Software Development Manager

About dynaConnections

dynaConnections builds connectMLS, a mission-critical Multiple Listing Service (MLS) platform that real estate professionals across the United States use to list, search, collaborate, and complete transactions. Founded in Austin in 2001, we are a profitable, established SaaS company with approximately 40 employees. We are small enough for your decisions to have a visible impact and established enough to support some of the country's largest MLS organizations.

Our products operate in an environment where availability, performance, data integrity, release quality, and customer trust matter every day. We are strengthening our engineering management layer and seeking a practical leader who can improve execution, accountability, communication, and team capability while responsibly evolving a mature SaaS platform.

The Opportunity

You will manage two of our six cross-functional product teams, comprising approximately 6-9 software developers and QA engineers. You will own people leadership, delivery performance, and operating health for those teams, partnering closely with Product Management, senior engineers and technical leads, QA, DevOps/Release, Customer Success, and Support.

This is a people-management and execution role for an experienced software engineer. You will not own routine feature development, but you must remain technically engaged to evaluate plans, understand the architecture, participate in code-review discussions, challenge estimates, identify quality and operational risks, and help teams make sound trade-offs. The best fit is likely a former senior engineer or technical lead who has already demonstrated effective direct people management in a lean organization.

What You'll Do

Know the work. Stay conversationally fluent in what every engineer on your team is building each sprint. Attend sprint ceremonies, ask the second-order questions, and catch problems while they're still small.

Know your people. Run consistent 1:1s with all direct reports. Understand what motivates each engineer, what blocks them, and what productivity looks like for each individual, and act on it.

Own performance. Conduct performance reviews that are honest in both directions: documented recognition of strong work and direct, specific feedback on weak work. Make retention recommendations for engineers we should invest in, and replacement recommendations with a documented case when someone isn't working out.

Grow your team. Mentor engineers on technical skills, communication, and professionalism against a defined career ladder. Your success is measured in part by who gets promoted from your teams.

Deliver. Plan, schedule, and deliver multiple concurrent projects across your two teams. Manage scope, sequencing, and cross-team dependencies. Own the delivery of your team’s commitments.

Hire. Recruit and build your own teams: define roles, run interview loops using a shared company-wide rubric, make hiring decisions, and onboard new engineers. You'll partner with the other two managers to maintain a consistent hiring bar.

Report up. Provide upper management with clear, written reports on sprint and project status, risks, team health, and performance. No surprises.

What You'll Bring

• 7+ years in software engineering roles, including a track record as a strong senior engineer
• 2+ years of direct people management of software and/or QA engineers, meaning you have run 1:1s, written performance reviews, and been accountable for a team's delivery (not tech-lead-only experience)
• Enough current technical depth to engage credibly with engineers on design, code, and testing decisions. Our stack: Java services in a service-oriented architecture, Oracle, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, and React, containerized with Docker, managed in Jira/Atlassian; deep expertise in every piece isn't required, but you should be conversant across a stack like ours
• Experience planning and delivering multiple concurrent projects with dependencies
• Experience interviewing and hiring engineers; participation in building a team, not just inheriting one
• Demonstrated ability to have hard conversations: candid feedback, performance plans, and honest upward reporting
• Excellent written communication; your status reports, review write-ups, and hiring recommendations are documents others will act on
• Based in the Austin, TX area and able to work a hybrid schedule from our Austin office

Nice to Have

• Experience managing QA engineers alongside developers, or strong opinions about embedded QA
• Experience at a small company or startup where managers wear multiple hats
• Real estate, MLS, or property-data domain experience (RESO, RETS, IDX)
• Experience introducing management practices (career ladders, review cycles, hiring rubrics) where none existed before

Benefits & Employee Experience

At dynaConnections, we believe exceptional products are created by exceptional people. We invest in our team through competitive pay, equity options, and a comprehensive benefits package that supports your health, financial security, and career development.

Health & Wellness

We support our employees' physical and mental well-being through comprehensive healthcare coverage and wellness initiatives.

• Medical, mental health, and prescription drug insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Gym membership benefits (wellness support)

Financial Security

We help employees build long-term financial stability and share in the success they create.

• Competitive compensation
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Stock option plan eligibility (equity participation)
• Basic life insurance
• AD&D insurance and long-term disability coverage

Time Off

We encourage employees to take the time they need to rest, recharge, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

• Generous paid time off (PTO)
• Paid sick leave
• Paid company holidays

Professional Growth

We support continuous learning and career development.

• Professional development support
• Conference attendance
• Employee engagement events and team activities

How to Apply

Send your resume to [email protected] with a short note (a few sentences are fine) about a team you managed and one difficult people decision you made.