Senior People Manager, Development

At Finastra, we’re a global leader in financial services software, dedicated to expanding access to financial services and shaping what’s next for the industry. Our technology powers mission‑critical solutions across Lending, Payments and Universal Banking, supporting over 7,000 customers, including 80% of the world’s top 50 banks, in more than 110 countries.

At Finastra, we’re a global leader in financial services software, dedicated to expanding access to financial services and shaping what’s next for the industry. Our technology powers mission‑critical solutions across Lending, Payments and Universal Banking, supporting over 7,000 customers, including 80% of the world’s top 50 banks, in more than 110 countries.

What will you contribute?

Reporting to Head of FM Engineering, we are seeking an experienced Senior Engineering Manager to provide strong technical, delivery, and site leadership for teams working on a mission‑critical C/C++ based Financial Messaging product suite, supporting major financial market infrastructures such as SWIFT.

This role combines technical authority, engineering delivery ownership, people leadership, and operational accountability. The successful candidate will shape how teams work, strengthen technical discipline, increase hands‑on C/C++ development capacity, and ensure a high‑engagement, high‑performance engineering culture across the India sites.

The Senior Engineering Manager will manage resources using Agile methodologies, support hiring and career development, and foster a high‑performance engineering culture.

A key expectation for this role is the daily use of Generative AI (GenAI) tools to accelerate development, improve quality, enhance productivity, and drive innovation. The Senior Engineering Manager must actively embrace, promote, and model the adoption of GenAI across the team.

The Senior Engineering Manager will also collaborate closely with Product Owners, Architects, Program Managers, developers, and end users to ensure successful implementation of product capabilities.

Responsibilities & Deliverables

Technical & Engineering Leadership (Hands-on)

• Provide hands‑on technical leadership while overseeing end‑to‑end engineering activities, including technical design, systems analysis, coding, unit testing, and system integration.
• Remain actively involved in design and implementation decisions, ensuring solutions are technically sound, maintainable, scalable, and aligned with architectural standards.
• Combine direct contribution (e.g. code reviews, complex defect resolution, targeted development) with oversight of team execution, ensuring high quality and consistency across the codebase.
• Guide engineers through complex technical challenges, setting clear direction while enabling teams to deliver effectively.
• Ensure engineering work adheres to agreed standards for quality, testing, security, and performance, particularly in a financial‑market, high‑availability environment.
• Provide technical oversight for data persistence, configuration, and integration aspects relevant to the financial messaging platform, ensuring performance, reliability, and cost‑effective operation.

Generative AI (GenAI) Adoption & Enablement

• Use Generative AI tools regularly to support:
  • Solution design and architecture exploration
  • Code development and refactoring
  • Defect analysis and root‑cause investigation
  • Documentation and knowledge sharing
• Actively embrace, promote, and model effective and responsible use of GenAI within the team.
• Encourage engineers to leverage GenAI to improve productivity, quality, and consistency, while maintaining strong engineering judgement.
• Help embed GenAI practices into daily engineering workflows where appropriate.

L3 Support & Production Ownership

• Own the L3 support responsibility for the product area, with a defined and realistic scope:
  • Qualification and prioritisation of production issues
  • Clear and timely communication of status and progress
  • Routing of required product changes to appropriate development teams
• For production‑blocking incidents, take a leadership role by:
  • Facilitating incident and resolution meetings
  • Ensuring development teams are actively progressing fixes
  • Coordinating information flow between R&D, Operations, Service Desk, and other stakeholders
• Continuously improve L3 processes, escalation paths, and communication effectiveness.
• Ensure on‑call support and rota arrangements are practical, sustainable, and well understood.

Team & People Leadership

• Act as site leader for engineering teams in India.
• Manage and grow a strong local engineering team.
• Attract, hire, develop, and retain high‑performing engineering talent.
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and structured career growth opportunities.
• Build a culture of ownership, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Promote a mindset of experimentation and productivity through use of GenAI and modern engineering tools.

Execution & Delivery Excellence

• Deliver software releases on time, with high quality, and in line with agreed plans and priorities.
• Drive Agile execution and SDLC best practices.
• Embed quality early by ensuring automation and testability are incorporated from the start.
• Prioritize and manage workloads across multiple time zones and stakeholders.
• Continuously refine engineering processes to improve velocity and predictability.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with:
  • Product Owners and Product Management
  • Solution / Application Architects
  • Developers and QA
  • Operations and Infrastructure
  • Program & Project Management
  • Business & Systems Analysts
  • Offshore / outsourced engineering partners
• Ensure successful implementation of product capabilities through strong cross‑functional alignment.
• Represent R&D interests confidently and professionally, leading discussions on technical trade‑offs and delivery risks
• Facilitate cross-functional meetings effectively.

Required Experience

• 10–15 years of professional software development experience in a senior engineering role.
• 5+ years of management experience, including leading offshore or distributed teams.
• Demonstrated experience managing development teams and delivering enterprise‑grade software.
• Strong background in C/C++ software development, with hands‑on experience in complex, high‑availability systems.
• Experience building, operating, or evolving C/C++ based platforms deployed in SaaS and cloud‑based environments, using modern software architectures.
• Experience supporting high‑availability production systems, including L3 support and incident management.
• Proven track record leading complex projects across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Strong ability to learn and adapt to new languages, frameworks, and technologies quickly.
• Demonstrated ability to act as a technical authority while managing people effectively.
• Solid understanding of Agile / Scrum delivery models.
• Hands‑on experience using Generative AI tools as part of day‑to‑day engineering or leadership workflows.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Ability to build trust and respect through technical credibility and consistent leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to drive process improvements and engineering rigor.

Personal Attributes

• Strong, pragmatic engineering leader who leads by example.
• Comfortable balancing hands‑on technical work, people leadership, and operational responsibility.
• Calm, structured, and effective under pressure.
• Passionate about engineering excellence, innovation, and team health.

We are proud to offer a range of incentives to our employees worldwide. These benefits are available to everyone, regardless of grade, and reflect the values we uphold:

·       Flexibility: Enjoy unlimited vacation, based on your location and business priorities. Hybrid working arrangements, and inclusive policies such as paid time off for voting, bereavement, and sick leave.

·       Well-being: Access Confidential one-on-one therapy through our Employee Assistance Program, find support from our network of Wellbeing Champions and Gather Groups, and a calendar of monthly events and initiatives designed to help you thrive - Inside and Outside of work.

·       Medical, life & disability insurance, retirement plan, lifestyle and other benefits*

·       Sustainability: Benefit from paid time off for volunteering and donation matching.

·       DEI: Participate in multiple DE&I groups for open involvement (e.g., Count Me In, Culture@Finastra, Proud@Finastra, Disabilities@Finastra, Women@Finastra).

·       Career Development: Access online learning and accredited courses through our Skills & Career Navigator tool.

·       Recognition: Be part of our global recognition program, Finastra Celebrates, and contribute to regular employee surveys to help shape Finastra and foster a culture where everyone is engaged and empowered to perform at their best.

*Specific benefits may vary by location.

At Finastra, each individual is unique, bringing their own ideas, thoughts, cultural beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences together. We learn from one another, embrace and celebrate our differences, and create an environment where everyone feels safe to be themselves.

Be unique, be exceptional, and help us make a difference at Finastra!

We are proud to offer a range of incentives to our employees worldwide. These benefits are available to everyone, regardless of grade, and reflect the values we uphold:

·       Flexibility: Enjoy unlimited vacation, based on your location and business priorities. Hybrid working arrangements, and inclusive policies such as paid time off for voting, bereavement, and sick leave.

·       Well-being: Access Confidential one-on-one therapy through our Employee Assistance Program, find support from our network of Wellbeing Champions and Gather Groups, and a calendar of monthly events and initiatives designed to help you thrive - Inside and Outside of work.

·       Medical, life & disability insurance, retirement plan, lifestyle and other benefits*

·       Sustainability: Benefit from paid time off for volunteering and donation matching.

·       DEI: Participate in multiple DE&I groups for open involvement (e.g., Count Me In, Culture@Finastra, Proud@Finastra, Disabilities@Finastra, Women@Finastra).

·       Career Development: Access online learning and accredited courses through our Skills & Career Navigator tool.

·       Recognition: Be part of our global recognition program, Finastra Celebrates, and contribute to regular employee surveys to help shape Finastra and foster a culture where everyone is engaged and empowered to perform at their best.

*Specific benefits may vary by location.

At Finastra, each individual is unique, bringing their own ideas, thoughts, cultural beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences together. We learn from one another, embrace and celebrate our differences, and create an environment where everyone feels safe to be themselves.

Be unique, be exceptional, and help us make a difference at Finastra!