Ascensus

Lead and develop a software engineering team delivering and operating enterprise AI platform capabilities while improving engineering practices, reliability, and delivery. | Requires at least five years of software engineering or related technical experience, people leadership, modern software delivery knowledge, and the ability to stay hands-on with code and engineering workflows. | Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow. Position Summary As a Software Engineering Manager, Enterprise AI Platform, you will lead a team responsible for building, operating, and continuously improving production-grade AI-enabled software. This role manages a cross-functional engineering team that may include: • Software Engineers • SDETs • DevOps Engineers • Support Engineers This is a hands-on engineering leadership role for someone who has strong software engineering experience, cares deeply about people development, and can help teams deliver practical AI-powered solutions with speed, quality, and discipline. While this is a management role, the person in this position is expected to stay close to the codebase and technical workflow. When the situation calls for it, they may contribute directly to implementation, debugging, automation, technical spikes, or code reviews to help the team move faster, remove blockers, or solve critical problems. You will be responsible for: • Growing and developing engineering talent • Creating a high-performance team culture • Supporting delivery of enterprise AI platform capabilities • Improving engineering practices across software development, testing, DevOps, support, and operations • Partnering with product, architecture, AI, business, and technology leaders • Helping the team move quickly while maintaining quality, security, reliability, and maintainability • Occasionally contributing hands-on to implementation, debugging, automation, technical spikes, or code reviews when the situation calls for it This role is ideal for an emerging engineering leader who has already demonstrated strong technical leadership and people leadership potential, and who is looking to continue growing and evolving their career. We are looking for someone who can lead through influence, coach engineers effectively, improve team execution, and help build the operating model for modern AI-enabled software delivery. What We're Looking For We are looking for a manager who can balance people leadership, technical judgment, and delivery execution. The ideal candidate is someone who: • Has a strong software engineering background • Understands how modern software teams build, test, deploy, and operate production systems • Can coach software engineers, SDETs, DevOps engineers, and support engineers • Stays technically engaged with the team's codebase, architecture, development workflow, and operational tooling • Knows when to guide, when to delegate, and when to contribute hands-on to help the team move forward • Knows how to create clarity in ambiguous environments • Can translate business and platform goals into team execution • Has strong instincts around quality, automation, observability, reliability, and supportability • Is comfortable working in a fast-moving AI environment • Can partner well with product owners, architects, data scientists, business stakeholders, and senior leaders • Wants to grow into broader engineering leadership responsibility over time This is a software engineering management role focused on building and growing the team that delivers and operates the Enterprise AI Platform. Required Qualifications • 5+ years of professional software engineering or related technical experience. • 2+ years of technical leadership, team leadership, people leadership, or engineering management experience. • Experience leading, coaching, or mentoring software engineers or related technical team members. • Ability and willingness to stay technically engaged with the team's codebase, architecture, development workflow, and operational tooling, including occasional hands-on contribution when needed. • Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices, including:• Clean code • Source control • Unit testing • CI/CD • Design patterns • Refactoring • Maintainability • Production support • Experience working with software delivery teams that include roles such as:• Software Engineers • SDETs • DevOps Engineers • Support Engineers • Quality Engineers • Experience supporting production software systems, including troubleshooting, incident response, root-cause analysis, or operational improvement. • Strong understanding of Agile delivery practices and modern engineering team workflows. • Ability to develop associates through coaching, feedback, goal setting, performance conversations, and career development planning. • Ability to create a high-performance team environment built on ownership, accountability, trust, and continuous improvement. • Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences. • Strong problem-solving, prioritization, and decision-making skills. • Ability to partner with product, architecture, operations, support, and business teams to drive successful outcomes. • Experience participating in hiring, interviewing, candidate evaluation, or team growth activities. • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Business Information Systems, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Preferred Qualifications Experience with one or more of the following is helpful, but not required: • Managing or leading teams that build enterprise platforms, internal developer platforms, AI platforms, or shared services • Experience with AI-enabled applications, LLM-powered systems, RAG, chatbots, agent workflows, or AI-assisted engineering practices • Familiarity with Azure, Azure AI Foundry, Azure DevOps, or related Microsoft cloud and engineering tools • Experience with engineering teams using AI-powered development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, or similar platforms • Experience leading teams that use automated testing, SDET practices, Playwright, Python-based test automation, or end-to-end testing • Experience with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, release automation, infrastructure automation, or cloud operations • Experience with observability tools such as New Relic, Langfuse, OpenTelemetry, Azure Log Analytics, or similar platforms • Experience managing geographically distributed teams • Experience improving production support models, incident management, operational readiness, or service reliability • Experience working with enterprise systems such as Salesforce, internal platforms, APIs, workflow systems, or service-oriented architectures • Experience leading teams through ambiguity, rapid change, or emerging technology adoption • Experience building succession plans, development plans, hiring strategies, or team capability roadmaps • Interest in continuing to grow leadership responsibility What Success Looks Like You will be successful in this role if you: • Build a team that delivers high-quality software consistently. • Develop engineers, SDETs, DevOps engineers, and support engineers into stronger technical contributors. • Create a culture of ownership, accountability, speed, and quality. • Stay technically close enough to guide decisions, unblock the team, and occasionally contribute hands-on without becoming a bottleneck or displacing team ownership. • Help the team use AI-assisted development tools without lowering engineering standards. • Improve how the team builds, tests, deploys, monitors, and supports software. • Partner effectively with product owners, architects, data scientists, business stakeholders, and senior leaders. • Create clarity when priorities are ambiguous or changing. • Raise the quality of engineering practices across the team. • Identify performance gaps early and address them directly and constructively. • Hire strong talent and help retain high-performing associates. • Help the team connect day-to-day execution to broader Enterprise AI Platform goals. • Grow your own leadership scope, judgment, and organizational influence over time. The national average salary range for this role is$170-220k in base pay, exclusive of any bonuses and benefits.This base salary range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salary offered will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, performance, and internal pay alignment. We do not anticipate that candidates hired will begin at the top of the range however, from time to time, it may occur on a case-by-case basis. Other rewards and benefits may include: 401(k) match, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid-Time-Off, etc. For more information, please visit careers.ascensus.com/#Benefits. Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website. For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual work space and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 MBps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying. Ascensus provides equal employment opportunities to all associates and applicants for employment without regard to ancestry, race, color, religion, sex, (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, criminal conviction record or any other protected category in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local laws ("Protected Status").

Provide architectural leadership for customer engagement and contact center technologies. | Requires 8+ years software engineering with 2+ years lead role and experience in CCaaS platforms, conversational AI, and .NET ecosystem. | Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow. Section 1: Position Summary Provides architectural leadership for customer engagement and contact center technologies, including Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), IVR, IVA, conversational AI, agent desktop, workforce optimization, digital channels, and CRM integrations. Partners with business and technology stakeholders to design scalable customer experience solutions that balance customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, security, reliability, and regulatory requirements. Section 2: Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities Defines architecture and technical standards for customer engagement platforms, including CCaaS, IVR, IVA, omnichannel routing, workforce engagement, and conversational AI solutions. Leads architecture and solution design efforts for contact center modernization initiatives, including integration with CRM platforms, identity and authentication services, telephony providers, knowledge systems, and enterprise applications. Evaluates and implements AI-powered customer engagement capabilities such as virtual agents, voicebots, chatbots, intelligent call routing, authentication solutions, call summarization, and agent-assist technologies. Establishes integration patterns and governance standards for CCaaS and customer experience platforms to ensure scalability, resiliency, observability, security, and maintainability. Relies on extensive experience and sound judgment to prioritize workload and engagement with teams. Establishes strong alignment with Product Owners to understand, influence, and deliver on roadmaps. Sets technical direction and provides proactive oversight to scrum teams so solutions are secure, scalable, efficient, and stable. Leads, coaches, and mentors technical staff. Establishes standards, proofs of concept, and templates that enable teams to deliver high-quality software efficiently. Designs, prototypes, and guides implementation of agent-based solutions (e.g., tool-using workflows, orchestration, retrieval, and guardrails) within approved platforms and enterprise standards, partnering with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as needed. Defines and promotes standards for responsible use of AI and automation across the software lifecycle—including approved tools, data-handling expectations, human review for high-risk decisions, and patterns for integrating AI, model-based, or agent-based capabilities—in partnership with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as applicable. Evaluates AI-enabled tools and practices (e.g., code generation, review support, refactoring, testing, documentation, operations, and agent-based workflows where appropriate) for fit, risk, cost, and maintainability; drives adoption through reference implementations, guardrails, and templates Participates in project discussions to remove technical impediments and assists in establishing estimates. Performs design and development for complex work as an active contributor to the project pipeline. Collaborates with other Application Architects and Platform Architects to identify, socialize, and confirm the best possible solutions. Holds a high degree of responsibility for application architecture and technical execution within a program. Takes ownership and provides technical leadership when production issues require software engineering expertise. Assists with other tasks and projects as assigned. Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients. At Ascensus we are guided by our Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always®. They inspire us every day to prioritize an environment of respect for those we serve and one another and should be visible in your actions on a day-to-day. Supervision Leadership, mentoring, and coaching No HR responsibilities Section 3: Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements Minimum 8 years of Software Engineering experience with a minimum of 2 years in a lead role Passion for leadership, mentoring, and coaching to help others succeed Experience architecting and delivering solutions using Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platforms such as NICE CXone, Genesys Cloud, Five9, Amazon Connect, or equivalent customer engagement platforms. Experience designing and implementing IVR, IVA, conversational AI, chatbot, voicebot, and omnichannel customer engagement solutions. Experience integrating CCaaS and customer engagement platforms with CRM solutions, identity providers, enterprise APIs, workflow engines, knowledge management systems, and backend business applications. Experience with NICE CXone, Genesys Cloud, Five9, Amazon Connect, Cisco Webex Contact Center, or similar CCaaS platforms. Experience with IVA and conversational AI platforms such as ASAPP, Cognigy, Kore.ai, Google CCAI, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Amazon Lex, or similar technologies Knowledge of customer experience architecture patterns including intelligent routing, skills-based routing, workforce engagement, call recording, quality management, customer authentication, fraud prevention, and analytics. Experience evaluating and implementing AI-powered customer service technologies, including agent-assist, conversational AI, speech analytics, knowledge retrieval, call summarization, and automation capabilities. Understanding of telephony, SIP, call flows, routing strategies, IVR design patterns, and cloud-based contact center architectures. Excellent communication and teamwork skills with ability to explain and influence architectural direction Excellent technical skills with deep knowledge of development technologies and tools Excels in a results focused organization Experience with IVA and conversational AI platforms such as ASAPP, Cognigy, Kore.ai, Google CCAI, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Amazon Lex, or similar technologies. Experience with Agile/Scrum, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and related DevOps tooling and practices. Experience with multiple database platforms (e.g., MS SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, or similar). Expert-level proficiency in the .NET ecosystem. Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted engineering tools for implementation, code review support, refactoring, and technical research, including clear human review habits and compliance with data/security policies. Practical experience designing, prototyping, or delivering agent-based or model-assisted application capabilities (e.g., orchestration, tool/API integration, guardrails, observability, and production support considerations). Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in complex production and delivery environments. Nice to Have Skills Experience with customer authentication and fraud prevention solutions such as Pindrop or equivalent technologies. Experience designing omnichannel customer journeys across voice, chat, SMS, email, and digital channels. Experience with Salesforce Service Cloud, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, or other CRM platforms supporting contact center operations. For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual workspace and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 Mbps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.

Lead design and implementation of complex software initiatives with technical oversight and mentoring. | 8+ years software engineering with 2+ years lead role and expert .NET proficiency required. | Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow. Section 1: Position Summary The Application Architect role is positioned between the Platform Architect and the Principal Software Engineer and is responsible for providing technical direction and oversight across scrum teams within a program. Works closely with the Platform Architect to understand business needs and identifies technical solutions. Collaborates with other Platform Architects and Application architects to promote innovation, reusability, stability, scalability, and consistency across programs. Provides technical direction for scrum teams for specific initiatives and assists with initial proof of concepts and template builds. Provides ongoing technical oversight and mentoring across scrum teams to ensure they are progressing in accordance with established architecture direction. Some participation as an individual contributor to assist scrum teams with complex tasks and POCs. Researches new technologies and tools—including AI-assisted engineering, intelligent automation, and related platforms—to stay current and identify innovation opportunities that align with security, privacy, and enterprise governance. Passionate about quality and continuous delivery. Section 2: Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities Relies on extensive experience and sound judgment to prioritize workload and engagement with teams. Establishes strong alignment with Product Owners to understand, influence, and deliver on roadmaps. Sets technical direction and provides proactive oversight to scrum teams so solutions are secure, scalable, efficient, and stable. Leads, coaches, and mentors technical staff. Establishes standards, proofs of concept, and templates that enable teams to deliver high-quality software efficiently. Designs, prototypes, and guides implementation of agent-based solutions (e.g., tool-using workflows, orchestration, retrieval, and guardrails) within approved platforms and enterprise standards, partnering with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as needed. Defines and promotes standards for responsible use of AI and automation across the software lifecycle—including approved tools, data-handling expectations, human review for high-risk decisions, and patterns for integrating AI, model-based, or agent-based capabilities—in partnership with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as applicable. Evaluates AI-enabled tools and practices (e.g., code generation, review support, refactoring, testing, documentation, operations, and agent-based workflows where appropriate) for fit, risk, cost, and maintainability; drives adoption through reference implementations, guardrails, and templates Participates in project discussions to remove technical impediments and assists in establishing estimates. Performs design and development for complex work as an active contributor to the project pipeline. Collaborates with other Application Architects and Platform Architects to identify, socialize, and confirm the best possible solutions. Holds a high degree of responsibility for application architecture and technical execution within a program. Takes ownership and provides technical leadership when production issues require software engineering expertise. Assists with other tasks and projects as assigned. Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients. At Ascensus we are guided by our Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always®. They inspire us every day to prioritize an environment of respect for those we serve and one another and should be visible in your actions on a day-to-day. Supervision Leadership, mentoring, and coaching No HR responsibilities Section 3: Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements Minimum 8 years of Software Engineering experience with a minimum of 2 years in a lead role Passion for leadership, mentoring, and coaching to help others succeed Excellent communication and teamwork skills with ability to explain and influence architectural direction Excellent technical skills with deep knowledge of development technologies and tools Excels in a results focused organization Experience with Agile/Scrum, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and related DevOps tooling and practices. Expertise in server configuration, pipeline automation, and software engineering practices (code quality, branching, releases, operational readiness). Innovative and change-oriented, balanced with pragmatic delivery and risk awareness. Experience with multiple database platforms (e.g., MS SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, or similar). Expert-level proficiency in the .NET ecosystem. Strong knowledge of JavaScript and modern front-end frameworks. Experience designing and evolving microservices-style architectures, including service boundaries, APIs/contracts, resilience patterns, and operational considerations (deployment, monitoring, scaling). Experience with event-driven architecture, including messaging/eventing, asynchronous integration patterns, and reliability considerations (e.g., idempotency, ordering, observability). Experience with test-driven development (TDD) and automated testing frameworks. Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted engineering tools for implementation, code review support, refactoring, and technical research, including clear human review habits and compliance with data/security policies. Practical experience designing, prototyping, or delivering agent-based or model-assisted application capabilities (e.g., orchestration, tool/API integration, guardrails, observability, and production support considerations). Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in complex production and delivery environments. Nice to Have Skills Experience with Container technology Experience with networking, load balancing, clustering Experience with cloud development Experience with Mobile apps For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual workspace and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 Mbps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.