Senior Manager, Software Engineering

C.H. Robinson is seeking a Senior Manager, Software Engineering, to join our Global Forwarding team as we continue to expand our strategic technology portfolio and engineering capabilities. In this leadership role, you will provide day-to-day direction for engineering teams, develop and mentor technical talent, and partner closely with product, business, and technology leaders to deliver innovative solutions that drive business impact. You will be responsible for leading high-performing engineering teams that design, build, and support complex software solutions across our application platforms, while also integrating third-party technologies into our broader technology ecosystem. As a strategic and forward-thinking leader, you will help shape the engineering roadmap, drive modernization and automation initiatives, and champion the adoption of AI-driven solutions to improve efficiency, scalability, and customer outcomes. The ideal candidate is a proven people leader and technical bar raiser who fosters a culture of innovation, engineering excellence, and continuous improvement. You bring a strong understanding of automation, AI technologies, and modern software engineering practices, coupled with the ability to align technical strategies with business objectives and deliver results in a fast-paced, global environment. This role can be based only in MN, IL or Kansas City Duties And Responsibilities The duties and responsibilities of this position consist of, but are not limited to, the following: Partner with product, business, operations, and technology leaders to define strategy across Global Forwarding capabilities and ensure engineering teams are aligned to the highest-value business outcomesLead engineering teams responsible for modernizing and automating complex Global Forwarding workflows across areas such as pricing and rating, carrier contracts, shipment planning and execution, booking, visibility, documents, and operational workflowsCollaborate with cross-functional leaders to move opportunities from discovery through delivery and into production, balancing speed, scalability, technical quality, and business valueIdentify opportunities to apply automation, AI, large language models, and agentic technologies to reduce manual work, improve decision-making, and create more scalable Global Forwarding operationsPartner with senior engineers and architects to establish practical patterns for AI-enabled workflows, including human-in-the-loop design, evaluation, observability, security, governance, and appropriate guardrailsEncourage teams to experiment with emerging technologies and AI-assisted development tools while maintaining strong engineering discipline, production readiness, and measurable business outcomesHelp define product and technology vision in the context of established Global Forwarding business goals and evolving strategic opportunitiesBuild and maintain technology roadmaps that connect engineering investments to measurable business outcomesDefine and communicate technical and organizational strategy while ensuring product stability, scalability, reliability, and securityLead teams through ambiguity and evolving priorities, helping translate broad business opportunities into clear engineering objectives and incremental delivery plansWork across Technology teams and domains to recruit expertise, resolve dependencies, remove roadblocks, and prevent duplication of capabilitiesDrive reuse of common platforms, services, patterns, and automation capabilities across the Global Forwarding technology ecosystemIdentify additional technical resource needs across teams and raise awareness early to support timely delivery and realization of valueBalance investment between new strategic capabilities, modernization, technical debt reduction, production health, and ongoing business commitmentsManage disputes and competing priorities between technical teams to maintain progress against shared goalsBuild and maintain technology product roadmaps with an emphasis on repeatable, scalable, secure solutions, continuous improvement, and speed of deliveryManage escalated technical and operational issues and ensure appropriate ownership and resolutionEngage and assist other teams in high-priority incidentsFollow enterprise goals around HPIs and critical/major outagesAddress production issues with a sense of urgency while driving systemic improvements that reduce recurrenceEnsure teams meet quarterly commitments while maintaining flexibility to respond to changing business prioritiesEnsure defects and production issues are resolved within identified levels of serviceEstablish strong engineering practices around architecture, testing, observability, security, reliability, and software deliveryEncourage creativity, experimentation, and collaboration without organizational boundaries while maintaining accountability for deliveryEstablish, maintain, and communicate clear measures that quantify progress against goals and objectives through effective presentations, scorecards, and business outcome reportingPartner with business stakeholders to connect committed technical work to business outcomes and communicate the impact of delivered capabilitiesRepresent engineering strategy, progress, risks, and tradeoffs effectively with senior leadership audiencesBuild strong relationships across Global Forwarding, enterprise technology, and adjacent technology organizations to support cross-domain initiatives and shared capabilities Team Leadership Partners with Talent Acquisition to establish a pipeline, recruit, select, and onboard qualified and diverse engineering talentBuilds leadership depth and succession plans across the organization, developing engineers and emerging leaders who can take on broader technical and people leadership responsibilitiesManages annual merit programs for assigned teams to align compensation with performance resultsBuilds a deep understanding of the skills, strengths, development areas, and career aspirations across the teamAligns team members’ strengths and interests with organizational needs and commits to consistently providing feedback, development opportunities, coaching, and recognitionCreates opportunities for senior engineers to lead complex technical initiatives, influence architecture, mentor others, and operate across team boundariesDevelops teams capable of operating with increasing autonomy while maintaining clear accountability and alignment to strategic prioritiesAligns team performance to C.H. Robinson’s strategic objectives and cascades communication on divisional and organizational initiatives to ensure employee understanding and alignmentWorks with the Director to establish clear team goals and works with leaders and individual contributors to establish goals that tie back to broader business and technology outcomesEncourages employee feedback through formal and informal channels and takes action on feedback to drive a trusting culture of open two-way communication, inclusivity, and continuous improvementCreates an environment where engineers are encouraged to challenge assumptions, experiment with new technologies, and identify better ways to automate and scale the businessEvaluates resource needs across teams and makes recommendations that balance strategic opportunity, delivery timelines, technical risk, and cost effectivenessLeads organizational change thoughtfully, including team growth, shifting responsibilities, new capability development, and evolving operating modelsCoaches teams through complex business and technical domains, helping them move from dependency on a small number of experts toward broader organizational knowledge and ownership Required Qualifications: 7 +years of experience working on a software engineering team progressing in complexity and responsibility4+ years of experience leading and managing software engineering teamsExperience delivering business-critical software functionality in complex enterprise environmentsExperience leading software delivery in an agile or product-oriented environmentExperience managing systems integrations, distributed systems, APIs, and interactions between custom and commercial technologiesDemonstrated experience leading engineering teams through ambiguity, complex dependencies, and changing prioritiesExperience partnering with product, business, architecture, and operations leaders to shape strategy and deliveryExperience communicating status, technical tradeoffs, risks, and strategy to senior leadership audiencesDemonstrated ability to connect engineering investments and technical decisions to business outcomesProven ability to develop engineers, technical leaders, and emerging people leadersStrong understanding of modern software engineering practices, architecture, testing, reliability, security, and software deliveryBachelor’s degree or a minimum of 4 years of equivalent work experience and a high school diploma/GED Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Business, or related fieldExperience with ERP, TMS, freight forwarding, supply chain management, transportation, or other complex operational systemsExperience leading teams that build highly automated, high-volume transactional workflowsExperience applying generative AI, large language models, intelligent automation, or agentic technologies to business workflowsExperience leading teams experimenting with or deploying AI-powered applications, including tool/function calling, retrieval-augmented generation, workflow orchestration, intelligent agents, or AI-assisted decision supportUnderstanding of enterprise AI considerations including evaluation, observability, security, privacy, governance, human oversight, and responsible deploymentExperience using AI-assisted software development and agentic engineering tools to improve developer productivity and delivery speedExperience leading modernization of legacy platforms while maintaining critical business continuityExperience with architectural concepts such as Domain Driven Design, event-driven architecture, distributed systems, APIs, and SOLID principlesExperience with cloud-native architecture and platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCPExperience working in a product-led organization and applying lean principles to product developmentStrong strategic orientation, business acumen, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with the ability to evaluate broad organizational and technical impactsDemonstrated ability to create an environment that encourages innovation while maintaining accountability for production quality and deliveryEffective and flexible communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical and business concepts in a clear and relatable wayStrong interpersonal skills including the ability to build trust, influence, and foster relationships across diverse teams and functionsDemonstrated experience consulting, influencing without authority, negotiating, resolving conflict, and escalating when necessaryAbility to thrive in a fast-paced, decentralized, matrixed, global environmentExcellent organizational, planning, and execution skills with the ability to manage multiple competing, high-priority initiativesAbility to lead, motivate, and inspire cross-functional and globally distributed teamsAbility to connect the work teams are doing to strategic business priorities and measurable outcomesExperience leading through organizational and technology changeGrowth mindset with demonstrated experience giving and receiving feedbackAbility to motivate and encourage change and drive positive outcomes in a large, dispersed organizationAbility to travel up to 10% domestically and internationallyValues a diverse and inclusive work environment We will review applications for this role on an ongoing basis and encourage all interested candidates to apply at their earliest convenience. Compensation Range $127,500.00 - $295,900.00 The base pay range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum base pay for the position across all U.S. locations. Your individual base pay within this range is determined by work location, which takes into account geographic cost of labor, and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base pay only and do not include additional variable compensation. Questioning if you meet the mark? Studies have shown that some individuals may be less likely to apply unless they match the job description exactly. Here at C.H. Robinson, we’re building an inclusive workplace where all employees feel they belong. If this position excites you, we welcome you to apply whether you check all the preferred qualifications or just a few. You may just be our next great fit! Equal Opportunity C.H. Robinson is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to a workplace and performance culture that reflects the strengths of our worldwide marketplace. We value unique experiences and diverse backgrounds of our people within our company, our business relationships, and our communities. We’re committed to providing an inclusive environment, free from harassment and discrimination, where all employees feel welcomed, valued and respected. EOE\Disabled\Veteran Benefits Your Health, Wealth and Self Your total wellbeing is the foundation of our business, and our benefits support your financial, family and personal goals. We provide the top-tier benefits that matter to you most, including: Three medical plans which includePrescription drug coverageEnhanced Fertility benefitsFlexible Spending Accounts Health Savings Account (including employer contribution)Dental and VisionBasic and Supplemental Life InsuranceShort-Term and Long-Term Disability Paid observed holidays 2 paid floating holidays for U.S. hourly employeesFlexible Time Off (FTO) offered to U.S. salaried employees — no accruals and no caps. Paid Time Off (PTO) offered to all other employees in the U.S. and CanadaPaid parental leavePaid time off to volunteer in your communityCharitable Giving Match Program401(k) with 6% company matchingEmployee Stock Purchase PlanPlus a broad range of career development, networking, and team-building opportunities Learn more about our benefit offerings on our BENEFITS & WELLBEING page