Senior Manager, Software Engineering

Job description

Job Description ABOUT THE ROLE Are you ready to be part of AirAsia's digital transformation and help shape the future of aviation technology? We are looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Senior Software Engineering Manager to lead high-performing engineering teams in designing, developing, and delivering scalable, reliable, and innovative software solutions that power AirAsia’s business and operational capabilities. You will drive engineering excellence, develop strong technical teams, and ensure the successful delivery of complex software initiatives across multiple business domains. Working closely with Product, Digital, Data, Architecture, and Business Operations, you will translate strategic objectives into robust technology solutions. This role combines technical leadership, people management, delivery accountability, and strategic thinking, with an appreciation of the reliability, scalability, and operational demands of aviation. WHAT YOU'LL DO Engineering Leadership & People Development Lead, mentor, and develop multiple software engineering teams, including Engineering Managers, Technical Leads, and Software Engineers. Build high-performing, accountable, and collaborative teams across locations and technology domains. Drive coaching, performance management, succession planning, and career development. Foster engineering ownership, continuous improvement, technical excellence, and innovation. Own engineering workforce planning, resource allocation, and capability development aligned with business priorities. Promote collaboration, knowledge sharing, and consistent engineering practices across teams. Software Engineering Excellence Establish and continuously improve engineering standards, best practices, and development methodologies. Drive automated testing, CI/CD, secure coding, code review, and DevSecOps practices. Ensure solutions meet appropriate scalability, maintainability, security, performance, and resilience standards. Measure engineering performance using indicators such as delivery predictability, deployment frequency, lead time, defect rates, change failure rate, and recovery time. Champion automation, modern developer tooling, and AI-assisted software development. Reduce technical debt while balancing business delivery with long-term platform stability. Delivery Management & Execution Oversee the end-to-end software development lifecycle across multiple concurrent projects and workstreams. Take accountability for delivering solutions within agreed scope, timelines, quality standards, and resource constraints. Translate requirements into executable engineering plans with Product Owners and stakeholders. Manage engineering capacity, dependencies, technical risks, and competing priorities. Remove delivery bottlenecks and establish transparent governance, reporting, and escalation. Aviation Technology & Operational Reliability Lead the development and enhancement of business-critical platforms supporting aviation operations and commercial activities. Ensure solutions meet aviation operating demands for high availability, business continuity, performance, and data integrity. Collaborate with stakeholders in flight operations, crew management, scheduling, airport operations, passenger services, and operational recovery. Oversee integration with internal systems, external aviation platforms, and third-party service providers. Ensure adherence to applicable regulations, cybersecurity standards, data protection policies, and operational controls. Partner with Infrastructure, DevOps, and Operations on monitoring, incident response, disaster recovery, and production support. Drive root-cause analysis, preventive actions, and improvements following production incidents. Technology Strategy & Innovation Contribute to the engineering technology roadmap in support of AirAsia’s digital transformation and business strategy. Evaluate custom-built, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), and third-party solutions based on business and technical fit. Guide adoption of cloud-native systems, microservices, event-driven architectures, APIs, and containerized deployments where appropriate. Identify opportunities to use AI, automation, and emerging technologies to improve engineering productivity and business capability. Support legacy modernization and technology transformation with enterprise and solution architecture teams. Assess architectural risks and opportunities for innovation, operational efficiency, and competitive advantage. Stakeholder & Vendor Management Build trusted relationships with senior business stakeholders, technology leaders, Product teams, and Operations. Communicate delivery status, risks, dependencies, and technical trade-offs clearly to management. Manage technology vendors, outsourced engineering teams, contractors, and external delivery partners. Hold external resources accountable to engineering standards, performance expectations, delivery commitments, and contractual obligations. Support vendor evaluation, resource optimization, and engineering cost management. Collaborate with technology leaders to deliver measurable business value. ROLE ENVIRONMENT & CHALLENGES Leading engineering teams across multiple locations, technology stacks, and business domains. Managing blended teams of permanent employees, contractors, and outsourced development resources. Balancing projects, modernization initiatives, and production support requirements. Delivering complex aviation solutions where system reliability, data accuracy, and availability are essential. Managing integrations and dependencies spanning legacy systems, modern platforms, and external providers. Driving transformation while maintaining existing business-critical services. Improving engineering productivity, delivery predictability, software quality, and operational efficiency. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE Essential Requirements Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience. Minimum 12 years of software engineering experience, including at least 7 years in engineering leadership or management roles. Proven experience leading multiple engineering teams, preferably including Engineering Managers or Technical Leads. Strong technical grounding in software architecture, enterprise application development, system integration, and distributed systems. Track record delivering complex initiatives spanning multiple teams, stakeholders, and technology platforms. Strong understanding of Agile delivery, DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, and secure software development. Experience with cloud technologies, microservices, containerization, APIs, databases, and modern application stacks. Ability to manage engineering performance, delivery quality, technical risks, and resource utilization. Experience working with outsourced teams, technology vendors, and third-party delivery partners. Excellent leadership, analytical judgment, stakeholder management, communication, and decision-making skills. Ability to operate effectively in a high-pressure, fast-changing environment. Preferred Qualifications Experience in the aviation or airline industry is preferred but not mandatory. Familiarity with aviation technology such as flight scheduling, crew management, airline operations, Passenger Service Systems (PSS), and operational recovery is an added advantage. Candidates from other industries with experience managing large-scale, complex, or mission-critical software systems are strongly encouraged to apply. Experience leading digital transformation, legacy modernization, or large-scale enterprise technology initiatives. Knowledge of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), observability, incident management, and operational resilience. Experience adopting AI-assisted engineering tools and automation to improve developer productivity. Exposure to engineering budgets, vendor commercial management, and technology cost optimization. WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE High-performing teams : Strong technical capability, effective leadership, employee development, and clear ownership. Predictable delivery : Consistent achievement of commitments with disciplined management of scope, capacity, risks, and dependencies. Engineering quality : Fewer production defects, stronger standards, sustainable architectures, and improved test automation. Operational reliability : Stable, secure, and resilient applications supporting business-critical aviation operations. Engineering productivity : Ongoing improvement in development efficiency, automation, deployment practices, and developer experience. Business alignment : Technology solutions that create measurable value and support long-term transformation. Help build the engineering capabilities and technology platforms that power the future of aviation.