Software development manager: What Does a Software Development Manager Do?

What Does a Software Development Manager Do?

Software development managers play a crucial role in the success of a development project. Today we will learn the full list of responsibilities and scopes of this position.

In the age of technology, the sky’s the limit. Impressive innovations are popping up left and right in the business world. One risk of a tech business, especially for startups, is the mismanagement of the team resources. 

A single misstep could ruin the product or company. You need someone to help manage the project from its conception to release. And, that is exactly what software development managers do.

We’ll explain why software development managers are a critical component to your success to understand this fully.

• Why Software Development is a Team Sport and Needs a Strong Leader
• What does a Software Development Manager do? 7 Key Roles
• Why You Need a Software Development Manager
• Software Development Manager Skills & Requirements
• Understanding Software Development Management Levels and Job Titles
• Should Development Managers Write Code?
• How to Hire a Software Development Manager
• Hire a Software Development Manager at Full Scale

Why Software Development is a Team Sport and Needs a Strong Leader

Essentially, if you want to build a software product, you need experts to do it. A software development team is responsible for the design, development, delivery, and maintenance of your project. Some companies hire a tech team to introduce a product to the market. While others hire them to improve their internal processes.

When building your software development team, you have to assess what kind of project you envision carefully. For example, if you want to create a simple website and an app for your services, you’ll need a developer and a graphic designer at the very least. For a larger project that includes creating your brand, you’ll need to employ a complete development team.

Development teams commonly include many different positions:

• Frontend developer
• Backend developer
• Quality Assurance Engineer
• DevOps Engineer
• Project Manager

The software development manager has to oversee all of these various team members. Having a good leader for the team is usually the difference between success and failure.

A software development manager interfaces between the technical team and the product management team and the business. It is their job to translate product requirements into work items that the team can perform. 

Additionally, they ensure that the team accomplishes their tasks. Software development requires a lot of coordination and collaboration. It is a team sport that calls for excellent leadership.

Let’s get to know the role of the software development manager.

What does a Software Development Manager do? 7 Key Roles

Software development managers are mainly responsible for coordinating the team members and the client, allocating the resources, and streamlining the processes. The software manager must ensure that all deliverables are met in a given timeline.  

Depending on the project’s scope, the manager can also take on a more hands-on role in development. Yet, their primary role is to supervise the software development processes.  

These are the main responsibilities of a software development manager.

1. Manage the Software Development Team

First, the software development manager is responsible for identifying the skills needed for the project. They assign the tasks based on the individual’s skills and experience. These should enable the team to agree with a roadmap.

In turn, the team members should deliver within the agreed timeline. The development manager evaluates their performance regularly. They also assess if team members require additional training and anticipate problems as they arise.

Software engineering managers commonly spend a lot of time managing people. This includes daily and weekly team meetings and regular 1-on-1 meetings.

2. Hiring and Recruiting

Along with managing the team, dev managers have to help recruit and hire the right team members. Hiring software developers is really challenging. It is hard to assess if developers are any good at what they do or not. 

A good development manager has worked with developers for many years. Thus, they have a better sense of what makes a good developer or a bad one. Hiring the wrong developers can be extremely costly. So, a great dev manager can help ensure you hire the right people on the team.

3. Manage the Tools

Software managers make sure that the team has access to the required tools in development. Software projects need a wide array of tools such as project management, source control, CI/CD pipeline, cloud hosting, IDEs, and other development tools. The manager has to keep track of all the devices and applications team members use in the project. 

4. Control Project Timelines

One of the most crucial duties of a software manager is monitoring the project’s progress. Project development is a complex process, fraught with lots of roadblocks. 

Hence, the manager should be strategic with deadlines that give developers enough time to accommodate unexpected issues. Moreover, the manager will negotiate with the client about the reasonable possible time to complete the product.

Most teams have a project manager that oversees the day-to-day progress of a project. But, the software development manager designs and enforces the software development lifecycle within the organization.

5. Ensure Software quality

A software development manager ensures that proper quality assurance (QA) processes are in place. In some cases, a company may need to involve a QA manager. However, the software development manager is responsible for the QA guidelines in the team. They detail what to QA and how to QA functionalities even if a separate team is doing the QA activities.  

6. Validate Key Architecture decisions

One of the hardest things for a development team is making key architecture decisions. The dev manager ensures there is a scalable system architecture design. This way, developers have a guideline on which technologies to leverage. Software development managers steer the team to create smart architecture choices for the business.

7.

Help Drive Product Strategy

Identifying the core features and requirements is necessary to come up with the right method and system of development. More often than not, the software development managers also need to be experts on the product.

Some companies have a product team that ultimately drives all the product roadmaps, requirements, etc. However, the software development managers still need to be experts about the product and how it works. They have a strong voice on the product roadmap.

In addition, software development managers have to coordinate with all parties involved in the project. They also need to work closely with the end-users of the product. 

Whether for an internal project or a client’s product, software development managers have to communicate regularly with the product owners. Likewise, they must clearly articulate and translate the requirements to the team.

Why You Need a Software Development Manager

The software development manager role provides value in product development. Each member plays a huge part in the project but the manager steers the wheel to move forward. Here are the reasons why you need a software development manager.

1. Easier project scoping

With exemplary work experience, development managers are highly knowledgeable in identifying the project’s scope. They maintain project updates and documentation, especially in Agile projects.

2. They manage relationships in the team

As the team liaison, great development managers help maintain a healthy relationship between the team and stakeholders. Their excellent communication skills play an important part in increasing the level of transparency within the company. This way, the team addresses issues that arise accordingly.

3. The Ship Needs a Captain

Software developers can write code if you tell them what code to write. Dev managers step in to help the team prioritize and write the correct codes. They know how to navigate software development using their years of experience.

4. Someone Needs to Shield the Team

In the corporate world, dev managers spend a lot of their time dealing with bureaucracy in the business. Managers can protect the team from shifting priorities, scope creeps, and different struggles of living in the corporate world.

5. A better gauge of quality

Probably the majority of their role is to control each process to ensure high-quality output. Moreover, software development managers are hands-on in testing the functionalities of the product. Therefore, you’re sure that you can launch the product to the market successfully.

6. Development managers champion processes

Anything and everything that impacts the product and processes is under the development manager’s wing. Development managers establish streamlined processes to promote efficiency in the team.

As a result, they can see possible risks and avoid them. You can see that there will be minimal delays and blockers when your project has a development manager.

7. They help you with technology

Being up to date with technology is another strength that development managers possess. With their adeptness in the field, they can recommend and design products with the latest, most useful technology. This will be very beneficial to your product. Why? They identify which tools are best for your product and your business strategy.

Software Development Manager Skills & Requirements

To be an expert software development manager needs a wide array of experience and skills. Nobody is amazing at managing people, writing code, project management, and talking to customers.

If someone is an expert at all of those things, they are a unicorn. We should capture them so we can study and clone them. Most talented dev managers are great at one or two things and not all. 

Generally speaking, all software development managers should have the following:

• 10+ years of experience as an engineer or engineering management
• Bachelor’s degree
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong leadership qualities
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Ability to resolve conflicts

Depending on the company’s needs, a software development manager’s role can vary greatly. You have to think about what your company needs most out of a development manager. These requirements may change over time and from team to team.

What skills do you need most out of a software development manager?

• Deep industry and product knowledge or expertise
• Improve the development process
• Recruit and build a team
• Improve product quality
• Solve complex technical challenges
• Build a new software product
• Maintain or modernize and existing product
• Hands-on writing code
• Driving key architecture decisions
• Excellent project management skills
• Talking to key customers or product owners

Someone who is awesome at product development and architecture is not always great at dealing with corporate politics and budgets. 

It’s why companies need a CTO, VP of Software Development, Director of Software Development, Software Development Managers, and team leads. All of these different levels of leadership within a company specialize in different roles.

Understanding Software Development Management Levels and Job Titles

In this article, we are talking about software development managers holistically. Depending on the company, there are various job titles and levels within a development team org chart. 

In a small company, you’ll likely find a Chief Technology Officer or a Director of Software Development. They work with a few software engineers on one or two teams. They also won’t have a structured product team.

At large enterprises, you will find several team leads or directors. There are likely multiple business units or organizations working on different products. Also, there may be some front-end and back-end teams. The organizational chart in these companies will have more layers of management. They are also likely to have product management teams.

Let’s compare some of the differences between common job titles and roles. Note that some companies refer to it as software engineering, application development, or similar terminology instead of software development.  

Team Lead

Most development teams should have two to five software engineers. One of those people should be the team lead. The team lead helps tactically get all the work done on a daily basis. They can help drive architectural decisions and simplify project requirements for the team. 

However, team leads may be less involved in process management. They don’t drive processes. They’re focused on completing the work and guiding other developers to overcome obstacles.

Manager of Software Development

Managers of Software Development work more on managing people and helping define processes. They may also be hands-on with writing code. This means that they manage the project from the “inside” as an integral part of the team.

Director of Software Development

At this level, the Director of Software Development doesn’t have to be hands-on in coding. The focus is more on processes, timelines, budgets, hiring, and dealing with day-to-day corporate bureaucracy. They’ll be managing projects from the outside. Directors are managing multiple projects and managers. They have to be good at delegating work and managing by metrics.

VP of Software Development

A VP traditionally manages multiple directors. They may oversee multiple products or business units. They will work with product owners, company stakeholders, and development managers to ensure the engineering teams meet business goals. 

As a Software Development VP, they are responsible for everything. They spend most of their time working with people who don’t have an engineering background. Furthermore, they mostly work with people throughout the organization to bridge the needs of software development.

Chief Technology Officer

There are multiple types of Chief Technology Officers (CTOs). Depending on the size and type of a company, they may perform different tasks. Generally, they focus on how the business should use technology to achieve its goals. They help drive the overall strategy of the team.

Most CTOs are product-oriented. They drive the roadmap and are responsible for the overall delivery of the work. In many companies, they are geniuses behind the curtains that understand the product and industry more than anyone else.

In some, the CTO may be more hands-on with writing code. Sometimes they are in charge of prototyping new products and solving the biggest problems for the companies. In addition, they allow the directors and VPs to manage the day-to-day process while they solve the complex problems that only they can solve. This is common in early-stage startups.

Chief Information Officer

The highest level software development executive may be a Chief Information Officer (CIO). Some companies have both, and the CTO  typically reports to the CIO. The key difference is the CIO is also responsible for all infrastructure and digital assets within the organization as well as the software. They deploy the app, servers, and infrastructure to thousands of locations.

Companies that use a plethora of third-party apps or desktops, servers, or infrastructure are likely to have a CIO. Companies that create the software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions usually have a CTO.

Should Development Managers Write Code?

One common question is, “should your software development managers write code or only manage the team?” If they should write code, what percentage of their time is allotted for that?

Some companies struggle because they pluck their brightest developers and promote them as managers. The problem is, they may not be as good at managing other people or processes. Even worse, they would rather hide in the dark and write code than do any of the management work. 

Managers need to be managers first. It is their job to motivate everyone to be productive. If the top developer is assigned to lead the team, then there should be another manager in place. This manager will oversee the day-to-day activities of projects.

Managers who write code can only probably do so 25% of the time. A mix of 50/50 rarely ever works. They can’t context switch and give both the right amount of attention. 

How much time a software development manager spends in writing code can be tricky. That often ends with less time spent actually managing the team.

How to Hire a Software Development Manager

Given the benefits of having a software development manager, most businesses see the value of having one in the team. These resources are superheroes that save the day.

However, with today’s tech market, it’s almost impossible to find a development manager.

One reason is that the best ones are already employed. You won’t always see them looking for jobs since they’re treasured and compensated well by their current employers.

Another reason is that they are the creme de la creme of software managers. This role is not a junior position. It takes years of experience to qualify for this post. Some of them have at least 10 years of experience in software development.  

Finally, local software development managers are hard to find. Keep in mind that you’re not the only one looking for them. Businesses compete not just in products but also with talents. So, you need to offer a competitive salary to attract an expert development manager.

Fortunately, the dawn of telecommuting and remote work is finally here. Businesses now have the option to hire remote software development managers.

Hire a Software Development Manager at Full Scale

Recruiting a managerial position is already a rigorous process, let alone a technical one. If you want to hire a software development manager, you can look into the conventional recruitment methods. 

You’ll have to enlist with an agency or put up ads online. However, there’s a much simpler way to do it. Hire an offshore software development manager from Full Scale!

At Full Scale, we will help you build an entire software development team. In fact, we can hire a team lead or manager for your team. We can provide all the resources you’ll need for your software development project. 

Our seasoned project managers, marketing specialists, and technology experts are ready when you are!. Don’t worry about recruiting and managing your software development team. Let us handle all the nitty-gritty processes while you focus on your core operations.

Get started today!

What Does A Software Development Manager Do: Job Description, Duties and Responsibilities

A software development manager is a professional who manages teams of software developers that design and create software applications and web services for clients. Software development managers should delegate duties and establish development standards for the development team as well as create a budget and timeline for the project. They must meet with management to discuss how software applications can achieve business objectives. Once the software has been developed, software development managers must train technical and non-technical end-users. They must also be skilled in different programming languages such as HTML, SQL, and JavaScript.

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Software Development Manager Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real software development manager resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

• Plan and manage release schedules, upgrades and patches, maintenance windows.
• Justify, evaluate, hire, and manage offshore contractors to supplement staff for a large HTML form coding project.
• Manage workflow of projects through JIRA, ensuring that all necessary reviews are perform and projects are successfully release to production.
• Manage all phases of application design–from requirements gathering, coding and prototyping through system testing, integration and deployment.
• Manage many infrastructure upgrade projects nationwide.
• Manage resource allocation for Lawson ERP implementation project.
• Project include Linux base systems implement using object orient methodology in Java and C++.
• Develop API software applications in C/C++/C #for processing of real-time client data.
• Used the windows SDK using html workshop to interface to various assembly’s in the Win32 API.
• Perform programming and code reviews as needed, as well as troubleshooting (including debugging and data analysis).
• Work on web application development as well as client-server applications using Java and Microsoft technologies.
• Read in the data using AJAX calls to json files.
• Used JavaScript, VBScript for client side and server side data validations.
• Experience developing intranet and internet ASP.NET web sites using web forms, JScript, and CSS.
• Help support the Linux development VM (DevOps) by writing scripts and tools to improve teams productivity.

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Software Development Manager Job Description

When it comes to understanding what a software development manager does, you may be wondering, “should I become a software development manager?” The data included in this section may help you decide. Compared to other jobs, software development managers have a growth rate described as “much faster than average” at 21% between the years 2018 – 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, the number of software development manager opportunities that are predicted to open up by 2028 is 284,100.

On average, the software development manager annual salary is $134,747 per year, which translates to $64.78 an hour. Generally speaking, software development managers earn anywhere from $100,000 to $180,000 a year, which means that the top-earning software development managers make $80,000 more than the ones at the lower end of the spectrum.

Once you’ve become a software development manager, you may be curious about what other opportunities are out there. Careers aren’t one size fits all. For that reason, we discovered some other jobs that you may find appealing. Some jobs you might find interesting include a manager applications development, principal software engineer, contract software engineer, and senior software engineer.

Software Development Manager Jobs You Might Like

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Software Development Manager Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 17% of Software Development Managers are proficient in Java, AWS, and Architecture. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Software Development Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

• Java, 17%

  Worked on web application development as well as client-server applications using Java and Microsoft technologies.

• AWS, 9%

  Staffed and managed the migration of all of 3GTMS’s production and staging servers from a traditional hosting center to AWS.

• Architecture, 8%

  Guided crucial development effort to add Intelligent Directories, Common Information Models to networking systems developing Policy Base Network Management architecture.

• Project Management, 4%

  Incorporated business case justification for projects and delivered results using structured project management techniques and IEEE standards for software development.

• Database, 4%

  Developed many database applications that communicated with the ERP system, enhancing manufacturing vision to resolve problems and increase manufacturing efficiency.

• Cloud Computing, 3%

  Co-authored and presented four proposals for mobile-friendly cloud computing products.

Some of the skills we found on software development manager resumes included “java,” “aws,” and “architecture. ” We have detailed the most important software development manager responsibilities below.

Another commonly found skill for being able to perform software development manager duties is the following: detail oriented. According to a software development manager resume, “developers often work on many parts of an application or system at the same time and must therefore be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail.” Check out this example of how software development managers use detail oriented: “project included linux based systems implemented using object oriented methodology in java and c++. “

A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that “problem-solving skills” is important to completing software development manager responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way software development managers use this skill: “because developers are in charge of software from beginning to end, they must be able to solve problems that arise throughout the design process.” Here’s an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical software development manager tasks: “created work and task management solution using java and pl/sql. “

See the full list of software development manager skills.

Before becoming a software development manager, 71.3% earned their bachelor’s degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master’s degree, 21.1% software development managers went for the extra education. If you’re wanting to pursue this career, it may be impossible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most software development managers have a college degree. But about one out of every nine software development managers didn’t attend college at all.

Those software development managers who do attend college, typically earn either a computer science degree or a electrical engineering degree. Less commonly earned degrees for software development managers include a business degree or a computer engineering degree.

Once you’ve obtained the level of education you’re comfortable with, you might start applying to companies to become a software development manager. We’ve found that most software development manager resumes include experience from Amazon, Oracle, and General Dynamics Mission Systems. Of recent, Amazon had 1,856 positions open for software development managers. Meanwhile, there are 986 job openings at Oracle and 419 at General Dynamics Mission Systems.

Since salary is important to some software development managers, it’s good to note that they are figured to earn the highest salaries at Meta, Grubhub, and eBay. If you were to take a closer look at Meta, you’d find that the average software development manager salary is $212,607. Then at Grubhub, software development managers receive an average salary of $200,093, while the salary at eBay is $198,125.

View more details on software development manager salaries across the United States.

Some other companies you might be interested in as a software development manager include IBM, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin. These three companies were found to hire the most software development managers from the top 100 U.S. educational institutions.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious software development managers are:

• Amazon1,856 Software Development Managers Jobs
• Oracle986 Software Development Managers Jobs
• General Dynamics Mission Systems419 Software Development Managers Jobs

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• High Paying Software Development Manager Jobs – $180K and Up

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• Work From Home Software Development Manager Jobs

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• Entry Level Software Development Manager Jobs

  Little to no experience required

• Part Time Software Development Manager Jobs

  Part Time Jobs Hiring Now

• Actively Hiring

  Software Development Manager jobs added within last 7 days

• No Degree Software Development Manager Jobs

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What Manager Applications Developments Do

An applications development manager is responsible for keeping businesses running smoothly and effectively through planning, coordinating, and overseeing all activities related to software applications. You will oversee the maintenance, upgrade, and support of existing applications and systems required for the smooth day-to-day operations of the business. Other tasks that you will likely perform include providing estimates for project timeline and cost, overseeing feasibility research on software applications, and diagnosing and troubleshooting program errors. As an applications development manager, you are also responsible for recommending software products and services that will benefit the company.

In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take manager applications development for example. On average, the managers applications development annual salary is $11,220 lower than what software development managers make on average every year.

Even though software development managers and managers applications development have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require java, architecture, and c # in the day-to-day roles.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A software development manager responsibility is more likely to require skills like “aws,” “tcp ip,” “database,” and “product development.” Whereas a manager applications development requires skills like “ongoing maintenance,” “infrastructure,” “digital transformation,” and “development projects.” Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Managers applications development receive the highest salaries in the finance industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $130,492. But software development managers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $159,811.

Managers applications development tend to reach lower levels of education than software development managers. In fact, managers applications development are 6.4% less likely to graduate with a Master’s Degree and 0.8% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

What Are The Duties Of a Principal Software Engineer?

A Principal Software Engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of an organization’s projects. They diagnose, document, and troubleshoot systems to resolve problems identified through testing, as well as implement strategies to improve integration and efficiency.

Next up, we have the principal software engineer profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a software development manager annual salary. In fact, principal software engineers salary difference is $517 lower than the salary of software development managers per year.

A similarity between the two careers of software development managers and principal software engineers are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like “java,” “aws,” and “tcp ip. “

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren’t so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that software development manager responsibilities requires skills like “architecture,” “c #,” “project management,” and “product development.” But a principal software engineer might use skills, such as, “python,” “git,” “http,” and “strong problem-solving.”

Principal software engineers may earn a lower salary than software development managers, but principal software engineers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $154,293. On the other side of things, software development managers receive higher paychecks in the technology industry where they earn an average of $159,811.

In general, principal software engineers study at similar levels of education than software development managers. They’re 3.3% more likely to obtain a Master’s Degree while being 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

How a Contract Software Engineer Compares

Senior software engineers are experienced employees who would usually take the lead in projects related to software development. They are in charge of determining the needs of the organization, checking whether there are feasible solutions to challenges, and creating plans for the development of a software solution. They provide a sound analysis of data collected during the testing phase of the software and address any problems during the software development phase. Once the software has been developed, they then ensure that it works well and that it addresses the needs and expectations of the users.

The third profession we take a look at is contract software engineer. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than software development managers. In fact, they make a $31,822 lower salary per year.

Using software development managers and contract software engineers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as “java,” “database,” and “web services,” but the other skills required are very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a software development manager is likely to be skilled in “aws,” “architecture,” “c #,” and “project management,” while a typical contract software engineer is skilled in “http,” “python,” “git,” and “pl/sql.”

Contract software engineers are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to software development managers. Additionally, they’re 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Master’s Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Description Of a Senior Software Engineer

Senior software engineers tend to earn a lower pay than software development managers by about $20,253 per year.

While their salaries may vary, software development managers and senior software engineers both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like “java,” “architecture,” and “tcp ip. “

Each job requires different skills like “aws,” “c #,” “project management,” and “product development,” which might show up on a software development manager resume. Whereas senior software engineer might include skills like “python,” “git,” “front end,” and “json.”

Senior software engineers earn a higher salary in the retail industry with an average of $128,740. Whereas, software development managers earn the highest salary in the technology industry.

In general, senior software engineers reach similar levels of education when compared to software development managers resumes. Senior software engineers are 2.5% more likely to earn their Master’s Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

What a Software Development Manager Does FAQs

How Much Do Software Development Managers Make?

Software development managers make $135,000 a year, on average ($65.15 an hour). The range in pay for software developers is between $102,000 to $179,000 a year. Factors such as location and industry impact how much a software development manager can make.

Have more questions? See all answers to common computer and mathematical questions.

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How to Become a Software Development Manager • BUOM

Software Development Managers are leaders in the technology industry. They are responsible for the development of the software, as well as leading and managing the team involved in the development. If your career goal is to be a software development manager, it’s important to understand what technical skills employers may need and what training you can take to prepare for this role. In this article, we’ll take a look at what a software development manager does and how to become one. nine0003

Who is a software development manager?

Software development managers oversee the technical teams within their organization and are responsible for planning and coordinating all software related activities. They have experience and formal education in computer science and technology, often moving from being a software developer or engineer to this leadership position. They may also specialize in certain industries such as medical research or games and entertainment. nine0003

What does a software development manager do?

Key responsibilities of software development managers include:

• Planning for the development of new software and web applications

• Tracking progress throughout the design process

• Hiring and training software developers for the team

• Goal setting for software development team

• Submission of proposals and reports on the work done by the Higher Management

• Monitoring the budgeting of new projects

• Creation and maintenance of a healthy working environment

• Explanation of the use of the application

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If you want to become a software development manager, follow these steps:

1. Earn a bachelor’s degree

A bachelor’s degree is the minimum education requirement for software development managers. Consider pursuing a degree in computer science, information technology, or computer engineering to gain a basic knowledge of mathematics and technology and learn how to set up various software. During the training you can learn about:

• Project Management

• Restoration after data loss

• User interface

• Programming languages ​​

• Cryptography

2. Get the degree of master

after you develop software, consider the possibility of obtaining the degree of master’s in a technology discipline, such as a Master of Science in Software Management, which can give you specialized skills to prepare you for a managerial role. For example, you can learn the principles of software testing, a skill you may need to analyze how your software works, and software design, a skill that can help you implement new programs. nine0003

You can also earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree that will teach you how to effectively manage your employees. Having a master’s degree is not mandatory, but it can give you additional knowledge and skills and help you stand out from other job applicants.

3. Gain experience

To become a software development manager, you usually need experience as a software developer, software engineer, or similar technology position. As you earn your degrees, consider finding an internship that will allow you to apply the skills you learned in the classroom to a real-life work environment. After graduation, look for full-time positions that give you the opportunity to participate in the software development process. nine0003

Skills for software development managers

Here are some examples of skills that software development managers use on a daily basis:

Communication anyone they can work with. For example, during conversations with company executives, software development managers should be clear about their progress and the specific resources they may need. During training sessions with new employees, managers are responsible for setting clear expectations and providing specific recommendations.

In addition, when interacting with customers, managers must clearly understand what their software does and give specific instructions on how to use it. nine0003

Leadership

It is important for software development managers to know how to educate the developers and engineers in their team so that they can manage their day-to-day responsibilities. Here are a few ways these managers can use their leadership skills in this position:

• Delegation: Software development managers assign tasks to employees, which can increase productivity in the workplace and encourage the team to develop their skills. nine0003

• Performance evaluation: Managers evaluate the performance of their employees and offer praise and constructive criticism. They also analyze the performance of their team as a whole and develop strategies to improve performance.

• Goal setting: To inspire their team members, managers promote the goals of the organization and emphasize the value of each employee’s work. They also set goals that the team can realistically achieve and provide the necessary guidance to achieve those goals. For example, if the goal is to build and sell a new mobile app by the end of the year, the manager might remind team members of the goal during meetings or via email. nine0003

• Problem Solving: A manager has a responsibility to develop solutions to conflicts in the workplace and make difficult decisions. For example, if a software development initiative is over budget, the software development manager may explain to senior management how this development can benefit the organization.

Technical skills

Along with their interpersonal skills, software development managers have industry-specific skills that they use to create and test technologies. Here are examples of programming languages ​​that employers may prefer job applicants to know:

• Determine the purpose of the software and the people who use it

• Find out what tools they need to develop the software

• Identify problems in the software and how to solve them

• 9002 Interpret and troubleshoot the results debugging

• Viewing computer codes

Work environment for software development managers

Software development managers usually work in an office. However, since most of their duties are computer related, they can also work remotely. They typically work 40 hours a week, including nights and weekends if they are working on a special project or trying to meet a tight deadline. They often work for organizations that make technology products or sell software.

Job prospects and salaries for software development managers

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in software development is expected to grow by 22% between 2019 and 2029. As technology continues to evolve, there may be a need for more development professionals in the industry.

The national average salary for software development managers is $148,045 per year. However, this salary may vary depending on your location, experience, and level of education. nine0003

from the command line to team work / Sudo Null IT News

The IT world today is unlike any other industry – enthusiastic, competent guys work on the code of applications, games, corporate solutions, services. Programmers and engineers, designers and testers, system administrators and newfangled DevOps turn ideas into software used by millions of people. They write code with inspiration, develop algorithms, prepare layouts and combine it into workable useful mechanisms. We, Habr users, often talk about development, administration, new technologies and programming languages, we cut ourselves in heated debates about the advantages of one stack over another, but we forget about an important link in any IT company – project and product managers. Meanwhile, it is not a fact that tomorrow you will not be offered to retire from programming and become a manager. Motivation? Is it worth it? Ceiling? Career deadlock? New horizon? Let’s figure it out. nine0003

IT manager, IT backlog…

We are implementing our own CRM system and therefore we have not only the experience of developing our own managers (they are mostly hybrids with programmers – closer to team leaders) in RegionSoft Developer Studio, but we also meet with other people’s IT project managers (and not IT, too, but that’s another story). Over the years, we have been able to identify a number of typical signs of “bad character” managers.

Alas, it often happens that IT company managers are people with a good economic, legal, management education, but without knowledge of the technical background. They can try, apply psychological tricks, attend trainings and hold ultra-long meetings, but not only get zero results, but also earn hatred in the company. Programmers consider the manager to be a slacker, the manager is afraid of embittered techies. And there are good reasons for that. nine0003

• Work without a goal, plan and project stages. Such a situation can arise if the manager has a poor idea of ​​the development stages and the process of creating software in general, that is, in fact, it is simply difficult for him to plan adequately. Chaotic work, throwing from task to task, constantly changing requirements exhaust all team members, lead to layoffs and professional burnout.
• Changing a project on the fly is another hated feature of a manager. You can easily recognize this type of worker: having heard about a new technology or trendy management models at a conference or another meetup, he returns to the company with burning eyes and begins to actively push the novelty on the old project. And this is not an experiment with best practices, but a total and reckless immersion in something new. Feels like more dipping. It leads to disruption of the project deadline and a sharp drop in the quality and speed of development. If the unfortunate innovator manages to enlist the support of top management – write wasted. nine0199
• Strategy at any cost is the motto of IT project managers working for their own bonus, but not for the good of the team. Such guys are ready to do anything for the sake of KPI and ROI and exclude any risks, just not to lose the coveted values ​​of the coefficients. The most dangerous option is when the manager lobbies for the introduction of coefficients related to “unearned” achievements into the matrix of indicators – such as the loyalty coefficient, the indicator of internal motivation and the estimated level of interaction with colleagues. As a rule, professional introverts do not pass through this sieve and remain without bonuses. And there and without motivation, and … without work. nine0199
• Misunderstanding of development principles is the scourge of non-technical managers. Without knowing the features of code creation, the speed of programmers, testing principles, the timing of bringing the product to production, it is extremely difficult to come to a common denominator with R&D and become a real link within the project. It is these managers who like to memorize a few IT-related words and say: “Will you have time for the feature before Friday?”, “Refactor the code to make it work faster”, “Yes, there are only two lines to change. Why test the whole build? nine0199 Some managers think that the input is some idea, the output is the greatest software in the world, and in the middle is magic. Nah, usually a great idea, a long, tedious, complicated development and a product that is also ahead of the competition. And just a cool manager and smart developers lead this product to GREAT 🙂
• End-to-end meetings are a great way to simulate activities without achieving results. The main thing is that there should be a calendar for reserving meetings (preferably public), and the manager himself, with an important look, listened to the state of affairs on the project and gave comments. If you try, you can call this imitation of Scrum or Agile. But then there must be a board with colored pieces of paper. This is what the manager-consultant learned. nine0199
• The customer is always right, even when he is definitely wrong. For some reason, the magic formula “the customer is always right” has migrated from retail and service, including to development. The manager, who is called upon to work on the client’s side, turns not into a lawyer of client interests, but into a nodding god, dragging the most crazy tasks from the client marked urgent-important. And, of course, without a drafted and signed TOR.
• Ignoring personal aspects is a mistake that any manager, including a techie, can make. In no case should you ignore the fact that you work in an environment of people – and therefore, surrounded by personality, character, mood, motivation. And if you do not take into account these features within the team, you can get the effect of a nuclear mini-bomb within the team. Will hit everyone. nine0199
• The inability to prioritize leads to unambiguous delays in the project, confusion in development, abandoned cases, an unsorted backlog and an overflowing bug tracker. Development, like any engineering, does not tolerate chaos.
• Total control and micromanagement are management diseases that can attack anyone. There is nothing worse than a manager. seeking to replace everyone in the workplace and ready to get into every stage of development.
• Lack of retrospectives is a great way to reduce team motivation and development quality. If a manager, for some reason, avoids analyzing mistakes, work done, is afraid to praise or call for qualitative changes, he will inevitably receive a team that does not know what course it is moving.
• Ignoring best practices. Other people’s successes, discoveries and advantages are sometimes difficult to recognize. However, in work, such behavior is fatal – if you do not take into account best practices, you can lag behind competitors and, in fact, lose all advantages. If the manager is afraid to recognize the best and actively implement it, the project is doomed. nine0199
• There is another aspect of the manager’s work that leads to negative consequences – the desire to create a friendly team, even at the expense of efficiency and productivity. In pursuit of a comfortable psychological climate in the team and complete non-conflict, the manager drives the project into the rank of a “friendly gathering”, where everyone is fine, but the work is not done. Sooner or later, this necessarily leads to conflicts and a deep managerial crisis.

Of course, all these qualities are rarely combined in one manager, but each of them is already capable of shaking the project on the way to the goal. Nevertheless, this is not a utopia – almost every one of us has encountered such managers at work. Which exit? Grow Baba Yaga in your team and transfer to managers the best programmer who knows the project to every code symbol? Option! But is it so easy to move from a programmer’s or engineer’s chair to a manager’s chair? nine0003

From programmers to managers — the path of a samurai

If we talk about the career shifts of a good, very good and talented programmer, then we cannot say about the unequivocal advantage of becoming a manager. There are several development paths for a programmer who has grown in a project to a professional maximum.

1. Changing companies and getting new tasks within a new project is the easiest, but often the most undesirable outcome for everyone. Let’s forget about it until another post. nine0199
2. Changing the project within your company and developing a new direction is a great option, beneficial for the company and motivating the developer. But not every company has a parallel development of several projects, such an opportunity may simply not be.
3. Continue to grow in its place, delving into the optimization of development, increasing the functionality of the product, improving it through refactoring and the use of new algorithms and technologies. An excellent option, which is most often chosen by the best programmers. nine0199
4. Become a manager – in the event that the programmer shows managerial traits and is obviously ready to take on the burden of project work, and entrust the development to his own team.
5. Become a technology evangelist – for very large companies or for very rare and ultra popular products.

Special opinion – chief developer RegionSoft Developer Studio talks about his experience of working with managers and programmers. nine0199
In my opinion, programmers and managers are completely different entities that are practically opposite to each other. I do not know a single programmer who would become a good manager. The head of the development department, the team leader – yes, but in order to work, including for promotion and work with clients, I don’t know such people. Programmers are indeed quite passive in terms of communication – they are often silent, stubborn, harsh introverts, laconic, do not like to be pulled and do not like to twitch themselves either. A manager must be an extrovert, love to communicate, solve problems, plan and take initiative – of course, next to the psychotype of most programmers, these are categorically different types. nine0221

But there is one important feature. If a person combines the features of both a programmer and a manager, then such an employee turns out to be an ideal project manager or even an expert-level manager. But this is extremely rare.

An expert-level manager is always a star in any team, because he knows how to work as a “promoter” and knows the subject matter from the inside. It’s like Korolev when he headed the design bureau for the development of the rocket. If he himself had not launched and designed these children’s rackets and planes, he would never have been able to manage a whole design bureau and would not have created a rocket capable of conquering space. nine0003

Leadership qualities are needed from a manager in order to rally a team around him and be able to manage it, set tasks, plan the achievement of intermediate results, etc. And, of course, in software development, in the technical field, this is especially important.

So, if programming is your everything and your soul does not lie in managerial work, don’t go. A good, talented developer will always find growth points inside his favorite business and his project.