Sr Manager Device Software, Connected Products

Job Description

Fortune Brands are hiring for a Senior Manager of Device Software, Connected Products to provide technical leadership and people management for our embedded software team. You will drive architectural decisions, maintain engineering quality standards, and develop a team of firmware engineers working across both embedded Linux and RTOS-based product lines. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring deep technical credibility combined with strong people management skills.

Key Responsibilities

* Directly manage, mentor, and develop a team of embedded software engineers; conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development planning

* Maintain honest, timely feedback with each direct report; invest most heavily in developing top performers and hold clear accountability across the team

* Know each engineer's motivations, strengths, and career aspirations; build an environment where people can grow toward what they're naturally excellent at

* Build knowledge redundancy across the team; eliminate single points of failure through deliberate documentation and cross-training

* Define and own embedded software architecture across both Linux-based and RTOS-based firmware disciplines; guide technical direction and ensure critical decisions are well-documented

* Lead new hardware bring-up efforts and platform convergence initiatives; maintain the firmware-cloud interface contract in collaboration with backend and platform teams

* Own CI/CD pipeline health, release processes, and OTA fleet management for production device populations

* Drive adoption of development best practices, code review standards, and AI-assisted development tooling

* Own the firmware technical roadmap and delivery commitments; balance new feature development against platform stability and intentional technical debt reduction

* Partner with Product Management to assess and prioritize firmware feature requests across multiple product lines

* Coordinate with Hardware Engineering on new product bring-up and establish clear HWFW interface processes

* Coordinate with Data Science on algorithm and model integration into embedded firmware

* Collaborate with QA on firmware testing strategies, manufacturing test plans, and production readiness criteria

* Work with compliance teams to support radio, safety, and cybersecurity certification processes for connected devices

* Coordinate with contract manufacturers on firmware document control, ECO processes, and OTA deployment to production fleets

* Manage team capacity planning and work allocation across concurrent product programs