Manager, Software Engineering – Backend, ITC Full Time

You will be part of Nike’s Supply Chain and Planning Technology (SCPT) organisation supporting Order Fulfilment Management (OFM) platforms. You will report to an Engineering Director and work closely with Principal Engineers, Product Managers, and cross-functional partners.

You will lead a team of engineers and collaborate across global teams to deliver scalable, high-quality platform solutions aligned to Nike’s business and technology strategy. This role is critical to building and scaling Nike’s OFM platform by enabling engineering teams to deliver reliable, scalable, and extensible systems that support enterprise-wide capabilities.

Who We Are Looking For

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• 10 – 15 years of experience building scalable backend systems
• 3+ years of engineering management experience leading high-performing teams

Technical Expertise (Core – Required)

• Strong background in backend engineering (e.g., Java, Spring Boot or similar technologies)
• Experience designing and delivering scalable distributed systems and microservices architectures
• Solid understanding of API-first design, RESTful services, and event-driven systems
• Experience working with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Familiarity with CI/CD, testing practices, and DevOps tooling

Additional Capabilities (Preferred – Not Mandatory)

• Exposure to data engineering ecosystems (Spark, Databricks, or similar)
• Strong fundamentals in SQL and data modelling
• Understanding of batch and real-time data processing patterns
• Exposure to frontend technologies such as React or Angular
• Experience working on enterprise-scale platforms and integrations
• Familiarity with distributed systems and external service integrations

Leadership & Behavioral Skills

• Strong leadership skills with the ability to build, mentor, and scale engineering teams
• Proven ability to drive delivery across teams and influence stakeholders
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and business audiences
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, globally distributed environment

What You’ll Work On

As a Manager Software Engineering, you will combine people leadership, technical execution, and delivery ownership to build and scale backend platform capabilities across OFM.

Team Leadership & People Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of engineers
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and growth-oriented engineering culture
• Support career development, performance management, and succession planning
• Enable teams to operate with high ownership, accountability, and autonomy

Technical & Delivery Leadership

• Partner with Lead Engineers and Principal Engineers to drive technical design and architecture decisions
• Ensure the team delivers scalable, high-quality backend systems and services using modern engineering practices
• Guide teams on microservices, API-first architecture, and distributed systems design
• Drive engineering excellence across coding standards, testing, and system reliability

Execution & Delivery Ownership

• Own end-to-end delivery of team commitments, balancing roadmap priorities with technical investments
• Work closely with Product Managers to define scope, priorities, and execution plans
• Identify and mitigate risks, resolve blockers, and ensure predictable delivery
• Promote agile best practices and continuous improvement in team processes

Platform & Cloud Engineering

• Oversee development and operation of cloud-native applications (AWS preferred) and distributed systems
• Ensure adoption of CI/CD, observability, and DevOps practices across the team
• Enable teams to design systems that are scalable, secure, and reliable

Data & Integration (Preferred Strength Area)

• Guide teams in building and integrating data pipelines and services across systems
• Encourage teams to leverage modern data platforms where appropriate
• Ensure awareness of data quality and system integration patterns across the platform

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, and Engineering leadership to align on strategy and execution
• Communicate effectively with business and technical stakeholders across global teams
• Drive alignment across teams working on shared platforms and capabilities

AI & Engineering Productivity

• Drive adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices to improve team productivity and delivery efficiency
• Encourage teams to explore and apply AI/GenAI solutions for automation, platform improvements, and operational efficiency
• Promote responsible AI usage across teams, including security, compliance, and data governance considerations
• Enable engineers to effectively use AI tools while maintaining strong engineering discipline and quality standards