Senior Director, Software Engineering- Networking background is a must

Role Overview

We are seeking a Senior Director of Engineering to lead the strategy, development, and delivery of next-generation network management platforms, including firewalls, switches, and wireless access points. This leader will drive innovation through AI-assisted development practices, build high-performing teams, and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality, metrics-driven outcomes at scale.

The ideal candidate brings deep domain expertise in networking infrastructure combined with modern software development leadership and a strong track record of adopting AI/ML tools to accelerate engineering productivity and product quality.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

• Define and execute engineering strategy for network management platforms (firewall, switching, and wireless solutions)
• Lead and mentor globally distributed engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and operational excellence
• Partner with Product, Architecture, and Customer Success teams to align roadmaps with business goals and customer needs
• Drive organizational transformation toward AI-assisted engineering practices

Engineering Excellence

• Establish and enforce quality, reliability, and performance standards
• Champion modern, data-driven engineering practices, leveraging delivery performance, developer experience, and AI-assisted productivity metrics (e.g., SPACE, flow, and AI impact measures) to drive continuous improvement and high-quality outcomes
• Foster a fail-fast, learn-fast culture by encouraging rapid experimentation, iterative development, and quick feedback loops to accelerate innovation while minimizing risk
• Promote blameless postmortems and continuous learning to improve systems, processes, and team effectiveness

AI-Driven Development

• Lead adoption of AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code generation, automated testing, observability, and incident response automation)
• Integrate AI/ML into engineering workflows to:
• Accelerate development velocity
• Improve code quality and defect detection
• Enhance operational insights and automation
• Promote best practices for responsible and secure use of AI in engineering

Delivery & Execution

• Drive predictable and high-quality software releases across multiple product lines
• Ensure programs are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with strategic objectives
• Establish robust CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps practices
• Continuously improve engineering processes based on data and feedback

Stakeholder Management

• Communicate effectively with executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
• Provide regular updates on roadmap execution, risks, and performance metrics
• Represent engineering in customer and partner engagements when needed

Qualifications Required

• 12+ years of engineering experience, with 5+ years in senior leadership roles
• Proven expertise in networking technologies, including at least one of:
• Firewall management systems
• Switching platforms
• Wireless access point solutions
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale, distributed engineering teams
• Strong track record of delivering high-quality, scalable products using metric-driven approaches
• Hands-on experience driving adoption of AI-assisted software development tools and practices
• Deep understanding of cloud-native architectures, microservices, and distributed systems
• Experience with DevOps/DevSecOps frameworks and CI/CD pipelines

Preferred

• Experience in enterprise or SaaS-based network management platforms
• Familiarity with observability, telemetry, and data-driven operations
• Knowledge of security principles related to networking and infrastructure
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Key Success Metrics

• Improvement in engineering velocity and predictability (e.g., SPACE metrics)
• Reduction in production defects and MTTR
• Adoption rate and impact of AI-assisted development tools
• Platform reliability, scalability, and customer satisfaction (SLAs, NPS)
• Employee engagement and retention within engineering teams

Leadership Profile

• Strategic thinker with strong execution focus
• Data-driven decision-maker
• Passion for innovation and continuous improvement
• Collaborative and influential across organizational boundaries
• Strong advocate for engineering excellence and customer value

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