Software Engineering Manager

About the role

About Terabase

At Terabase Energy, we believe that digitalization and automation will drive the next wave of innovation and cost reduction in large scale solar. To fully unlock the potential of this opportunity, Terabase is developing an interconnected software and construction automation platform. We work alongside project developers, owners, and engineering & construction firms to support the design, optimization, and construction of huge solar projects around the world. Our team is a blend of solar-industry veterans and newbies, thought-leaders, dreamers, software, electrical and mechanical engineers, coders, product managers, project managers, and sales and marketing professionals. We are based in Northern California, with several other offices in the United States and around the world.

Position Overview

Software Engineering Manager is a senior-level, “player-coach” engineering role that combines direct technical contribution with team leadership responsibilities within the Terafab product area. This role is responsible for guiding the day-to-day execution, coordination, and technical direction of a team of software engineers while remaining a strong individual contributor. The manager serves as the primary interface between the Terafab software engineering team and adjacent hardware-focused teams including Autonomy, IoT, and Controls, defining and maintaining clear cross-team technical interfaces. This role reports to the Sr. Director of Software Data IoT and Autonomy.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Technical Leadership

Define and drive technical strategy and architecture for Terafab’s manufacturing execution system (Fab)

Lead design and implementation of significant features, services, or architectural components within Fab

Drive technical decisions and architectural direction for construction automation orchestration workflows

Design and implement complex data models, APIs, and system integrations that balance current needs with future scalability

Define, establish, and maintain technical interfaces between Fab software and adjacent systems including Autonomy, IoT, and Controls/SCADA

Identify and lead efforts to address technical debt, refactoring, and system modernization within Fab

Establish and evolve coding patterns, best practices, and technical standards within the team

Evaluate and introduce new technologies, tools, or approaches that improve team productivity or product capabilities

Conduct thorough code reviews with a focus on architecture, maintainability, and knowledge transfer

Represent engineering in planning discussions with product and cross-functional stakeholders

Complex Problem Solving and Execution

Resolve complex technical challenges that span multiple systems or have ambiguous requirements, particularly at the boundaries between Fab and hardware-adjacent systems

Proactively identify systemic issues, performance bottlenecks, or architectural limitations and drive resolution

Lead investigations into production issues, root cause analysis, and implementation of long-term fixes

Balance technical perfection with business pragmatism, making strategic trade-offs that serve team and product goals

Contribute to technical planning, estimation, and risk assessment for major Fab initiatives

Serve as technical escalation point for production incidents requiring expert-level intervention

People Management and Team Coordination

Manage a small team of software engineers, including performance oversight, career development, and regular 1:1s

Own and facilitate the team's scrum process: sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily standups, retrospectives, and sprint reviews, with support from senior management

Coordinate task prioritization and delivery across the team, resolving blockers and managing dependencies

Serve as the primary point of coordination between the Fab engineering team and cross-functional partners including Autonomy, IoT, and Controls teams, with support from senior management on more strategic coordination and decisions

Translate product requirements and stakeholder needs into actionable technical work for the team

Mentor team members through code reviews, pairing sessions, and technical guidance

Raise the technical bar for the team through knowledge sharing and establishing engineering best practices

Assist the Sr. Director in engineering planning, resource estimation, and risk assessment for Fab initiatives

Contribute to engineering hiring, technical candidate assessment, and onboarding of new team members

Contribute positively to engineering culture, team process improvements, and cross-functional relationships

Requirements

General Skill Requirements

Required

10+ years of professional software engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership across complex systems

Recent experience shipping production code that you have written

Expert proficiency in Python, Django framework, and building scalable backend services

Strong architectural thinking with proven ability to design systems that scale across multiple dimensions (performance, team size, feature complexity)

Strong experience with modern frontend frameworks, particularly Angular, including complex state management and performance optimization

Deep experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL) and query optimization; proficiency with PostGIS for spatial data workloads

Productive, non-dependent use of AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor), with demonstrated ability to set appropriate guardrails for junior engineers; balances velocity gains against code quality, long-term maintainability, and ensuring the team develops durable technical skills

Proven experience designing and implementing complex data models with intricate relationships and constraints

Demonstrated experience defining and maintaining technical interfaces between software and hardware-adjacent systems (e.g., industrial automation, robotics, or IoT systems)

Passion for developing other engineers through mentorship, goal-setting, and clear, direct communication

Hands-on experience participating in and facilitating agile/scrum processes including sprint planning, backlog management, and team velocity tracking

Curiosity and an ability to adapt and rapidly learn new tools and technologies

Strong bias toward action with proven ability to thrive in ambiguous, fast-changing environments

Excellent communication and coordination skills across both technical and non-technical audiences

Experience working effectively with distributed and cross-functional teams

Preferred

Prior experience managing or leading a small engineering team, including people management, performance feedback, and career development (strongly preferred)

Davis, CA or regional presence for easier collaboration with hardware teams

Deep experience with workflow orchestration or state machine systems, event-driven architectures, discrete event simulation, or industrial automation — particularly in the context of construction or manufacturing execution

Familiarity with hardware integration protocols and patterns relevant to construction robotics or field automation (e.g., Modbus, OPC-UA, MQTT, CAN bus, or similar)

Experience with real-time monitoring and telemetry systems, edge computing, or IoT data pipelines

Strong experience with cloud infrastructure and infrastructure as code (AWS, CloudFormation, Terraform)

Subject matter expertise in construction technology, industrial automation, renewable energy systems, or related domains

Track record of technical and team leadership in fast-paced, high-growth startup or scale-up environments

Experience with microservices architectures and distributed systems

Experience with performance optimization, scaling, and reliability engineering

Benefits

Compensation And Benefits

Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. This role offers a base salary of $145,000– $180,000. Within each posted range, individual pay is determined (and may be greater or higher), dependent on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Terabase offers competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Generous time off and holiday policy

• Hybrid flexibility

• Flexible time off

• Comprehensive benefits package

• Career progression

• 401k match

• Stock options

• Home office set up allowance

• And much more!

Terabase is an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, hire, employ, train, promote, and compensate individuals based on job-related qualifications and abilities. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

We do not discriminate for any reason including race, color, sex, gender, age, religion or religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, physical or mental disability, military/ veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We offer a welcoming and inclusive environment in service to one another, our products, the diverse consumers we represent, and the communities we call home.

Principles only. This role is not open to receiving agency candidates, and any contingent submissions will not be considered. Terabase Energy does not utilize third-party recruitment agencies. Please contact our Recruiting team at careers@terabase.energy with any staffing-related inquiries.

Posting text as published by Terabase Energy.

The evidence behind this listing

Workplace

Remote Employer field

Seniority

Not established

Employment type

full time

Location as listed

Davis, California, United States

Technology

pythondjangoangularpostgresqlpostgisawscloudformationterraform

Pay and work authorization

Stated pay

$135k–165k/yr AI reading of the posting

Visa sponsorship

Not stated

Security clearance

Not required

Citizenship

Not required