Senior Director of Software Engineering

The RoleThe Sr. Director of Software Development leads our engineering organization with a sharp focus on quality, platform stability, and execution discipline across a complex, mature software ecosystem. This role ensures that software delivered to franchisees and customers is reliable, predictable, and scalable, and that issues are prevented early in the development lifecycle rather than discovered late or in production. This role pairs executive leadership with strong technical depth. The Sr. Director of Software Development will establish development standards, enforce accountability, and partner cross-functionally to streamline release processes while remaining close enough to the architecture to review complex implementations and drive root-cause problem solving. Key ResponsibilitiesEngineering Leadership & Process DisciplineEstablish and enforce a strong Definition of Done (DoD) so work is complete, thoroughly tested, and production-ready before deployment.Drive execution discipline and accountability across Software Development for correctness, completeness, and system impact.Streamline release processes to improve predictability, reduce last-minute deployment risk, and eliminate post-release fixes.Build a culture of engineering excellence through accountability, ownership, continuous improvement, and disciplined execution.Platform Quality & Technical Execution Own overall platform stability and output quality, systematically minimizing regressions and production defects.Provide technical leadership and guidance, including reviewing complex architectural implementations and ensuring sound design decisions.Ensure developers understand, design for, and manage cross-system dependencies in a complex multi-tenant environment.Lead root-cause analysis (RCA) for production incidents and implement systemic safeguards to prevent recurrence.Develop and execute technical improvement plans that address technical debt, simplify architecture, improve maintainability, and increase long-term platform reliability.Own the quality of software releases by ensuring engineering practices, validation, and release readiness consistently reduce production defects and improve predictability.Help establish and enforce Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) standards to improve execution quality throughout the development lifecycle.Cross-Functional Collaboration & Talent Development Partner closely with Product and QA leadership to ensure requirements are build-ready upstream before development begins.Mentor and coach Senior Developers and Developers, fostering their technical growth while strengthening problem-solving abilities, technical expertise, and overall execution across the team.Collaborate cross-functionally to align software delivery with broader business imperatives and franchisee operational needs. Candidate ProfileThe strongest candidate is part executive leader and part technical strategist: someone who has a track record of instilling discipline and reducing incidents in complex software systems, but who can still go deep into architectural and debugging discussions when needed. Experience: Typically 10+ years of progressive software engineering experience, including at least 5 years leading software development organizations with responsibility for engineering quality, delivery, and people leadership.Leadership Background: Proven experience leading software engineering organizations (VP, Director, or Head of Engineering level) within mid-sized, growing companies (approx. 100–1,000 employees).Hands-on Technical Credibility: Earlier in their career, the successful candidate was an accomplished software engineer and still possesses the technical depth to challenge architectural decisions, mentor senior engineers, and quickly understand complex production issues.System Experience: Significant experience working on mature, complex codebases and multi-tenant SaaS platforms.Quality & SDLC Track Record: Demonstrated success improving software quality, stabilizing platforms, reducing production incidents, and enforcing SDLC discipline.Systems Mindset: Thinks in terms of full system health rather than isolated features, with a relentless focus on preventing problems before they hit production.Decisive & Accountable: Comfortable setting a high bar, enforcing development standards, holding teams accountable, and making tough technical decisions.Cross-Functional Communicator: Strong communicator who effectively translates technical risks and system trade-offs for Product, QA, and executive leadership.Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience). An advanced degree is a plus.