Director-Software

Neara; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 3,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Neara is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the development of its Mission Control Infrastructure Platform in Bengaluru. You will oversee the engineering function, ensuring the platform's scalability and reliability while guiding architecture and team development.

The ideal candidate has experience managing engineering teams and understanding software architecture, along with a strong ability to improve team capabilities. This is a full-time on-site position that will require collaboration with product and data science teams.

Qualifications

• Experience leading engineering organizations of 25+ engineers.
• Proven experience in recruiting engineering talent.
• Ability to manage product compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Maintain understanding of system architecture.
• Recruit and develop strong engineering teams.
• Define strategies to manage technical debt.

Skills

Leadership of engineering organizations

Understanding of software architecture

Performance management

Collaboration with product teams

Job description

Director of Software Engineering

Job type: Full Time · Department: Engineering · Work type: On‑Site

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Digantara is a leading Space Surveillance and Intelligence company focused on ensuring orbital safety and sustainability. With expertise in space‑based detection, tracking, identification, and monitoring, Digantara provides comprehensive domain awareness across all orbital regimes, enabling end‑users to gain actionable intelligence on a single integrated platform.

At the core of our infrastructure lies a sophisticated integration of hardware and mission‑critical software aligned with the principles of situational awareness — perception (data collection), comprehension (data processing), and prediction (analytics). As we scale globally, we are building not just cutting‑edge space systems, but also the financial and operational backbone required to become a world‑class enterprise.

The Director of Software Engineering will lead the development of Digantara’s Mission Control Infrastructure Platform — a web‑based system that enables command and control of satellites and ground sensors, processes large volumes of space data, and delivers mission‑critical insights to defence users through advanced visualisations and reports. This role owns the end‑to‑end software engineering function, ensuring that the platform remains scalable, reliable, secure, and capable of supporting complex operational environments. Working closely with Product, Hardware, and Data Science leadership, the Director will guide architecture, scale engineering teams, and drive the development of systems that transform raw orbital data into actionable intelligence.

Ideal Candidate

• Experience leading an engineering organisation of ~30 engineers, including engineers, engineering managers, and at least one principal engineer.
• Hands‑on experience delivering at least one complete product lifecycle while working closely with a Director of Product.
• A technically involved leadership style — someone who understands what their teams are building, guides architectural decisions when needed, and stays connected to the work rather than operating purely as a hands‑off manager.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. System Implementation & Architecture Ownership

• Maintain a holistic understanding of how the overall system architecture fits together.
• Ensure effective integration across all software components and systems.
• Ensure the system architecture consistently supports scalability, reliability, security, performance, and advanced visualisation capabilities.

2. Engineering Leadership

• Recruit, develop, and retain a strong team of engineers, engineering managers, and principal engineers.
• Continuously improve the technical capabilities and skills of the engineering team.

3. Product Collaboration

• Participate in product discovery and roadmap discussions.
• Foster an environment that supports rapid prototyping and experimentation ("fail fast").

4. Strategic Technology Leadership

• Identify and remove technological barriers.
• Expand the technical possibilities of what the organisation can build.

5. Deployment

• Ensure the platform can be deployed in:
  • AWS cloud environments
  • Offline / air‑gapped environments.

6. Delivery Management

• Define and execute strategies to manage technical debt.
• Ensure the team delivers rapidly, reliably, and consistently.

Qualifications

• Experience leading engineering organisations of 25+ engineers.
• Strong understanding of engineering organisational structures and scaling challenges.
• Proven experience in identifying and recruiting strong engineering talent.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and improve the technical capabilities of engineering teams.
• Strong experience in performance management and team retention.
• Ability to effectively manage and collaborate with principal engineers.
• Experience handling product compliance requirements.

Preferred Qualities

• Prior experience working closely with a Director of Product.
• Experience managing large‑scale delivery environments.
• Experience collaborating with hardware engineering or data science leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and remove execution obstacles.
• Experience creating environments that support rapid prototyping and experimentation.
• Experience transitioning experimental data science code into production‑ready systems.

General Requirements

• Ability to work in a mission‑focused, operational environment.
• Strong ability to think critically and make independent decisions.
• Ability to maintain a consistent and predictable work schedule.
• Strong ability to write and deliver technical documentation and briefings.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organisational and coordination abilities.
• Willingness to travel occasionally as required.

Job Location

Hebbal, Bengaluru