Manager of Application Engineering

About

On behalf of our client, Affinity is seeking a Manager of Application Engineering.

The Application Engineering Lead, leads a team of software developers and a business systems analyst responsible for building bespoke custom applications and integrations within the organization’s technology ecosystem.

This role oversees the full execution lifecycle, from discovery and design through development, testing, deployment, and operational support. The manager ensures all solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise architecture and business objectives.

This role combines hands-on technical expertise with leadership responsibilities, guiding teams through complex projects and working closely with Platform, Data, Security, and Infrastructure & Operations teams to deliver technical solutions. The Manager serves as a bridge, collaborating closely with product, fundraising, mission, marketing, and project management stakeholders.

The ideal candidate brings a strong blend of technical leadership, software architecture and engineering expertise, and system integration experience, along with the ability to work cross-functionally with internal and external stakeholders.

Key Accountabilities

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Work closely with Product, Fundraising, Marketing, and Mission stakeholders, and Project Managers to clarify project scope, elicit requirements, and define delivery timelines
• Oversee the BSA in eliciting requirements, business objectives, and KPIs from internal stakeholders
• Provide clear communication of project status, risks, and dependencies to technology leadership and stakeholders
• Translate technical concepts clearly for non-technical stakeholders

Project Intake, Solution Design & Execution

• Oversee and contribute to the intake process ensuring clarity and completeness of business requirements
• Lead solution design and effort estimation to support prioritization across multiple initiatives with the Director, Application & Platform Engineering
• Assign and manage execution activities across the team to ensure scope, timelines, and budget are met
• Ensure effective transition to operations post-deployment or launch

Technical Leadership & Vendor Engagement

• Guide technical development and delivery of custom applications and system integrations
• Align technical decisions with business objectives and architectural standards
• Drive technical design reviews, code reviews, and solution assessments
• Manage technology vendors to ensure secure, high-quality delivery within scope, budget, and timelines
• Ensure vendor work aligns with architectural, development, and security standards

Engineering Delivery Leadership

• Oversee and participate in development execution as required
• Lead development of bespoke applications and integrations using modern frameworks and engineering best practices
• Ensure code quality through standards, peer reviews, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines
• Embed security and compliance into development workflows
• Contribute to solution design standards, integration standards, API governance, and architectural patterns (REST, event-driven, messaging)
• Support Director on technical solution analysis as required

Operational Excellence

• Identify non-functional requirements including operability, availability, performance, reliability, and security
• Design solutions that meet non-functional requirements in an efficient and well-architected manner
• Drive continuous improvement through agile ceremonies (sprint planning, retrospectives)
• Ensure technical documentation is completed and maintained
• Support L3 issue escalation and continuous improvement initiatives
• Support disaster recovery and high-availability strategies

Talent Management

• Lead talent development and ensure team members are supported in achieving career growth and performance objectives
• Develop succession planning and leadership development plans
• Provide clear direction on priorities and ensure optimal resource allocation
• Build strong cross-functional relationships
• Conduct performance planning, reviews, coaching, and feedback
• Recruit talent as needed in alignment with organizational policies
• Foster collaboration across Product, Business, Data, Security, and Infrastructure teams

Non-Financial

• Stakeholder collaboration and engagement effectiveness
• Delivery of high-quality, maintainable code
• Ability to balance business needs with system constraints
• Effective requirements elicitation and translation between business and technical teams
• Technical leadership and team development
• Continuous improvement initiatives
• Issue resolution and troubleshooting effectiveness