Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- Experience: Minimum 7 years in software engineering, including at least 2 years directly managing software engineers, with a track record of delivering and operating production systems.
Table Stakes
- Direct people-management experience - hiring, performance management, and career development.
- A background building, shipping, and operating production software.
- Hands on keyboard on a weekly basis – reading code, reviewing pull requests, prototyping, or contributing directly - and the intent to keep working that way as a manager.
- Enough current technical depth to contribute to design reviews and evaluate technical tradeoffs.
- Understanding of modular design, APIs, testing, error handling, and maintainability.
- Working knowledge of relational data concepts, including schemas, keys, transactions, and data integrity.
- Experience owning systems through deployment, monitoring, incident response, and maintenance.
- Demonstrated ability to influence peers and stakeholders who do not report to them.
- Active use of AI for more than code completion, and sound judgment when evaluating AI-generated output.
Soft Skills
- People Leadership: Grows engineers deliberately. Gives direct feedback early. Builds a team that performs without constant supervision.
- Influence Without Authority: Earns a seat in decisions made by teams they do not manage. Partners with tech leads and product managers rather than escalating around them.
- Communication: Explains technical constraints to non-technical stakeholders without oversimplifying or providing information overload.
- Product Partnership: Understands the product context well enough to challenge a plan on its merits, and disciplined enough not to relitigate priorities that are not theirs to set.
- Judgment: Knows which decisions to make, which to delegate, and which to escalate. Balances delivery velocity with long-term system health.
Total Rewards
Zoro’s total compensation plan includes our Zoro Incentive Plan (ZIP) that is designed to foster and reward our team members for strong performance. Total compensation will be highly competitive.
In addition to competitive compensation, Zoro offers comprehensive benefits and perks including
- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment
- Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents. We also support growing your family through access to adoption assistance program
- 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist and Wellhub portal membership to support your mental and emotional wellbeing
- At least 18 paid time off days annually for full-time employees and 6 company holidays per year
- 6% company contribution to a 401K Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required
- Tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and access to financial counseling, education, and tools
- Charitable Gift Program – match gift to an eligible educational, cultural, community health, and human service organizations
- Employee discounts and admission to various civic and cultural institutions around Chicago
- Zoro office perks including coffee bar, beer on tap, unlimited snacks, access to the onsite gym, and incredible city skyline views
For additional information and details regarding our benefits and our parent company, W. W. Grainger, please click on the link here.
The pay range provided is not a guarantee of compensation. The range listed reflects the expected base pay for this position at the time of posting, based on the role's job grade. Actual compensation may vary depending on factors such as location, relevant experience and individual qualifications.
Illinois
$127,100—$211,900 USD
Our Culture
Zoro was founded in 2011 with a simple idea: make it easy for businesses to get the tools, parts, and supplies they need to keep things running. We've grown by staying curious, moving quickly, and solving everyday challenges in smart, practical ways. Backed by W.W. Grainger and inspired by our endless assortment business model, we’re on a clear path toward our next big milestone: $2 billion in revenue—and beyond.
At Zoro, we don’t just follow a playbook—we help build it. You’ll get to work on real problems with a supportive team that shares ideas freely, learns from each other, and celebrates wins together. Our culture is grounded in values that guide how we show up every day: Winning & Learning Together, Being Customer Obsessed, Being Transparent, and Taking Ownership. We don’t have all the answers, but we’re always asking good questions.
Zoro’s culture has been recognized by Fortune, Best Places to Work, and Built In Chicago—but the recognition we care about most comes from our team members, who make this place what it is.
We also know that flexibility matters. Our hybrid work model gives you space to focus and the flexibility to live your life — asking team members to be onsite at least two days a week. Our Chicago HQ (right above Ogilvie Transportation Center in the Accenture Tower) is always open and ready for connection, collaboration, or just a good cup of coffee.
At Zoro, we’re growing fast toward big aspirations — and we’re continuously excited about the new challenges we get to solve together.