Company Overview: Incubated inside UP.Labs, we're building scheduling intelligence for manufacturers - a vertical AI company focused on the gap between legacy ERP/MRP systems and modern production reality. Our thesis: the production scheduling tools manufacturers rely on today-AS400 green screens, rigid APS solvers, and endless spreadsheet workarounds-weren't built for the volatility these teams face daily. We're building a new system from scratch. Not another configuration layer on top of SAP. Not another dashboard. A fundamentally different approach to how manufacturers sense, respond to, and learn from schedule disruptions. We're a small, technical team in the 0-to-1 phase. No legacy codebase. No inherited architecture. Every design decision is still on the table. If that excites you more than it scares you, keep reading. The Role: We're looking for an Optimization Systems Engineer to own the integration architecture between scheduling and optimization algorithms and our product platform. You won't be writing solvers from scratch, you'll be the person who knows which solvers, heuristics, and optimization approaches to use, how to configure them, and most importantly, how to architect the systems that make them work inside a real product that real planners depend on. You'll be a peer to our Head of Data Platforms and Senior Data Scientist, forming the technical core of our scheduling intelligence capability. Your domain is the bridge between algorithmic intelligence and production software—making sure the math actually works in the messy, constraint-heavy, constantly-changing reality of a manufacturing floor. This is a lead role with a clear path to technical leadership as we scale. You'll have significant influence over our architecture, our technical roadmap, and the product we ship. What you'll do: APS integration architecture - Design how scheduling algorithms, constraint solvers, and optimization tools plug into our platform - Own the interfaces, data contracts, and execution patterns that connect algorithmic intelligence to our product Algorithm-to-product translation - Take optimization approaches (MIP solvers, heuristics, constraint programming) and architect production-grade systems around them - Own APIs, orchestration, state management, and rollback patterns Domain knowledge as a technical asset - Bring deep knowledge of how MRP runs work, where APS tools break down, and why planners abandon optimization outputs - Translate that knowledge into every design decision Technical evaluation of optimization tooling - Evaluate and select solvers, libraries, and frameworks - Know the tradeoffs between commercial solvers (Gurobi, CPLEX) and open-source alternatives and recommend based on our constraints, not vendor marketing System design for scheduling intelligence - Architect the software layer that handles schedule generation, what-if analysis, constraint evaluation, and recommendation delivery - Make it fast, observable, and trustworthy Cross-functional interface - Work directly with our data science and data platform teams to define what data you need, in what shape, at what latency - Translate fluently between the algorithmic world and the engineering world Who you are: We care more about how you think than how many years are on your resume. That said, the right person probably looks something like this: Mindset - You've built optimization software and you've shipped it—not configured it, not managed the team that built it. You've written the code, debugged the edge cases, and dealt with the fallout when the solver returned garbage because the input data was wrong - You've seen the inside of ERP/MRP/APS systems and have strong opinions about what's broken. You've felt the frustration of watching a planner ignore an optimization output because it didn't account for something obvious. You want to fix that - You're a builder, not an operator. A blank repo and open architecture excites you more than maintaining an existing system - You're an AI-native developer. You use tools like Cursor, think in terms of spec-driven development, and leverage AI to move faster without sacrificing quality—this is how we work - You default to simplicity. You know the difference between elegant and over-engineered. When a heuristic solves 90% of the problem, you don't reach for a MIP solver Technical - Strong software engineering fundamentals—you can architect systems, not just write algorithms. API design, state management, testing strategies, deployment patterns are not foreign concepts - Fluency in optimization paradigms: linear/mixed-integer programming, constraint programming, heuristics, metaheuristics—and knowing when to use what - Experience with production scheduling, supply chain planning, or adjacent domains (transportation, logistics, energy). Manufacturing-specific experience is a plus but not required—the constraint-thinking transfers - Comfortable working in Python; experience with C/C++ for performance-critical components is a strong plus - Familiar with modern data infrastructure (Databricks, Delta Lake, or similar) at a level that makes you a good partner to the data team About UP.Labs: UP.Labs builds high-growth technology startups that enable faster, cleaner, and safer movement of people and goods. Our platform is unique in three ways: - Risk: We reward our team and partners with meaningful equity. - Technology: We build and launch scalable technology products from day one. - Industry Focus: We stay deeply focused on the underlying fabric of mobility and logistics.

• Manage a squad of engineers through regular 1:1s, structured feedback, and individualized growth plans. • Own performance management end-to-end: set clear expectations, deliver honest and timely feedback, run performance reviews, and address underperformance proactively. • Partner with engineers on career pathing—helping ICs grow toward senior, staff, or leadership roles based on their goals and the company’s needs. • Identify and close skill gaps through targeted development opportunities: training, mentorship, stretch projects, and learning programs. • Build and maintain psychological safety within the team—an environment where engineers speak up, take ownership, and learn from failure without fear. • Lead engineering hiring for your squad: define role requirements, partner with people, conduct structured interviews, and make hiring decisions. • Build a compelling candidate experience that reflects Cerby’s engineering culture and mission. • Proactively manage retention risk by understanding what motivates each team member and addressing concerns before they become attrition. • Own delivery predictability and team velocity: ensure the squad ships consistently against committed OKRs and sprint goals. • Optimize team rituals—standups, sprint planning, retrospectives—for efficiency, clarity, and continuous improvement. • Communicate team status, risks, and dependencies clearly and proactively to engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders. • Define and track team OKRs aligned with company and product goals, and report on progress with transparency. • Serve as the primary point of contact for engineering leadership and cross-functional partners on people and delivery topics.

Role Description As an Engineering Manager, you will deliver results through the leadership of experienced engineers and specialists who operate with a high degree of autonomy and accountability. This role leads an engineering team supporting advisor‑facing digital experiences, including advisor profiles, advisor search, and advisor‑to‑client matching within the Connections product space. You will provide strategic and operational direction aligned to organizational objectives, establish team‑level practices and operating norms, and partner closely with product, design, and business stakeholders to drive discovery, prioritization, and delivery. The Engineering Manager is responsible for developing team objectives, metrics, and capacity plans, fostering strong engineering culture and feedback practices, and translating enterprise policies into clear guidance that enables teams to deliver high‑quality, discoverable, and scalable solutions that advance Thrivent’s digital advisor experience. Duties & Responsibilities - Designing Solutions - Review technical solution design and architecture and provide guidance and direction. - Take part in system design and architecture conversations with the team to land approaches to deliver solutions. - Review technical solution and support the execution of the solution. - Tie solutions back to user impact and business objectives. - Developing Software - Has developed software. - Can read code and stays up to date on best practices. - Ensure code reviews are completed - problem solving and analytical skills. - Ability to tie practical engineering experience into mentorship of engineering staff. - Learning and applying new techniques. - Promotes and empowers sharing ideas, best practices, etc. - Anticipates and analyzes trends in technology and assesses the impact of emerging technologies on the business. - Adept at connecting new techniques to the team that promotes organic adoption. - Collaborating within team - Supports the team agile practices and learning events/trainings. - Helps break down barriers for the team. - Engages in sprint demos; understands the desired and actual outcomes as well as the technology delivered by the team. - Partner with Product Manager on initiatives/features/epics and provides clarity on desired outcomes as well as technical expertise. - Collaborates with Product Manager for strategies, operating plans, targets, and measures for product groups. - Creates a positive team environment where individuals have psychological safety and work collaboratively while understanding, respecting, challenging, and appreciating each other’s ideas. - Collaborating across teams - Supports and empowers teams to broker solutions across products. - Understands how the product integrates with other products and ensures consistency in approach to work towards a common goal/outcome. - Builds strong working relationships with peers across teams. - Proactively identifies cross-team challenges and works to empower teams to solve collaboratively. - Collaborating across the organization - Align your team with the priorities of the company and the technology organization for a given product area. - Setting product/platform technology strategy - Leads in setting the product and platform technology vision, strategies, initiatives, roadmaps, objectives, and alignments. - Represents the business value of technology upgrades, etc., and influences prioritization in the product roadmap. - Empowers the team to select the right tool and platforms for the given product area. - Can tell the story of how our technical strategy delivers positive outcomes for our product from a user-centric perspective. - Defining Engineering standards/patterns - Collaborating with Engineers to ensure Engineering practices are clear and effective. - Promote engineering practices and continuous improvement (both in our processes and our products). - Contributes to the creation of enterprise frameworks and patterns. - Proactively intervene when standards are not being followed and correct the behavior or process. - Selecting & Managing Technology Vendors - Be an advocate to the team to define criteria for selecting the right platform/technology. - Guides the team to build consensus on an approach and driving a build vs buy decision with the team. - Execute or manage the overall technology solutions, platforms for the product groups and associated vendor relationships. - Coaching Engineers - Provide timely constructive feedback, guidance, and coaching to help engineers grow as engineering professionals. - Provide career planning advice to engineers and create development plans to help them achieve their career goals. - Actively mentor team members through direct connections and alignment to their long-term career goals. - Recruiting/building talent - Lead the process of selecting and engaging the right consulting partners. - Plan in advance for future people needs for the product group, collaborate with the other teams on the recruitment process. - Recruit, develop, and sustain a high-performing team while promoting a culture of shared accountability, operational excellence, and partnership across the organization. - Models Thrivent’s leadership competencies – courage, collaboration, and commitment by demonstrating resiliency, working together to make the best decisions, and holding yourself and others accountable. - Supports and/or develops an environment in which Thrivent employees and colleagues are focused on continuous improvement, exceptional employee engagement, and an unwavering commitment to our clients. - Shapes and/or supports a culture that represents the Thrivent purpose, promise, and values, ensuring that Thrivent’s trust and reputation remain strong with its clients. - Manage a team of direct and indirect staff. Qualifications - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or other technical field or equivalent work experience. - 8+ years of progressively responsible positions in Information Technology including 5+ years’ experience in IT discipline, e.g., customer relationship management, portfolio strategy, and roadmap development. - 3+ years of leadership experience in all aspects of a specific IT discipline, e.g. customer relationship management, portfolio strategy, and/or demand management. - 3+ years’ management/supervisory experience in specific IT functional area discipline, e.g. applications development or equivalent skills leading major technical projects with accountability for enforcing talent management needs and performance standards. - Demonstrated leadership and experience managing multidiscipline, high-performance work teams. - Strong competency in project management and execution of multiple or large projects. - Experience working with customers to develop solutions to complex business problems. - Proven ability to communicate effectively with internal/external stakeholders to support business initiatives. - Proven ability to function in an environment which requires flexibility, good judgment, and intelligent decision-making, often based on limited information and/or extreme conditions. - Ability to formulate, implement, and evaluate plans, programs, and procedures applicable to customer relationship and demand management. Preferred - Financial Services industry experience. - Experience in marketing/customer acquisition products. - Experience in front-end technical development. - Experience using experimentation to deliver iterative user feedback. - Experience working in a matrix management organization. - Experience with product development and management. Pay Transparency Thrivent’s long-term growth depends on attracting, rewarding, and retaining people who are committed to helping others thrive with purpose. We accomplish this by offering a wide variety of market competitive compensation programs to attract, reward, and retain top talent. The applicable salary or hourly wage range for this full-time role is $139,455.00 - $188,676.00 per year, which factors in various geographic regions. The base pay actually offered will be determined by a variety of factors including, but not limited to, location, relevant experience, skills, and knowledge, business needs, market demand, and other factors Thrivent deems important. Benefits - Various bonuses (including, for example, annual or long-term incentives). - Medical, dental, and vision insurance. - Health savings account. - Flexible spending account. - 401k. - Pension. - Life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. - Disability insurance. - Supplemental protection insurance. - 20 days of Paid Time Off each year. - Sick and Safe Time. - 10 paid company holidays. - Volunteer Time Off. - Paid parental leave. - EAP. - Well-being benefits, and other employee benefits.

Role Description In your role as Technology Lead, Experience Engineering within our Digital organization, you are responsible for delivering customer-facing marketing website and ecommerce experiences. Specifically, you will lead our Experience Engineering team, focused on building and optimizing digital experiences that drive engagement and conversion. As a technology leader, you will build and lead a lean, high-performing team using agile principles to design and deliver scalable, high-quality solutions. With a strong customer-centric perspective, you will focus on delivering measurable improvements in user engagement, performance, and business outcomes. You will also play a key role in advancing how AI is applied within engineering workflows, helping the team operate more efficiently and effectively. As the Technology Lead, you will divide your time between team leadership and hands-on development, leading engineers while contributing directly to delivery. You will partner closely with Marketing, Design, Platform Engineering, and DevOps, using data and insights to guide decisions and continuously improve the customer experience. You will collaborate with other technology leads to provide technical direction and alignment across teams, and must be comfortable adapting your leadership style to the situation, leading when needed and contributing as an individual engineer when appropriate. Job Duties - Embrace agile methodologies and a customer-centric digital experience model to drive iterative development and rapid time-to-market - Lead delivery of customer-facing features across web and ecommerce - Define, prioritize, and communicate work clearly across Marketing, Design, and Engineering stakeholders - Design and build scalable frontend solutions, including component systems - Contribute directly to critical development work - Engage stakeholders to understand needs and guide solution decisions - Collaborate with Platform Engineering on CMS, commerce, and API integrations - Monitor performance, analyze metrics, and use experimentation to drive continuous improvement in conversion and engagement - Ensure reliable, high-performing experiences through strong testing and quality practices - Drive consistency through reusable components and shared standards - Stay current with modern frontend and AI-assisted development practices - Apply AI-assisted development practices to improve team efficiency and delivery quality - Build a focused, accountable, high-performing team culture Qualifications - Bachelor degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent combination of education and recent relevant work experience required - 5+ years in a technical leadership or team lead role, including developing technology strategies and driving innovation - Strong experience with modern frontend frameworks (React, Next.js or similar) - Experience building component libraries or design systems - Understanding of web performance, accessibility, and SEO - Experience integrating with CMS, ecommerce platforms, and APIs - Experience working in agile teams - Excellent verbal and written communication skills Requirements - Experience in ecommerce or high-traffic consumer websites - Familiarity with headless CMS and composable architectures - Experience with experimentation or personalization - Experience using AI-assisted development tools Benefits - Comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees - Eligibility to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program - 15% Annual: Individual Target - Base pay range: $101,900.00 - $175,000.00 USD