Manager, Software Engineering - Toolpathing

About Us

Founded in 2015 to develop the world's first industrially scalable laser metal additive manufacturing solution, VulcanForms is reshaping how the world manufactures critical products. We build and operate advanced digital infrastructure that enables innovation, accelerates growth, and supports sustainability across aerospace, defense, medical, and other essential industries. Through our vertically integrated capabilities, including scalable additive manufacturing and precision machining, we deliver true end-to-end production at scale by combining cutting-edge technology with a foundation of proven industrial craftsmanship. Our team brings deep expertise in manufacturing, materials science, software, automation, and operations, united by a shared commitment to quality, curiosity, and accountability. We foster an inclusive culture where people take ownership, solve meaningful problems, and continuously learn, because we believe diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes.

Job Purpose

We're looking for a Manager of Software Engineering to lead our Toolpathing team - the group responsible for one of the most technically interesting problems in manufacturing software: turning a 3D geometry into precise, optimized instructions for a multi-laser gantry system, including coordinated gantry movement and per-laser power modulation across our full array.

This is a "fix and build" leadership role. You'll step into a talented team of five engineers that needs structure, process, and strategic direction as much as it needs technical depth. In the near term, you'll focus on bringing order to a reactive development environment - establishing a release process, documenting what exists, and building a roadmap. Over time, you'll drive that roadmap forward and evolve the team's capabilities to match the ambition of the platform we're building.

We're looking for a leader first - someone who can organize, motivate, and grow a high-performing team. Technical credibility matters, but it doesn't have to come from writing code day-to-day. What matters is that you can engage meaningfully with a complex system, ask the right questions, and guide your team toward better architectural and engineering decisions. This role is not for someone who wants to stay heads-down in the codebase. It's for someone who can earn deep technical credibility with their team and step back to see the larger picture - identifying constraints, challenging assumptions, and bringing in solutions the team hasn't considered yet.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of 5 software engineers, with the expectation that the team grows as the platform scales.
• Establish and own a structured software development lifecycle: sprint planning, release management, verification, and validation.
• Drive the team from reactive, ad-hoc delivery toward roadmap-driven execution using Scrum best practices.
• Build a culture of documentation, code quality, accountability, and engineering craftsmanship.
• Provide hands-on technical mentorship, enabling engineers to grow and succeed in a complex, high-performance codebase.
• Lead a comprehensive effort to document the existing codebase and establish a shared understanding of system architecture.
• Develop and maintain a technology roadmap that reflects both near-term operational needs and long-term platform goals.
• Challenge the team's assumptions about how problems get solved - for example, exploring distributed or cloud-based compute strategies for build performance rather than defaulting to vertical scaling.
• Define architecture patterns and development standards that will scale with team and product growth.
• Drive initiatives to improve performance, precision, and reliability across the toolpathing stack.
• Work closely with hardware, controls, manufacturing, and process engineering teams to ensure toolpathing software evolves alongside the machine platform.
• Translate complex technical tradeoffs into clear communication for non-engineering stakeholders.
• Ensure software requirements are aligned across hardware, NPI, quality, and manufacturing teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience, with 2+ years managing or leading engineering teams.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Demonstrated experience establishing and improving software development processes: release management, testing practices, sprint planning, and road mapping.
• Ability to engage meaningfully with a complex, performance-critical codebase - reading and reasoning through existing code, identifying architectural issues, and providing technical guidance - even without being the primary author.
• Proven ability to mentor engineers, drive technical quality, and build team culture.
• Strong communication skills: able to engage with engineers at the code level and with leadership at the strategy level.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in modern C++ (C++14 or later) in application-layer, performance-critical systems.
• Experience with computational geometry, geometric algorithms, or 3D data workflows (e.g., mesh processing, slicing, scan strategy generation).
• Background in CAD/CAM systems, additive manufacturing software, or similar geometry-heavy domains.
• Familiarity with distributed or cloud-based compute architectures for high-performance workloads.
• Experience with multithreaded programming, GPU compute, or other parallel processing paradigms.
• Background in manufacturing, robotics, or hardware-adjacent software development (application layer, not embedded firmware).

VulcanForms offers a competitive salary and equity package. Actual compensation is based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition, VulcanForms provides comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; generous paid time off; and a 401(k) plan with company match.


The annual base salary range for this position is $164,000 to $226,000.