Engineering Manager, Business Applications

As the largest Canadian-owned and operated K-12 publisher, Nelson Education Ltd. is Canada's only heritage education content provider, known for its innovative products and solutions catering to learners across the country.

Nelson is on a mission to make learning accessible, engaging, and effective for all. That's why Nelson continuously strives to create dynamic curriculum-aligned content that caters to diverse learning styles, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and life-long learning.

In response to the evolving education landscape, Nelson developed Edwin, a digital learning ecosystem. Edwin is a learning platform for classroom success, providing curriculum-linked content, engaging tools and unparalleled support to reach every student.

Nelson is redefining education and making a positive impact on the way knowledge is acquired and shared by creating the possible, one learner at a time.

About the Role

The Engineering Manager, Business Applications, is a hands-on technical leader responsible for the day-to-day delivery, support, and continuous improvement of Nelson’s core business systems. This includes ERP (NetSuite), CRM (Salesforce), and related business applications, integrations, and cloud-based platforms that enable business operations.

Working closely with the VP, Operations and cross-functional partners, this role focuses on execution: resolving system challenges, building integrations, and enhancing application performance to support Nelson’s evolving business needs.

This role is ideal for a forward-looking, technically strong leader who enjoys solving complex problems, partnering closely with the business, and is ready to manage a team of direct reports while driving both hands-on technical execution and cultural change—shifting the function from a reactive to a proactive, change-driven approach.

Key Accountabilities

Hands-on Systems Delivery

• Work closely with the VP, Operations, to support and contribute to the application architecture and integration roadmap across ERP (NetSuite), CRM (Salesforce), and related business systems.
• Lead hands-on configuration, customization, and integration work across NetSuite, Salesforce, and related applications.
• Troubleshoot and resolve system issues, bugs, and performance challenges in a timely and effective manner.
• Prioritize and manage competing system and integration needs in a fast-paced environment.
• Design, build, and maintain integrations, APIs, and automation to improve business workflows.
• Support cross-functional teams with testing and quality assurance, ensuring solutions meet business and technical requirements.

Contribute directly to development, system configuration, and technical problem-solving.

Applications Support & Optimization

• Support the ongoing health, reliability, and performance of Nelson’s enterprise applications.
• Identify opportunities to improve automation, reporting, and system usability.
• Maintain documentation, data integrity, and application best practices.
• Assist in system upgrades, releases, and enhancements.
• Support in the development of internal and external systems, web applications, and middleware, ensuring maintainability and alignment with enterprise architecture.
• Oversee Agile/CI/CD processes, including planning, sprint management, backlog prioritization, and coordination of developer and QA resources.
• Monitor development progress and ensure adherence to project documentation, timelines, and quality standards.

Ensure development processes include automated testing, version control best practices, and robust QA collaboration.

Business Partnership & Collaboration

• Working closely with the Business Analyst, partner with teams across Finance, Marketing, Product, Operations, and other functions to understand business challenges and deliver practical technical solutions.
• Translate business needs into scalable, maintainable system improvements.
• Support and lead technical delivery of projects, ensuring quality, timelines, and stakeholder alignment.

Collaborate with vendors, consultants, and partners to ensure effective delivery of technology initiatives.

Security, Privacy, and Governance

• Support application security, access controls, and data privacy practices.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure systems align with compliance and governance standards.

Act as a lead point of contact for the Privacy and Security Committees.

Leadership & Growth

• Act as a trusted technical partner to the VP, Operations in driving continuous improvement across Nelson’s business systems.
• Lead, manage, and develop a team of direct reports across development, QA, and business analyst functions, providing technical support and direction to both technical and business analyst team members.
• Drive cultural change—building a proactive, forward-looking team that bridges technical and business teams and anticipates needs rather than reacting to them.
• Provide technical mentorship to developers and QA team members.
• Support Agile delivery practices and contribute to continuous improvement.
• Support team engagement, collaboration, and knowledge sharing to build a strong and inclusive technical culture.
• Take on increasing leadership responsibilities as the function grows.

Who You Are
The successful candidate for this role will be a driven, hands-on problem solver who enjoys working at the intersection of technology and business. You bring a collaborative, curious mindset and strong communication skills, enabling you to build trusted relationships across both technical and non-technical teams. As a self-starter, you take ownership, prioritize effectively, and are energized by rolling up your sleeves to deliver practical, high-impact solutions in a fast-paced and evolving environment. You are also passionate about supporting and mentoring others, fostering collaboration, and contributing to a positive, engaged, and high-performing team culture. You also bring presence and confidence, the credibility to influence across the organization, and the drive to lead and embed lasting cultural change.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field.
• 5–8 years of experience supporting enterprise applications, business systems, and integrations.
• Hands-on experience with ERP and CRM systems, including configuration, customization, and integration is required. NetSuite experience is strongly preferred given its role as Nelson's core ERP; Salesforce experience is a strong asset but not required.
• Experience designing and implementing system integrations and APIs.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in production environments.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or similar).
• Strong, current hands-on software development experience with JavaScript, Node.js, RESTful APIs, or similar technologies is required and is the primary focus of this role.
• Experience working in Agile environments and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Exposure to QA, testing, and release processes.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Salesforce, NetSuite, or cloud certifications considered an asset.
• Must be based in the Greater Toronto Area and able to work in a hybrid model, including regular travel to the Toronto office, is required.
• Experience with modern development tools and emerging technologies, including embedded AI, is a strong asset.

Benefits

Compensation
The base salary range for this position starts at $130,000 per annum based on experience. Compensation is part of our broader Total Rewards package, which includes benefits and programs that support employee well-being and growth.

What We Offer
At Nelson, we believe in taking care of our people.

Your well-being, growth, and work-life balance matter to us, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support you—professionally and personally.

Health & Wellness

• Flexible and customizable health, dental, and paramedical plans for employees and their families
• Health Spending Account (HSA) for medical, hospital, or dental costs not covered by insurance
• Personal Spending Account (PSA) for wellness expenses, including fitness and health related products
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing confidential support spanning from mental health services to financial counselling, and many things in-between

Financial & Professional Wellbeing

• Pension plan with company matching contributions
• Registered Retirement Pension Plan to help secure your future
• Annual educational reimbursement for professional development
• Access to LinkedIn Learning for continuous skill growth

Flexibility & Time Off

• Hybrid work model with remote and in-office options
• Flexible work hours (divisional dependent)
• Generous paid time off policies, including vacation time, sick leave, parental leave top-up, personal days, and more
• Annual paid volunteer day to support causes you care about
• Holiday closure from Christmas to New Year’s
• Summer Fridays
  

Don’t have 100% of the above qualifications? Do you still think Nelson is a great fit for you? We encourage you to apply anyway!

Our EDI Statement
Nelson teaches the world by learning from everyone in it.

• We are committed to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplace environment. This is an integral part of our company’s culture and mission that aligns with our four key pillars of Employee Diversity, Developing Authentic and Accurate Content, Amplifying External Voices, and Supporting the Local Community and Beyond.
• We believe in the power of education and our ability to impact social change. Truth, honesty, integrity, and respect guide our decisions and actions in the development of learning solutions that empower success for all educators and learners.
• We value a respectful, inclusive, and safe workplace that nurtures belonging and represents many different cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and opinions. Everyone is free to be who they are.
• We foster and continue to build relationships that are equitable, diverse, and inclusive with existing and future partners in education.
• We commit to holding ourselves accountable by creating measurable short and long-term goals that place equity, diversity, and inclusion at the core of what we do in our resources, the workplace, the educational community, and in the larger society.
• We strive to build an inclusive world for everyone. We are stronger together.
  

AI and Automated Hiring Tools
Nelson uses AI support tools in our applicant tracking system to help with tasks such as summarizing points and anonymizing applications. All candidate screening, assessments, and hiring decisions are done by people.

Interview Outcome Notification
Nelson is committed to keeping candidates informed. All candidates who attend an interview for a publicly advertised role will be notified of the outcome of their candidacy. Candidates will be notified of the hiring decision no later than 45 days after the last interview.

Our Commitment
Nelson is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. As part of this commitment, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status.

Should you require any accommodation during our recruitment and selection process, please reach out to peopleandengagement@nelson.com.