Java software developer Jobs in Colorado Springs, CO

Software Engineering Manager

We are seeking a people-first, technically grounded Engineering Manager to lead high-performing teams that design, build, and deliver secure, scalable software solutions for both government and commercial customers. In this critical role, you will be the leader your team trusts someone who creates clarity, removes barriers, and develops engineers into the best versions of themselves. You will set technical direction by breaking down complex problems and partnering closely with senior engineers and architects, while keeping your teams healthy, aligned, and delivering with velocity and quality.

Your greatest impact will come through your people. You will build a culture of psychological safety, accountability, and growth empowering your teams to take ownership and do their best work. You will partner with Product, Program, and Architecture leaders to translate strategic vision into action, and you will be the bridge that connects your team's work to the broader mission.

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of our engineering organization and make a direct impact on mission-critical systems that serve both government and commercial domains.

Great engineering organizations are built by great leaders not just great technologists. As an Engineering Manager, your ability to communicate clearly, develop people, and build trust is what makes everything else possible. The strongest technical strategy fails without a team that's engaged, supported, and aligned.

If you are motivated by developing people, building teams where engineers thrive, and driving delivery through strong leadership and clear communication, this is your opportunity to lead impactful work that advances national security and commercial innovation.

People Leadership

This is the foundation of the role. Everything else builds on your ability to lead, communicate, and develop people.

• Build trust through transparent, honest communication. Be the leader who gives your team clarity on the "why" not just the "what." Communicate openly about priorities, trade-offs, and hard decisions.
• Develop engineers and grow careers. Provide continuous, meaningful feedback not just quarterly reviews. Understand each team member's goals and actively create opportunities for their growth. Mentor both individual contributors and emerging team leads.
• Create psychological safety. Foster an environment where engineers feel safe to ask questions, raise concerns, surface problems early, and challenge ideas constructively. Teams that feel safe move faster and produce better outcomes.
• Navigate difficult conversations with empathy and directness. Whether it's performance feedback, conflict resolution, or organizational change, communicate hard things honestly while maintaining trust and respect.
• Hire and retain diverse, high-performing talent through inclusive recruiting practices and by building a team culture people don't want to leave.
• Actively listen. Seek to understand before being understood whether with your team, stakeholders, or customers.
• Uphold Bluestaq's core values of trust, ownership, curiosity, teamwork, mentorship, and talent development, fostering a culture where team members take initiative, support one another, and grow together.

Technical Direction & Problem Decomposition

Your role is to understand technical landscapes well enough to break down complex problems, ask the right questions, and set direction.

• Break down complex technical problems into actionable plans that your team can execute against. Translate ambiguity into clarity.
• Set technical direction by partnering with senior engineers, architects, and technical leads leaning on their deep expertise while providing leadership context and strategic alignment.
• Guide teams through major technical decisions (e.g., migrations, modernization, architectural shifts), ensuring alignment with long-term strategy and business goals.
• Champion quality, operational excellence, and system sustainability knowing when to push for speed and when to invest in durability.
• Balance delivery speed with technical integrity by partnering with engineers, product owners, and program managers to make informed trade-offs.

Execution & Delivery

• Drive delivery of initiatives by partnering with product owners, product managers, program managers, or project managers to manage scope, priorities, resources, and timelines.
• Support and reinforce agile practices (e.g., planning, standups, reviews, retrospectives) to maintain cadence and accountability.
• Monitor team throughput, quality, and operational health; intervene early when risk, bottlenecks, or misalignment appear.
• Continuously adjust priorities and capacity in coordination with product and program partners to stay aligned with business and mission needs.
• You use modern AI tools with judgment: integrating them into workflows where they're impactful, reviewing their outputs, and handling proprietary or sensitive data responsibly.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Product, Program, and Architecture to prioritize work, break down initiatives, and align feasibility with business goals.
• Communicate progress, risks, and blockers clearly to leadership and stakeholdersno surprises.
• Bring engineering and operational insights into customer or product discussions to influence roadmaps and scoping.
• Ensure your teams understand the "why" behind what they're building, not just the "what."

Customer Engagement & Solution Delivery

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with government and commercial customers through regular engagement, active listening, and consistent follow-through.
• Serve as a technical point of contact for customers translating their mission needs and operational challenges into engineering priorities and actionable requirements.
• Break down complex technical solutions into clear, compelling narratives that resonate with both technical and non-technical customer stakeholders.
• Partner with business development, capture, and program teams to present technical approaches, demonstrate solution feasibility, and build customer confidence in our delivery capability.
• Lead or contribute to technical discussions, demonstrations, and solution walkthroughs that help customers understand the value and impact of proposed solutions.
• Advocate for the customer's perspective within engineering ensuring that what we build aligns with what the customer actually needs and can adopt.
• Support proposal efforts by contributing technical content, solution designs, and staffing strategies that position Bluestaq to win new work.

Strategic Contribution

• Shape technical roadmaps with program, product, and engineering partners, balancing new capabilities, technical debt reduction, and platform sustainability.
• Continuously improve engineering processes, systems, and tooling to reduce friction and increase impact.
• Make cost-conscious decisions regarding infrastructure, tools, and staffing, in alignment with program and organizational constraints.
• Collaborate with product owners, program managers, business development, and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into feasible technical approaches.

Qualifications and Skills

• Proven experience leading software engineering teams in a fast-paced, agile environment.
• Strong understanding of system design, software architecture, and modern cloud-native engineering practices.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, and develop engineers and technical leaders at multiple levels.
• Hands-on experience with agile methods, backlog planning, and delivery at scale.
• Ability to build trust and alignment across product, architecture, program, and operations teams.
• Familiarity with engaging stakeholders and incorporating user and customer feedback into team execution.
• Ability to balance short-term delivery with long-term sustainability and innovation.
• Comfortable conveying complex technical or operational concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Required Education

• Master's degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 4+ years of engineering or related experience, OR
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 6+ years of engineering or related experience, OR
• Associate degree in a related field and 8+ years of engineering or related experience, OR
• High School Diploma/GED and 10+ years of engineering or related experience.

Why Colorado Springs?

• Tech Talent Hotspot - Ranked #2 up-and-coming tech market in North America by CBRE (2024).
• Top Place to Live - Named #3 Best Place to Live in the U.S. and Most Desirable City overall by U.S. News (2024-25).
• Neighborly Spirit - Recognized as America's Most Neighborly City (2024) for community engagement and quality of life.
• Active Lifestyle Hub - Top 5 for hiking and fitness, blending outdoor recreation and wellness (2022).
• Pet-Friendly Leader - Ranked #1 Most Pet-Friendly City in the U.S. (2023) for furry, scaly, and feathery friends.
• Women's Workforce Haven -