Software Development Manager

At Sparklight/Cableone and our family of brands, we keep our customers and associates connected to what matters most. For our associates, that means: a thriving and rewarding career, respect for the communities where they live and work, a focus on health and wellness, an excellent work/life balance, and an open and inclusive workplace.  

 We are open to hiring remote if we find the right talent in any of the following states: AL, AR, AZ,  FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OR, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT.  

Sparklight is seeking a hands-on Development Manager to lead a cross-functional team that designs, builds, and delivers the digital products and platforms our customers rely on every day. This is a first-line people-leadership role responsible for guiding a blended team of software and web engineers, QA engineers, and front-end developers through the full delivery lifecycle, from concept and design through development, testing, release, and continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate is a player-coach who balances technical depth with strong people-management skills: someone who can remove blockers, raise engineering quality, partner closely with product and business stakeholders, and grow the careers of the engineers they lead.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and mentor a cross-functional team of engineers, QA, and UX/UI practitioners, fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high-accountability culture.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, set clear goals and expectations, deliver ongoing feedback, and own performance management and career development for direct reports.
• Partner with talent acquisition to recruit, interview, hire, and onboard team members; build a balanced team across employees and contractors/vendors.

Delivery & Execution

• Plan, prioritize, and manage the team’s technology stack and delivery process, ensuring work is scoped, estimated, and delivered on schedule and within agreed quality standards.
• Drive agile delivery practices (e.g., Scrum/Kanban), facilitating development requirements during sprint planning, standups, reviews, and retrospectives that keep the team focused and unblocked.
• Track progress, surface risks early, and communicate status clearly to the department leadership.

Technical Oversight & Quality

• Provide technical guidance and architectural review across the stack; front-end web experiences, back-end services and APIs, and integrations, ensuring sound architecture and maintainable solutions.
• Champion engineering best practices: code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD, secure coding, performance, accessibility, and operational readiness.
• Partner with QA to embed quality throughout the lifecycle and with UX/UI to ensure user-centered, brand-consistent design.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary delivery partner to product management, business stakeholders, and other engineering teams, translating business goals into actionable technical plans.
• Collaborate with peers across Digital Strategy and IT to align on shared platforms, standards, and dependencies.
• Manage relationships with third-party vendors and contractors where applicable, ensuring accountability and value.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify and implement improvements to team processes, tooling, and ways of working that increase velocity, quality, and team satisfaction.
• Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies, evaluating their fit for the team and the business.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of professional software/web development experience, including hands-on delivery of production applications.
• 2+ years of experience leading, mentoring, or formally managing engineers or a technical team.
• Demonstrated experience delivering software in an agile environment (Scrum, Kanban, or similar).
• Solid understanding of modern web and mobile software development, front-end frameworks, back-end services/APIs, version control, and CI/CD.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proven ability to balance competing priorities and deliver in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing a cross-functional team that includes QA and/or UX/UI alongside engineering.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, or Vercel) and modern DevOps practices.
• Background in customer-facing digital products, e-commerce, or telecommunications/digital services.
• Experience working with both internal teams and external vendors/contractors.
• Exposure to accessibility (WCAG), web performance, and analytics-driven product improvement.

Technical Environment

This team works across customer-facing web and digital platforms. A representative environment includes:

• Front-End — modern JavaScript/TypeScript frameworks and responsive web UI.
• Back-End & APIs — service-oriented applications and integrations.
• Quality — automated testing and QA engineering practices.
• Design — close partnership with UX/UI design and design systems.
• Delivery — version control, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud hosting.

Specific technologies will be confirmed during the interview process.

What Success Looks Like (First 6–12 Months)

• Built trust with the team and established a clear, predictable delivery cadence.
• Improved delivery quality and throughput while reducing avoidable defects and rework.
• Established strong working relationships with product and business stakeholders.
• Created individual development plans and visible growth for each team member.

Core Competencies  

• Committed: Values each customer, while working hard to keep their business and support our communities.  

• Helpful: Delivers support in the ways that are most useful to our customers and addresses their needs with expertise, respect, and empathy.  

• Proactive: Understand what our customers need, and actively works to make their relationship with use seamless, easy, and rewarding.  

• Personal: Knows our customers well, and tailors our communications and interactions to address their needs and expectations.  

Benefits 

Cable One and our family of brands appreciates the role our associates play to help the company grow, and in return an excellent benefits package is offered to our associates to recognize the importance of their contributions, such as:  

• Medical, dental, and vision plans – start when you start!  

• Life insurance (self, spouse, children) 

• Paid time off (vacation, holiday, and personal/sick days)  

• 401(k) - 100% company match starts day 1 of employment (up to 5% of eligible compensation) 

• Group Legal plan with Identity Theft Protection 

Additional Perks  

• Tuition reimbursement (up to $5,250 on 1st year)  

• Annual community support to various organizations across the U.S.  

• Associate recognition & awards programs 

• Advancement opportunities  

• Collaborative work environment  

• FREE Cable One services for associates who live in a serviceable area 

Our Commitment