Software Engineering Manager
Magnet Forensics
Software Engineering
Waterloo, ON, Canada
CAD 150k-200k / year
Posted on Jan 15, 2026
Who We Are; What We Do; Where We’re Going
Magnet Forensics is a global leader in the development of digital investigative software that acquires, analyzes, and shares evidence from computers, smartphones, tablets, and IoT-related devices. We are continually innovating so our customers can deploy advanced and effective tools to protect their companies, communities, and countries.
Serving thousands of customers globally, our solutions are playing a crucial role in modernizing digital investigations, helping investigators fight crime, protect assets, and guard national security.
With employees based around the world, Magnet Forensics has been expanding our global presence. As a part of Magnet Forensics, you can expect to make a difference in the world, no matter what role you play. You’ll be supported through learning and development, not to mention an incredible team with unbelievable talent and integrity.
If you think you would be the right person to join our team working towards this goal, we would love to hear from you!
Role Overview
Magnet Forensics is looking for a Software Engineering Manager to help shape the next generation of digital forensics tools used by agencies and companies throughout the world. Our mission is to use technology to unlock crimes, and help examiners, investigators, and other stakeholders work together effectively in high‑stakes environments. Your leadership will directly impact that mission.
The ideal candidate is someone who combines deep technical expertise with the ability to influence, elevate, and motivate a team of high-performing engineers. You enjoy managing people and solving organizational challenges, as well as diving into complex technical problems to help guide the team towards an optimum solution. You’ve led modernization efforts, improved developer experience, and helped teams adopt better design patterns at scale. You have experience delivering Software as a Service and understand the importance of shipping value quickly and iterating on the learnings. You have used AI tools to improve the velocity and collaboration of the teams you manage.
This is a hands‑on Technical Leadership role. You’ll guide engineering direction, influence cross‑team decisions, and help the team adopt modern practices, including the thoughtful use of AI throughout the SDLC and product experience.
NOTE: Candidates must reside in Canada.
Key Responsibilities
- Your impact is immediate and far‑reaching. The systems you design will support investigations where minutes matter.
- You’ll solve meaningful technical challenges. Distributed systems, large‑scale data processing, and performance optimization.
- You’ll elevate the team. Through mentorship, architectural guidance, and leading by example, you’ll help engineers deliver their best work.
- You’ll help shape how AI is used responsibly and effectively across our product and engineering practices.
Qualifications
- 8+ years of professional software development experience, ideally across both backend (C# or similar) and frontend (JavaScript/React or similar).
- 2+ years management experience; familiarity with Agile/Scrum practices including estimation, demos, retrospectives, and stand-ups.
- 4+ years of experience shipping pragmatic SaaS solutions to production, balancing technical vision with delivery.
- Strong architectural skills: distributed systems, API design, data modeling, and secure system design.
- Excellent mentorship and leadership skills, with the ability to guide and challenge senior developers.
- Hands‑on experience deploying and operating services in Kubernetes, including containerization, scaling, and troubleshooting.
- Proficiency with relational and/or distributed data stores (MySQL, Elasticsearch, Redis, etc.).
- Clear and confident communication: you can explain tradeoffs, document patterns, and build trust across Engineering, Product, and UX.
- You influence hands‐on technical work, demonstrating new approaches, validating them in practice, and guiding teams as they adopt them.
- Enthusiasm and experience for using agentic AI and other modern practices as a key part of the SDLC.
Nice To Have Skills
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Helm, Argo).
- Experience building secure systems in high‑security or regulated environments.
- Familiarity with observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry).
- Experience with domain‑driven design and modular architecture.
- Understanding of AI systems, including LLM architectures, token generation, and MCP frameworks.
Compensation & Benefits
The Compensation Range is for the primary location for which the job is posted. Please note that the actual compensation may vary depending on location and job-related factors such as qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location and you are selected for an interview, the Talent Acquisition Partner can share more information with you. If the compensation structure for the role includes an incentive component (i.e. most Sales roles) the range below represents total target compensation (TTC) (base salary + variable).
$150,000 - $200,000 (CAD) a year
Salary range (min - max)
Position Type: Current Vacancy
Magnet is proud to offer benefits such as:
- Generous time off policies
- Competitive compensation
- Volunteer opportunities
- Reward and recognition programs
- Employee committees & resource groups
- Healthcare and retirement benefits
What We Are Looking For
We’re looking for someone who checks off most, but not all, of the boxes listed in “skills and experiences”. It’s more important to us to find candidates who can display indicators of success through skills they have developed and experiences they have been a part of, than to find folks who have ‘been there, done that”. We want to be part of your development journey, and we’ll learn as much from you as you learn from us.
How We Work
At Magnet Forensics, we take a hybrid-flexible approach to support your productivity and work-life balance. If you’re within a comfortable travel distance to one of our offices, you’ll occasionally join us in person. How often you’ll come in depends on your department and team needs, typically ranging from weekly to monthly. These in-person moments help us build stronger connections, spark new ideas, and celebrate our successes together. Most days, you can choose what works best for you, while staying in tune with your team’s goals.
We’re excited to welcome you to our team and look forward to achieving great things together - both in the office and wherever you work best!
The Most Important Thing
We’re looking for candidates that can provide examples of how they have demonstrated Magnet CODE in their previous experiences:
CARE – We care about each other and our mission to make a difference in the world.
OWN – We are accountable for our results – while never forgetting to act with integrity, empathy, and respect.
DEDICATE – We put our heart and soul into meeting the needs of our customers and helping them serve the people they protect.
EVOLVE – We are constantly innovating and exploring new ways to work together to make an impact with our work.
Here at Magnet Forensics, we are committed to continuous learning and are focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. This commitment will be reflected in our hiring processes and embedded in our values and how we treat one another. If you’re interested in this role, but do not meet all of the qualifications listed above, we encourage you to apply anyways.
Magnet Forensics is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetics or any other basis forbidden under federal, provincial, or local law. We are committed to providing an inclusive, accessible recruitment process and work environment. Accommodation is available to all applicants upon request throughout the hiring process. Please contact aoda@magnetforensics.com should you require any accommodations.
All offers of employment at Magnet are contingent upon satisfactory completion of a background check. All background checks will be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws. Magnet will consider each position’s job duties, among other factors, in determining what constitutes satisfactory completion of the background check. Refusal to consent to a background check may be grounds for revoking an offer of employment.
US Applicants: Magnet Forensics participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.
Magnet Forensics handles and uses personal data of job applicants in line with its Recruitment Privacy Policy found here.
