Director of Software Engineering
About the CompanyAs the Director of Engineering, you will lead a 6-person engineering team responsible for advancing and maintaining our core platform built on the Laravel stack and hosted on Azure. You will be measured by objective metrics set forth below. We expect this person to evaluate the current team and have full authority to restructure as they determine is necessary to create a strong team. This is an opportunity for someone interested in a role where they can have immediate impact on culture and results.About the RoleOur Developers are knowledgeable, but we seem to be adrift and our culture within the Developer Team is lacking "focused urgency". You'd be asked to deliver the following:ResponsibilitiesAccountability. Define the metrics that make a good, adequate and poor developer. With the introduction of Ai, we've struggled with this metric setting.Improved handoff time from Developer > Code Review > QA > Production. 55% of our time is bugs & chores today and too many are found by customers.Structure the way in which Product Managers, Sales, Marketing and other departments engage with the Developer Team so that the Developers are part of the company in purposeful ways, while allowing them the time and space to focus.Drive a cultural shift toward accountability. Which means defining what good looks like, holding people to it, and making changes when someone isn't cutting it.Deliver on the CEO's goals.Enable Product Managers to fix small items (ex: UI/UX implementation fixed by Product Manager instead of a more time consuming process of involving Developers or making a mock-up of the desired end state).Ai enabled Developers who ship bug-minimal code (55% of our time is bugs & chores).Payments Vibe coded projects/modules micro services need to make it into Discovery (Procurement Module, Reporting Module).Plus other product improvements that we know unlock additional margin & market share opportunities.Stable products that are self-signup enabled, able to self-onboard, able to self support with Ai-enabled support + ready for enterprise deployment.Get the Soc2 and other certifications and documentation necessary so that our products are more easily enterprise approved.QualificationsBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent work experience.10+ years of experience in software engineering or in a similar role, with a strong background in web application development and cloud infrastructure.5+ years of experience in leading engineering teams.Extensive experience with PHP and the Laravel framework.Proficiency in containerization technologies (e.g., Docker) and orchestration tools.Strong understanding of CI/CD practices and tools.Exceptional troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.Excellent communication and collaboration skills.Proven track record of driving process improvements and implementing best practices in software development and cloud infrastructure.Knowledge of security best practices and compliance requirements in cloud environments.Demonstrated ability to lead through a turnaround period and inspire engineering teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.Experience in strategic planning, including the development and implementation of engineering strategies aligned with business goals.Knowledge of agile development methodologies and practices in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.A focused intent to build an Ai-assisted development environment.Required SkillsFamiliarity with monitoring and logging tools such as Azure Monitor, Grafana, ELK Stack, or OpenTelemetry.Experience with infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.Deep understanding of Azure cloud platform and its services.Preferred SkillsMake intentional, high-ROI decisions across headcount, tooling, and infrastructure. Maximize impact while eliminating waste.Evaluate build vs. buy and all resource decisions with financial rigor, ensuring capital is deployed efficiently to support growth and performance.