Director Application Development

RSM US LLP; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 3,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

RSM US LLP seeks an Application Development Director to lead India-based software engineering teams in a hybrid role combining technology leadership and people management. You will own hiring, development, retention, and budget for the India practice, driving delivery across Dynamics 365, custom apps, data engineering, and cloud-native platforms.

You will partner with global teams to ensure high-quality client outcomes, establish scalable practices, and build leaders for the next generation of

Qualifications

• 20+ years of progressive software engineering or application development experience.
• Prior people-leadership or people-management responsibility.
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and retaining engineering talent, preferably in India or distributed delivery.
• Experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and modern SDLC practices.
• Track record of owning team utilization and financial performance for an engineering practice.
• Strong business and financial acumen with ability to discuss technology in business terms.
• Excellent client relationship, project management, and organizational skills.
• Fluent English with ability to interact with stakeholders at all levels.
• Willingness to travel as needed.

Responsibilities

• Own hiring strategy and execution for engineering roles in India, building a strong pipeline.
• Mentor and grow developers, leads, and PMs on skills, delivery, and career progression.
• Build culture to drive engagement and retention across India engineering.
• Collaborate with consultants and peers to support a unified global delivery model.
• Develop future leaders and clear growth paths for high performers.
• Lead delivery across a multi-discipline portfolio: Dynamics 365, custom apps, integration, data engineering, cloud-native.
• Ensure consistent engineering standards, delivery methodology, and best practices.
• Provide hands-on technical guidance across SDLC including architecture and design reviews.
• Serve as senior client-facing leader, manage relationships with client technical leads and stakeholders.
• Define and document client requirements aligned with business objectives.
• Oversee engagements from discovery to deployment, manage issues and risks.
• Oversee design, development, testing of software across full SDLC including data warehousing and migrations.
• Deliver demonstrations and drive continuous improvement of delivery standards and assets.
• Conduct end-user training and knowledge-transfer documentation.
• Own utilization targets and manage staffing, bench, and resource allocation.
• Manage team financial performance including budgeting, forecasting, and margins.
• Partner with leadership on capacity planning and demand forecasting.
• Report on utilization, financial performance, and delivery health to practice leadership.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Client relationship management

Budgeting & forecasting

Stakeholder management

Delivery leadership

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Communication

Strategic thinking

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Azure DevOps

CI/CD pipelines

Dynamics 365 & Power Platform

NetSuite / Cloud-native apps

Job description

RSM is seeking an Application Development Director to lead and grow our India-based software engineering teams. This is a hybrid technical and people-leadership role: the Director will build and scale a multi-disciplinary engineering organization spanning Microsoft technologies, custom application development, integration, data engineering, and NetSuite/cloud native applications, while directly owning the hiring, development, and retention of engineering talent in India. The Director will also own team utilization and financial performance, ensuring the practice delivers high-quality client outcomes as a sustainable, well-run business.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the hiring strategy and execution for engineering roles in India, building a strong pipeline of software engineering talent across disciplines.
• Mentor, coach, and grow developers, technical leads, and project managers on technical skills, delivery best practices, and career progression.
• Build a culture and set of practices that drive employee engagement and retention, reducing attrition across the India engineering organization.
• Collaborate and work effectively with consultants, engineers, and peer leaders across other regions and practices to support a unified, global delivery model.
• Identify and develop future leaders within the team, creating clear growth paths for high performers.

Multi-Discipline Engineering Leadership

• Lead delivery and staffing across a multi-discipline engineering portfolio: Microsoft (Dynamics 365 and Power Platform), custom application development, integration, data engineering, and NetSuite/cloud native applications.
• Ensure consistent engineering standards, delivery methodology, and technical best practices are applied across all disciplines.
• Champion cross-discipline collaboration so that Microsoft, custom apps, integration, data engineering, and cloud native teams work from a shared playbook rather than in silos.
• Provide hands-on technical guidance across the SDLC, including solution architecture, design reviews, and troubleshooting for complex delivery issues.

Client & Solution Delivery

• Serve as a senior client-facing leader, managing relationships with customer technical leads and business stakeholders.
• Discern, define, refine, and document client requirements, ensuring solutions are designed in alignment with business objectives.
• Lead engagements from discovery and design through development, testing, and deployment, acting as the primary point of contact for issue and risk management.
• Oversee design, development, and testing of software applications across the full SDLC, including data warehousing, data migration/cleansing, integration, and cloud native solution delivery.
• Deliver customized solution demonstrations and drive continuous improvement of delivery standards, tools, and reusable assets.
• Conduct end-user training and produce knowledge-transfer documentation as needed to support client enablement.
• Own utilization targets for the India engineering team, proactively managing staffing, bench, and resource allocation across engagements.
• Manage team financial performance, including budgeting, forecasting, and margin, ensuring engagements are delivered on time and on budget.
• Partner with practice and account leadership on capacity planning and demand forecasting to balance growth with financial discipline.
• Report on utilization, financial performance, and delivery health to practice leadership on a recurring basis.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field; Master's degree preferred.
• 20+ years of progressive experience in software engineering or application development, including prior people-leadership or people-management responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience hiring, mentoring, and retaining engineering talent, ideally in an India-based or distributed delivery model.
• Experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and modern SDLC practices.
• Track record of owning team utilization and financial/business performance for an engineering practice or delivery unit.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to speak about technology in the language of business.
• Excellent client relationship management, project management, and organizational skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; fluent in English.
• Ability to interact effectively with internal and external stakeholders at all organizational levels.
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed.