Engineering Manager at IA Collaborative

Hi, we're IA Collaborative and we're building the future of human experience.

We believe that technology should empower communities, transform businesses, and create lasting positive impact on the world. But on its own, technology isn’t enough—it needs thoughtful design, strategic vision, and exceptional engineering to truly serve human needs. That's why we're looking for an Engineering Manager who can help us set new standards for what's possible when design and technology work in harmony.

About The Role

As an Engineering Manager at IA Collaborative, you’ll help shape and scale the technology platform that drives transformative digital experiences for clients. You’ll turn complex challenges into platform-level solutions, collaborating with vendor partners to build systems and tools that improve efficiency and deliver client success.

We’re looking for someone who is both product-minded and deeply technical—hands-on in supporting teams while driving architectural decisions, technical standards, and fast, user-centered iteration cycles.

In this role, you’ll architect solutions, build pipelines, manage vendor relationships, and establish best practices. You’ll apply the latest technologies to evolve our architecture, enhance products, and invent new ways to deliver client solutions that are fast, flexible, and grounded in user experience.

As a Engineering Manager you will:

Strategic Technical Leadership

• Define and drive the technical vision and engineering strategy aligned with business objectives

• Establish and enforce engineering standards, governance processes, and quality metrics

• Manage development platform capabilities and initiate research spikes/platform level improvement efforts

• Support platform architectural decisions and technical design reviews across product lines

• Prioritize technical debt reduction and platform modernization initiatives

Delivery & Operations Oversight

• Manage and coordinate vendor engineering partners, ensuring technical cohesion and delivery excellence

• Collaborate with vendor engineering teams in managing resource prioritization across projects and product support needs

• Coordinate and assign incoming support tasks and tickets

• Ensure the reliability and scalability of software delivery pipelines and disaster recovery systems

• Manage product delivery infrastructure via CI/CD pipelines

• Own team velocity, delivery metrics, and engineering productivity KPIs

• Define engineering standards and practices for vendor integration and collaboration

• Lead technical reviews and architecture discussions with vendor engineering leads

• Establish and maintain technical documentation standards across all projects

Hands-on Technical Building

• Support the architecting of complex system components when deep expertise is needed

• Develop monitoring architecture and implement monitoring agents, dashboards, escalations and alerts

• Lead and empower engineering teams to drive 0-1 product development and AI experimentation

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Collaborating across project teams and internal initiatives to define technical requirements and delivery timelines

Qualifications include:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field

• 5+ years of software development experience with a strong technical foundation

• 3+ years of engineering management or technical leadership experience

• Experience leading distributed or blended teams across multiple locations/partners

• Strong understanding of modern software architecture, cloud platforms, and DevOps practices

• Experience with Agile methodologies and engineering best practices

• Track record of delivering complex technical projects on time and within budget

• Excellence in technical communication and stakeholder management

• Experience with cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred, AWS/GCP beneficial)

• Knowledge of security and compliance practices (e.g., NIST, SOC2, GDPR)

• Ability to work from our Chicago office 3 days per week and travel to client sites as needed

• Experience with modern development languages and frameworks (Go, JavaScript, TypeScript, etc)

Preferred:

• Familiarity with AI/ML + GenAI concepts

• Track record of successful team scaling (from startup to growth phase)

• Experience with design systems and design-development collaboration

Why IA Collaborative

At IA, you’ll practice your craft in a whole new context. You’ll be a part of designing the future of human experience as you transform your client’s business, empower communities, and create a positive and lasting impact on the world.

IA’s comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, vision; retirement savings benefits; profit-sharing programs; a suite of family benefits including paid time off for the birth of a child, medical leave, caregiver leave, wellness check-in days, flexible spending accounts for dependent care, health expenses and childcare, and 529 college savings planning and contributions; flexible work arrangements, and employer-paid life insurance and disability.

IA Collaborative Work Model

IA Collaborative leverages a hybrid work model, with Chicagoland-area team members working from our downtown headquarters three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) with additional in-office days as needed.

Work Authorization

All applicants must be authorized to work in the United States; IA Collaborative will not sponsor applicants for employment visas.

About IA Collaborative

IA Collaborative is a global design and innovation consultancy focused on leading the forefront of behavioral insight, applied AI, and business innovation. We partner with the world’s most ambitious organizations to realize new growth, accelerate cultures of innovation, and create breakthrough products, platforms, and experiences. Our teams lead from insight to action – designing experiences that enhance lives, building collaborative intelligence that reinvents how we work, and launching offerings that impact the future of human experience.

IA is on the national and global stage speaking about the business value of design. Featured by Fast Company as one of the country’s preeminent design thinkers and nominated by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum as a “Design Visionary,” IA’s leadership and work has been profiled by prominent business publications and has received multiple design accolades, including Best Design North America and Best UX Design in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards; the SXSW Business Design Award; and multiple honors in the Red Dot International, International Design Excellence Awards (IDSA), the GOOD DESIGN Awards, and the iF World Design Awards. IA Collaborative works with the world’s most successful brands, including FedEx, Allstate, Airbnb, Fidelity, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Lilly, and Audi.

At IA Collaborative, we are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We believe that welcoming a diverse variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills to our organization contributes to a thriving culture, a vibrant community, and breakthrough work. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local law.

For more information about IA Collaborative visit iacollaborative.com, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Glassdoor.

EEO