most effective on 4D's codebase.
- Integrate AI-assisted code review into the development workflow alongside human-judgment review; balance speed with engineering rigor.
- Measure and report on AI-tool adoption metrics: usage rate across the team, impact on cycle time, defect rate, and developer satisfaction.
Continuous Improvement- Drive engineering productivity improvements: developer tooling, test automation, deployment automation.
- Build engineering capability through training, mentorship, conference participation, and technical learning.
Key Performance Indicators- Sprint commitment vs. actual delivery (sprint predictability).
- Team velocity stability across rolling sprints.
- Sprint goal achievement rate.
- Cycle time per user story (queue to done).
- Defect escape rate from sprint to production.
- Pull-request review turnaround time.
- On-time release of customer-facing software.
- AI-tool adoption metrics: usage rate, cycle-time impact, defect-rate impact.
- Team retention, engagement, and progression rate.
QualificationsEducation- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related technical field, OR equivalent technical experience and demonstrated track record of software engineering leadership.
Experience- 8-12 years of software engineering experience with 3+ years managing engineers.
- Demonstrated experience leading multi-domain software teams (desktop applications, embedded / firmware, internal tooling) - or at least one of these domains plus willingness to grow into the others.
- Experience in scientific instrumentation, optical metrology, semiconductor capital equipment, medical devices, or comparable precision-instrument software.
- Hands-on experience with the software development lifecycle in a regulated or QMS environment.
Skills & Competencies- Strong technical depth in one or more of: C# / .NET (Windows desktop), C / C++ (firmware / embedded), Python (analysis and internal tooling).
- Strong understanding of software architecture, performance optimization, and cross-platform development.
- Familiarity with soft real-time systems, instrument control, and hardware-software integration.
- Working knowledge of source control (git), CI / CD, and modern development workflows.
- Strong Scrum practitioner; experience running sprint cadences, backlog grooming, and retrospectives in Jira and GitHub workflows.
- Strong communication skills - able to explain software trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders (Manufacturing, Service, Sales, customers).
- Coaching and team-building; experience growing engineers from junior to mid / senior level.
- Comfort operating in an ISO 9001 or comparable QMS environment with software validation requirements.
- Adherence to company ethics, customer-confidentiality, and gifts / conflict-of-interest policies in all customer and supplier interactions.
Preferred Qualifications- Direct experience with optical metrology, interferometry, or scientific imaging applications.
- Experience with FPGA development or hardware-software co-design.
- Experience with GPU acceleration (CUDA, OpenCL, or compute shaders) for performance-critical metrology computation.
- Experience with robotic automation integration in industrial product lines (relevant to 4D's Inspec product line).
- Demonstrated track record of driving adoption of AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot, Claude or other LLM-based development workflows) in a software engineering team.
Working Conditions- Tucson, AZ-based, on-site at the facility for daily presence with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Service. This is an on-site role; occasional work-from-home flexibility is supported, but the role is not hybrid.
- Travel up to 10% for customer engagements, supplier visits, and trips to the corporate office in Milpitas.
- Standard business hours with flexibility for release windows, customer escalations, and cross-time-zone collaboration as needed.
- Physical demands include occasional time on the manufacturing floor for tool integration and validation testing.
Compensation & Growth• Base Salary Range:
$115,200.00 - $172,800.00, offered in good faith and based on experience, location, and qualifications.
- Additional Rewards: Annual bonus opportunities and potential long-term incentives tied to both company and individual success.
