Director of Software Engineering UK, CH

Kandou Bus; Reading; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading semiconductor company is seeking a Digital Design Engineer in Reading, UK. The ideal candidate will have over 12 years of experience in software engineering and be adept in defining and delivering complex software solutions. The role requires expertise in software architecture, Agile methodologies, and cross-functional collaboration. This is an exciting opportunity to challenge the limits in a high-tech scale-up environment.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in software engineering within semiconductor or hardware technology.
• Experience leading geographically distributed software teams.
• Deep expertise across the software stack including firmware and application software.

Responsibilities

• Define, architect, develop, and deliver the full software stack.
• Establish robust software development processes.
• Engage with customers to understand their goals and needs.

Skills

End-to-end software solution architecture

Agile/Scrum methodologies

DevOps practices

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

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Challenges are our drive, innovation our calling. We at Kandou are a team of passionate accomplished professionals making a mark in the semiconductor industry. We're an innovative leader in high-speed and energy efficient chip-chip link solutions critical to the evolution of the electronics industry, continuously developing to meet the demands of not just the customers of today, but of tomorrow too. If you love to be part of a high-tech scale-up and are motivated by pushing your limits and challenging the status quo, we have an opportunity for you.

We are actively seeking a resourceful Digital Design Engineer, based in either UK (Reading/Northampton) or Lausanne, Switzerland.

Key Responsibilities

• Define, architect, develop, and deliver the full software stack including validation software, embedded firmware, device drivers, system software, SDKs, application-level software, and customer support/demonstration tools
• Establish and continuously improve robust, scalable software development processes optimized for production environments. Ensure predictable delivery of high-quality, well-documented, secure, and maintainable software releases that meet stringent reliability and performance standards
• Build, scale software capability aligned with company's business strategy and product roadmap
• Engage with customers (internal/external) to understand goals, strategies, and technical needs - and lead the definition and execution of high-value and quality solutions

Skills

• Deep understanding of end-to-end software solution architecture with a proven track record of delivering complex, production-grade systems that integrate hardware and software across multiple technology domains
• Expertise in software architectural principles emphasizing modularity, reusability, scalability, and maintainability. Strong command of modern software development methodologies including Agile/Scrum, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), automated testing frameworks, and DevOps practices
• Strong organizational and program management capabilities with the ability to drive multiple concurrent initiatives, set priorities strategically, manage technical debt, and integrate emerging technologies into complex product roadmaps. Cross-functional collaboration, and stakeholder management skills. Ability to influence technical direction, negotiate priorities with engineering and product teams, and represent software engineering at the executive level.

Experience

• 12+ years of senior‑level experience in software engineering within the semiconductor, systems, or hardware technology industry
• Proven track record leading geographically distributed, multi‑disciplinary software teams with direct responsibility for defining software architecture, managing the complete development lifecycle, and delivering production‑ready software solutions
• Deep technical expertise across the software stack including firmware/embedded systems, device drivers, OS‑level programming (Linux, RTOS), hardware abstraction layers, system software, SDK development, API design, application software, and software tools/utilities
• Experience with high‑speed interface technologies (PCIe, CXL, NVMe, Ethernet, or similar protocols) and system‑level integration in data center or enterprise computing environments
• Background in SoC/ASIC development, memory systems, compute accelerators, or data center infrastructure is highly preferred

If this is the role you have been looking for and want to be part of a growing company with an exciting future, we would really love to hear from you. Together We Kandou It!

Visit us at www.kandou.ai and https://www.linkedin.com/company/kandou-ai/