Engineering Senior Manager Jobs in San Diego, CA
Engineering Senior Manager jobs in San Diego are concentrated in Sorrento Valley, Kearny Mesa, and the UTC corridor, with strong demand from defense contractors, biotech firms, and semiconductor companies. Employers actively hiring include Qualcomm, Shield AI, and Murata America. Scan the live roles below and apply to whichever ones fit.
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Business Unit:
Cubic Transportation SystemsCompany Details:
When you join Cubic, you become part of a company that creates and delivers technology solutions in transportation to make people’s lives easier by simplifying their daily journeys, and defense capabilities to help promote mission success and safety for those who serve their nation. Led by our talented teams around the world, Cubic is committed to solving global issues through innovation and service to our customers and partners.We have a top-tier portfolio of businesses, including Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Cubic Defense (CD). Explore more on Cubic.com.
Job Details:
Job Summary:
The Senior Engineering Manager oversees software engineering projects ensuring conformance with plans, policies, procedures, budgets, and schedules. Establishes and interprets plans, objectives, policies and procedures. Take overall responsibility for device software development across a group of projects and effectively manage the Software Development Supervisors and Software Managers to ensure that the group meets the milestones and objectives of the projects undertaken. This position typically works under limited supervision and direction. Incumbents of this position will regularly exercise discretionary and substantial decision-making authority
Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities:
- Working in collaboration with the Software Development Supervisors/Managers and their teams to ensure that the group is aligned to achieve the required milestones and objectives of the projects undertaken
- Assigns projects to software managers and prepares personnel to take on progressively higher levels of responsibility in the Department
- Review and ensure resource plans are appropriate across multiple projects within the group
- Responsible for assigning roles, responsibilities and the day-to-day management of the team
- Coach and mentor team members to continually improve their performance. Manage recruitment activities, annual performance reviews, timesheet approval and holiday requests
- Collaborate and share technical expertise within the department and other departments as required
- Analyze and contribute to system and subsystem requirements specifications and design definitions
- Ensure that design, development and test of applications and programs support the company’s products
- Ensure that design, development and test software programs follow established quality standards and in accordance with CTS engineering procedures including coding, unit testing and software configuration control.
- Complete high- and low-level detailed software design specifications, storyboards and interface specifications
- Responsible for cost and schedule performance of all sub-cost center activities
- Prepares or assists in the preparation of the departmental budget
- Provide support of products through conception to product delivery including problem solving, defect maintenance and support to customer services
- Prepare reports, manuals, procedures and status reports
- Supports the bids and proposal and customer variation requests
- Keeps abreast of improvements and developments within software engineering techniques
- Comply with Cubic’s Quality Management System
- Comply with Cubic Occupational Health, Safety and Environment policies and procedures.
- Comply with security in accordance with established policies and procedures of the organization
- Other duties as requested
General Duties and Responsibilities:
- Comply with Cubic’s Quality Management System
- Comply with Cubic Occupational Health, Safety and Environment policies and procedures
- Comply with security in accordance with established policies and procedures of the organizations
- Comply with Cubic Human Resources Procedures
- Other duties as requested
Minimum Job Requirements:
- Minimum 16 years of experience in a Software Engineering role with a strong understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
- Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering, computer science or relation field or equivalent professional experience or combination of both plus a minimum of 8 years of related experience as Engineering Manager.
- A proven track record of leading teams and projects successfully to meet required milestones and objectives including setting objectives, performance management, development, and cost controls
- Result orientated and capable of delegating responsibility to Software Development Supervisors to lead a project including developing concepts, objectives, resource requirements and cost controls
- An experienced software engineer with a proven track record of specification, design and development of software
- Up to date knowledge of software engineering, programming language and technologies
- Effective decision maker with the ability to consider the impact and take accountability for decisions made
- Proven track record of problem solving and effective resolution. With the ability to define test schedules and data requirements
- Able to prepare reports, manuals, procedures and status reports
- Desirable to have Previous experience of Cubic products
- Desirable to have Experience of working with transportation technology or other similar industry
- Self-motivated, pragmatic with the ability to motivate and lead others to achieve individual and shared goals
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels
- Excellent interpersonal skills with a willingness to share knowledge, coach and collaborate effectively with individuals and other departments
- Strong organization and planning skills with the ability to handle multiple projects and undertake new tasks quickly
- Diligent, with attention to detail. Able to solve problems and find effective and timely resolutions
- Ability to travel, may need to work occasionally at other company sites
- The description provided above is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties, responsibilities, and requirements. Duties, responsibilities and requirements may change over time and according to business
The description provided above is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties, responsibilities and requirements. Duties, responsibilities and requirements may change over time and according to business needs.
Cubic Pay Range:
$211,700.00 - $237,700.00 + benefits.
The Cubic pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.
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Worker Type:
Employee
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic under applicable law.
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Find JobsEngineering Senior Manager Job Market in San Diego
Who's Hiring
- Qualcomm87

- Shield AI52

- Murata America35M
- Northrop Grumman35

- NV517

Top Industries Hiring
- Telecommunications35
- Technology & Software35
- Electronics & Hardware35
- Consulting & Professional Services35
- Energy17
Engineering Senior Manager Jobs in San Diego: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a engineering senior manager job in San Diego?
Focus your search on San Diego's defense and aerospace corridor in Kearny Mesa and Sorrento Valley, where engineering leadership roles are most concentrated. Biotech and medical device companies in Torrey Pines and UTC also hire regularly at this level. Candidates with cross-functional program experience, security clearance eligibility, and familiarity with government contract environments tend to move faster through hiring in this market.
Which companies hire engineering senior managers in San Diego?
Companies currently hiring engineering senior managers in San Diego include Qualcomm, Shield AI, and Murata America, per current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. San Diego's employer base skews toward defense primes, life sciences companies, and semiconductor manufacturers, many of which maintain large engineering organizations with ongoing senior management needs.
Are there remote engineering senior manager jobs in San Diego?
Yes, though the role is often limited in remote flexibility given its emphasis on team oversight, cross-functional coordination, and site-level accountability. About 37% of engineering senior manager openings tied to San Diego are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, with hybrid arrangements more common at software-adjacent and systems engineering firms in UTC and downtown.
How can I get a engineering senior manager job in San Diego with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is moving into a team lead or principal engineer role at one of San Diego's mid-size defense subcontractors or biotech companies, where promotion to senior management is often internal. Companies in Sorrento Valley and Kearny Mesa regularly develop engineers into people managers. Building experience managing projects, budgets, or small teams within those environments is the clearest route to a senior manager title locally.
Which industries hire the most engineering senior managers in San Diego?
San Diego engineering senior manager roles concentrate in Telecommunications, Technology & Software, and Electronics & Hardware, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. San Diego's strong defense contracting base, nationally significant biotech cluster, and growing semiconductor presence consistently generate senior engineering leadership demand across those sectors.
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