Interfaces & Database Manager

What We Do:  

KinderSystems ( is the leading provider of subsidy management software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to state agencies, Head Start programs, and child care providers. Built and supported by industry experts, KinderSystems envisions a world where all families, no matter their income level, have access to high quality child care. Hundreds of agencies in the publicly funded child care sector use KinderSystems applications via the cloud or mobile devices to streamline their operations, ensure compliance with government regulations, and meet the needs of the families they serve. 

The Interfaces & Database Manager will lead the day-to-day delivery of our import/export and integration infrastructure, while directly managing a small team of interfaces developers. This is a senior, hands-on technical role — you'll set the direction for how we build and scale interface solutions while staying close to the code as a player-coach, splitting your time between individual contributor work and people leadership (70%/30%). You'll partner with clients and engineering leadership to translate business requirements into robust, maintainable data architecture, and you'll be the people leader your team relies on for guidance on complex design decisions. 

Primary Responsibilities 

• Directly manage the interfaces/database development team, including 1:1s, performance feedback, career development, and day-to-day workload prioritization. 
• Own and drive Sprint and Capacity Planning for the team. 
• Define departmental goals and key metrics for the interfaces team (e.g., delivery velocity, defect rate, deployment reliability, AI-tool adoption), and report progress against them regularly to engineering leadership. 
• Own the technical roadmap for backend application components and ETL processes, including stored procedures, SQL Jobs, SSIS packages, APIs, and PowerShell/Batch scripts. 
• Oversee new import/export and integration solutions from client requirements, evaluating trade-offs and setting technical direction before implementation begins. 
• Maintain and enforce database design standards, ETL best practices, and coding conventions for the interfaces team. 
• Operate as a player-coach — contributing hands-on to design, coding, and troubleshooting alongside the team, not just directing it. 
• Assist team to analyze and resolve complex, high-impact data and performance issues, including deep query and system-level performance tuning. 
• Drive team adoption of Claude Code across daily development workflows, tracking and reporting AI-tool adoption as one of the team’s departmental metrics. 
• Guide debugging, testing, and validation strategy for new and modified code, partnering closely with QA during testing phases. 
• Lead high-risk or large-scale deployments, including scheduling/coordinating after-hours deployments, database scripting, and critical job execution.
• Identify inefficient, manual, or error-prone processes across database development, deployment, integration, and support workflows. Evaluate root causes, eliminate unnecessary complexity, and implement scalable improvements through automation, standardization, tooling, and process redesign. Partner with engineering, QA, product, and operations teams to reduce friction, improve reliability, shorten delivery cycles, and continuously improve how database-related work is performed across the organization. 
• Contribute to hiring decisions for the team, including interviewing and evaluating candidates. 
• Oversee and review technical architecture documentation, including data structure design, integration patterns, and implementation rationale for consistency, accuracy, and best practices.
• Report progress, technical decisions, and blocking issues in daily product standups. 
• Mentor developers across all levels on troubleshooting approach, root-cause tracing, and solution design. 
• Stay current with technical training, industry best practices, and company standards. 

What We’re Looking For 

• Able to ramp up quickly with minimal side-by-side training and figure things out independently. 
• A strong sense of ownership and personal investment in the projects you lead. 
• Driven and self-motivated, with a high degree of comfort operating autonomously. 
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and complexity without waiting for complete direction. 
• Able to context-switch fluidly between hands-on technical work, team management, and client-facing conversations throughout the day. 
• Resilient under pressure and able to stay effective through high-stress situations, such as production issues or tight deadlines. 
• Available and responsive outside standard business hours for scheduled deployments and P1 production incidents. 

Requirements 

• 2–3 years of experience directly managing a team — including 1:1s, performance feedback, and coaching — while remaining comfortable operating in a player-coach capacity. 
• Advanced, architect-level technical skills (8+ years of experience): large-scale performance tuning, ETL design, execution plan analysis, and enterprise-level troubleshooting. 
• Strong hands-on experience with stored procedures, SQL Jobs, SSIS packages, APIs, Azure Data Factor, and PowerShell/Batch scripting. 
• Experience setting coding and documentation standards and leading code reviews. 
• Experience mentoring developers and contributing to hiring decisions. 
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code) and driving their adoption across a team. 

What We Offer:

• The ability to work remotely from anywhere in the US; travel required once per year
• Compensation range is $180,000-$200,000 annually; based on experience 
• Benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, company holidays, generous PTO, and Paid Parental Leave. 
• Friendly, supportive, and adventurous environment with a team of engaged colleagues 

KinderSystems actively embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a meaningful way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be which is why we do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

All persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States (without sponsorship) and complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.