INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, IT and Software Engineering positions are at a much faster than average growth rate, which is 22%. With that said, there are currently 1,847,900 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 409,500 to 2,257,400 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the IT and Software Engineering jobs was $110,140 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $65,210, and the highest 10% more than $170,100.
Our conclusion? The IT and Software Engineering job market is facing competition due to decreasing demand.
Top software development manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
What to write in your Software Development Manager experience section
Perfecting Your Software Development Manager Resume Experience Section:
- Focus on results, not responsibilities;
- Use 4-6 bullet points per position;
- List only positions that are relevant to what you’re applying for;
- Include at least some form of quantitative data – it can be linked to the number of people you’ve managed or the - percentage decrease in costs that’s followed from your work - you decide;
- Choose action verbs over buzzwords.
We’ve collected some of the top resume experience sections from real Enhancv users. Check them out when drafting your own Software Development Manager resume!
- Head of department: "StoredIQ Development Germany",21 developers.
- Global scrum of scrum master, ~35 developers.
- Coordination of teams in the US, India, Japan, and Germany.
- Successful delivery of quarterly releases using Agile techniques.
- Management of critical customer situations in Europe.
- Head of department: "StoredIQ for Legal Development I", 17 developers.
- Global development responsibility, ~30 developers.
- Coordination of teams in India, China, Japan, and Germany.
- Successful delivery of several releases under a tight schedule.
- Supporting on-premise deployment for major customers.
- Managed 10 developers
- Implemented AGILE to improve team efficiency
- BUG MANAGER for the entire organization
- Official Scrum Master, excellent facilitator, communicator to improve information exchange between Development and Product team
- I work on definition of software development process, specifing the guidelines.
- I indicate in first person and sometime by taking part at working groups, architectures, technologies and tools to use for developing software solutions.
- I take part to staff recruiting of the software factory.
- I deal with PA-DSS compliance of products and I follow the related certification process.
- I have started the automatisation of build process.
- I proposed to apply artificial intelligence in the world of self-service and I am actively following the project for the construction of a virtual assistant to help users of ATM/ATS/Kiosk.
- Build, develop and coach Operate Services Application Maintenance Development team onshore and offshore, supporting T-Mobile prepaid platform as 3rd tier
- Increased software quality by 30% in first 6 months, by defining new metrics, KPIs, processes, standards and ways of working with focus on quality, performance, reliability of the solution
- Reduced from 13% to less then 1% the daily average of order fallout occurrences by planning and dropping 2 monthly releases into production containing over 300 defect fixes, 20 improvement user stories, performance enhancements and change requests
- Planning scope of releases and hot fixes, working close to product management, release management, defect management, testing, deployment and operations, in a fast paced agile environment
- Management of several e-commerce products offered for customers in the Automotive Aftermarket.
- Quick implementation of new and modern upgrade to a legacy e-commerce application.
- Implementation of the first mobile-friendly web application to be integrated within different web-based applications for the Automotive Aftermarket.
- Design and implementation of the technology that allows the transfer of active sessions between a computer browser and a mobile device browser.
- Interviewing, hiring and developing personnel to join the team.
- Working as a person of contact for new positions and teams that were created in the Monterrey office. Helping new employees with the onboarding process.
- Lead, develop and mentor to multiple juniors/seniors engineers.
- Monitors all aspects of the Software Development Lifecycle and Production Support service levels. Ensures high level technical support is provided.
- Utilize the SCRUM Agile development methodology as a Product Owner and SCRUM Master.
- Responsible for costing, estimating and planning projects.
- Help define project scope, goals and deliverables.
- Gather client requirements and translate these into a deliverable solution.
- Review and approve all project documentation.
- Provide technical support for web applications including internet, intranet and the document publishing Syst
- em.Track activities /deliverables against the detailed proje
- ct plans.End to end business process automation and solution design using Microsoft technologies.
- Provided day to day management and process guidance on development activities for a distributed cross-functional team of 25 software engineers
- Hired, coached and motivated the team
- Helped to grow the team and its members, both professionally and personally
- Acted as a mentor for other software development managers
- Improved the software development process
- Established software security and quality requirements
- Delivered software releases on-schedule
- Led, coached and managed the 2 global development teams of more than 20+ Engineers/QA and worked closely with product owners, project office and sponsors in devising the strategy
- Led the team to have cloud migration to AZURE
- Led critical process improvement initiatives viz. bi-weekly scrum, monthly releases, improved PI (predictability index), CI/CD for Dev environment, SVN to git migration
- Led major product initiatives like Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE), Zest Decision Engine Integration, AP Workflow improvements
- Created solutions to have performance improvements in areas like 10x (Monthly Billing) and 100x (SSW Product Bundling)
- Grew the teams by 100% by on-boarding 10+ members from off-shore to handle new initiatives
- Started "Lunch & learn" to encourage knowledge sharing
- Started recognizing/celebrating the Anniversary lunches
- Initiated Unit testing to improve code quality
- Other Managerial duties e.g. Setting objectives, Performance Review, 1:1, Code Reviews
- Led Development team and DevOps team to provide solutions for improving our main product “Marketing Suite”
- Led the development of “Load and Send” project to increase the performance of simple file load by 10x and resulted in increasing the top-line by millions of dollars
- Led the performance improvement initiatives for import process (Activity import, Submission import, API calls, clicks, opens, file import) by many fold resulting in reduced support calls
- Led initiatives to improve campaign throughput to billions of emails over Thanksgiving Weekend
- Implemented many Framework Improvements and increase the performance by 100x in some components
- Led the field-based encryption of client’s data to secure the PII
- Designed and led the development of Bigintification to change all the primary keys from “int” to “bigint”
- Involved in projects as an Architect viz. QIM (Query Intelligence Manager) to improve the filter by 1000x, Advanced event trigger
- Led the DevOps team to develop SLW to aggregate all the logs using ELK stack to improve monitoring and troubleshooting
- Handling the web app getting used by the store managers across Tesco Stores
- Handling the team of 6 UI Engineers, 3 Backend Developers, 1 tester
- Responsible to work with product manager and UX to introduce new features in the app
- Introduce the code guidelines
- Focus on reducing the production defects
- Delivered over 15 Releases in a Rapid Delivery model with incremental features to production managing an agile team over 21 members, including Software Engineers, Quality assurance testers, Data Engineers and Business Analysts
- Provided architectural guidance for the BPO-MARs product being involved since the product evaluation phase and built it on AWS using cloud native containerized micro-services architecture and Appian BPM suite that positioned the team for Rapid and Continuous Delivery (CD)
- Established the Agile delivery standards, processes, delivery cycle activities and R&R's for the team and championed the use of Confluence for project documentation and data mappings, resulting in efficiency in the requirements analysis process and delivery timings
- Ensured all InfoSec, Monitoring, User Permission, Audit and Production Readiness Review (PRR) certification requirements were satisfied which resulted in a successful transition to production mode
- Deep dived into code to provide crisp and impactful feedback on software designs and code written by engineers and directed process improvements and documentation to improve the speed and quality of technical work
- Prioritized automation and code quality initiatives owning the technical debt and nonfunctional requirements (NFRs) for the software Technical Lead
- Helped to define and build Front Office programme ($10m) and 6 development teams by hiring development leads and developers (20 people). Introduced ScrumBan in teams, organised external trainings, and recruited Agile Coach.
- Delivered a bespoke project SIMP with a budget of $2m. Managed the process end-to-end, including a product roadmap, release and sprint goals, hiring of Java and .NET lead developers and line managing them, infrastructure, software development and maintanence, relationships with stakeholders, on-boarding and support of users.
- Managed teams concurrently (including offshore) to deliver Kapow Katalyst (Evaluation), Tank Blending Optimisation (Pilot), GEM 360 (Project’s kick-in), LIM Replacement (Pre-work Analysis). Contributed as SME to Oil Transaction Pipeline 5 Years Strategy and also as Solutions Architect and Agile Coach to Trading Operations Programme ($30m).
- Responsible for relationships with and management of 3rd party vendors and shared services such as InfoSys, Kapow, LIM, Sapient, MarkLogic, HP, OpenLink, SolArc, Murex, TradeSignals, FractalEdge, Exadata Oracle, and IHS/LMIU. Also worked with small consultancies.
- Envisioned Solutions Architecture for Oil Front Office in BP IST, and drafted Trading & Risks Systems Programme (Trade Blotter, Intraday Risk Exposure & PnL, and Order Book), Portfolio Optimisation Programme (on the level of Vessel, Fleet, and Book), and Scheduling and Inventory Management Platform (with a capability to support multiple cargo load and discharge).
- Managed a team of 15 people to deliver an integration for Freight Trading and Shipping business. Details in the Project section.
- Coordinated 20 people from 4 regions (NY, SN, LN, and Budapest) to upgrade Eclipse E3, the next generation of the core security platform for Commodities Technology group.
- Organised 17 workshops to share knowledge and expertise between teams. This led to Commodities Technology Renovation programme.
- Recruited, CV screened and interviewed lateral hires, graduates and interns from the top UK universities.
- Delivered a bespoke authorization and entitlement system to control access of employees from TransMontaigne and INEOS Refining to the front-to-back systems of Morgan Stanley.
- Developed a greenfield platform similar to OpenLink's cMotion to support Physical Scheduling and Logistics, including the data feed that flows costs between a greenfield and legacy systems, and key components such as audit, match locking, user permissions, and match editor features. Rolled it out for users from Traffic Ops, Settlement Ops, and Traders in LN, NY, and SN.
- Analysed how to redesign Costs, Traffic and Settlement Reference Data for all systems in Commodities Technology. Provided key stakeholders with high-level overview and the recommendation.
- Architecture and design of the Global Portal Strategy for current/future Web based Projects.
- Lead the Development of OneCampus by Laureate and OneFaculty by Laureate Portals.
- Lead the movement from Google Cloud Platform to Microsoft Azure
- Managing the project "Improvement of the land management on the local level in Serbia"
- Monitoring of the development and the implementation of the "Geographic Information System"
- Testing and improvement of the Geographic Information System in the developing phase and teaching local communities how to use it
PRO TIP
Don't make the same mistake everyone else does. What we mean is, don't list your Software Development Manager job responsibilities instead of your achievements. Recruiters know what you do. They want to know what kind of difference you can bring to their company. Focus on what you've accomplished.
Action verbs for your software development manager resume
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Software development manager resume skills section to impress recruiters
Checklist for a perfect Software Development Manager resume skills section:
- Make sure to include most if not all essential skills for the job;
- Check the job description and add some keywords to pass ATS;
- List both hard and technical skills;
- When it comes to soft skills – elaborate on them in other sections of your resume (e.g. the experience section).
Top skills for your software development manager resume
Python
Java
Javascript
GIT
SQL
HTML
Teamwork and communication
Creative problem solving
Analystical thinking
Owning up to errors
Self-learning
Time management
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
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Software development manager resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your software development manager resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
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PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Software Development Manager resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
Writing an effective software development manager resume summary
Impressive software development manager resume summary checklist:
- Point out the achievements that make you a valuable applicant;
- Mention the total years of experience you have;
- Highlight the things you believe make you the best fit for the position;
- Keep it short: aim at having no more than 3-5 sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
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Drawing the attention to your software development manager resume education section
Crafting a job-winning education section.
- Use the reverse-chronological format when listing your degrees;
- Tailor the classes you’ve taken to the position you’re applying for if you’re an entry-level candidate;
- Mention the awards and honors you’ve received;
- Add your certifications (but only those relevant to the position).
Top Certifications for your Software Development Manager resume

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PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Choosing the best format for your software development manager resume
The content of your Software Development Manager resume is what will get you hired, right?
But even when your content’s amazing and you’re a true over-achiever, recruiters might not think you’re a good fit if your resume looks messy or is not formatted the right way.
In general, there are three basic resume formats we advise you to stick with:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Deciding which one to use depends on your experience, the industry, and the company. In short — you need to know what your applicant profile is.
For instance, reverse-chronological resumes are great for people with over 10 years of experience and no employment gaps. Here, you need to list all your relevant experience in a reverse-chronological format, starting from the most recent and going back to less recent positions.
Functional skills-based resumes, on the other hand, are great for entry-level applicants, graduate students, or people who have different kinds of experience. It focuses on skills, education, and character traits, rather than experience.
If none of these work for you, and you dream of adopting a more creative approach that makes a difference, the combination (or hybrid) resume format is exactly what you’re looking for. It allows you to focus on both your experience and your skills, making it a ‘best of both worlds’ format. It’s also suitable for those who want to spice things up by adding different creative sections (e.g. ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my day looks like’).
Here are some additional tips on perfecting your resume layout and style:
- Go for a traditional resume font sized 12p;
- Use standard 1-inch resume margins for increased readability;
- Make sure your resume fits on a one-page template. In case you’ve got 10 years of experience or more, your resume’s length can reach two pages;
- Avoid unwanted editing and plagiarism – save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiters.
Want to take it a step further? Learn how to make your resume stand out without relying too much on creativity.
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PRO TIP
Test your draft Software Development Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Want to include something more to your software development manager resume?
So you’ve already listed details about your education, experience, and skills. You’ve also crafted an amazing summary.
But now you feel a creative urge to showcase your personality and not just your expertise.
We’ve got you! Thanks to our modern templates, you can now include a chart of what your typical day looks like or even a word or two about your life philosophy. All this without sacrificing your Software Development Manager resume’s professional feel.
Some non-traditional sections for your resume include:
Making your software development manager resume stand out
You want to make a strong first impression to all recruiters that get a hold of your resume. Sure you do! But how?
Well, the easiest way to stand out is by adding a bit of creativity to your Software Development Manager resume. You could do this by going for a colorful layout or adding a creative section or two. It all depends on the industry and the position you’re applying for!
For instance, a position in design would allow for a more colorful resume, while a position in finance would probably not.
What makes a great software development manager resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.