Senior Director, Software Engineering - Data and AI Platforms

Epiq; Hyderabad; Hybrid; INR 4,500,000 - 8,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Epiq, the world’s leading Legal Solutions provider, seeks a Senior Director, Software Engineering – Data & AI Platforms to expand data and information management across the organization. You will report to the CTO and collaborate with Product Management, Operations, AI/ML, and stakeholders to drive the Data & AI Platforms vision.

This hands-on leadership role manages a team of 80–100 in India, using AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Kubernetes, and a growing GenAI/vector infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field is required.
• Master's degree is highly desirable.
• 15–20 years of technology leadership experience.
• ≥5 years leading data platform teams.
• Experience with ML/GenAI and vector search is a strong plus.
• AWS/Azure cloud experience for data integration and pipelines.
• Knowledge of ETL/ELT, streaming architectures, and data warehousing.
• Familiarity with data governance, privacy laws (GDPR/CCPA), and secure SDLC.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on leadership; contribute to code and reviews.
• Architect APIs, services, and microservices used by multiple teams.
• Own CI/CD, testing, and secure coding practices.
• Oversee data platforms, lakehouse, and GenAI infrastructure.
• Drive data quality, lineage, and governance across the organization.
• Collaborate with AI/ML, Product, and Operations for data-driven products.
• Manage distributed teams across time zones; mentor leaders.
• Ensure reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient data processing.

Skills

Python

Scala

Java

Git

CI/CD

APIs/Microservices

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

Security review

Observability

Data governance

Agile

Leadership

Distributed teams

GenAI/LLM

AWS/Azure

Snowflake

dbt

Spark/Databricks

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

dbt

Spark

Databricks

Snowflake

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

At Epiq, your work contributes to complex, global legal outcomes. You’ll join a values‑driven community where integrity guides decisions, relentless service sets the bar, and we thrive on big challenges together. We invest in your growth with enterprise‑wide learning and mobility. We celebrate who you are, and we respect life beyond work with flexibility that’s recognized externally. Enabled by modern platforms and AI, you’ll do the most meaningful work of your career and see your impact at scale.

Job Description

Role Description

Epiq, the world’s leading Legal Solutions provider, is changing the legal tech game. We are looking for a Senior Director, Software Engineering – Data & AI Platforms to expand data and information management capabilities across our organization. The successful candidate will help deliver our vision for our Data & AI Platforms, working directly under the CTO, together with Product Management, Operations, AI/ML, and other stakeholders in the organization. The person will be a thought leader driving the Software Development function along with the Data Integration/Data Quality initiatives of the Epiq Service Cloud, including the data foundations that power our AI and GenAI capabilities, and a tremendous team player who builds connections across the organization.

This is still a hands‑on role, so we are looking for someone who can not only set our vision to advance this capability but also help implement it, leading a team of 80- 100 people based primarily in India. The team is using a cloud‑native, modern technology stack built on AWS, Microsoft Azure, Snowflake, Kubernetes, and PowerBI, with growing investment in streaming, Lakehouse, and GenAI/vector infrastructure, among other things. This is a leadership role and requires working in our office premises in a hybrid model.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrated hands‑on software engineering background (e.g., Python, Scala, or Java), with a track record of personally writing, reviewing, and shipping production‑grade code, not solely directing the work of others.
• Solid grounding in core engineering practices: version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and formal code review standards.
• Experience designing and building APIs, services, and event‑driven/ microservices architectures that other engineering and product teams build on top of.
• Working knowledge of infrastructure‑as‑code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) and containerized deployment (Docker/Kubernetes) from an ownership and architecture standpoint, not just as a consumer.
• Familiarity with secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices — dependency management, secrets management, and security review — particularly relevant given the sensitivity of legal data.
• Experience architecting for reliability and scale: observability (logging, monitoring, alerting), incident response, and performance/cost tuning of production data services.
• Develop a critical understanding of business data to proactively identify opportunities to improve data quality and deliver solutions and insights. Partner with AI/ML and Product teams to build the data foundations (pipelines, feature stores, vector search, RAG‑ready datasets) that power our GenAI and agentic product capabilities.
• Provide guidance for data integrity issues, ongoing maintenance, and data governance, including responsible‑AI data practices such as lineage tracking and PII/PHI handling appropriate for legal data.
• Maintain detailed documentation of data collection methods and dependencies.
• Work with key stakeholders to understand BI/Analytics and reporting requirements.
• Conduct audits and troubleshoot tracking gaps to maintain data confidence and implement data standardization practices.
• Work with our Data Science / Analytics organization to help achieve product goals, including supporting model evaluation and monitoring once in production.
• Support a data‑driven culture by educating the organization on everyday uses of data, and increasingly AI, as a resource.

Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study required.
• Master’s degree in a related field is highly desirable.
• Minimum of 15-20 years of technology leadership experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience leading teams building data platforms.
• Understanding of machine learning, with prior experience implementing end‑to‑end ML‑powered models highly desirable; exposure to GenAI/LLM‑based systems (RAG, vector search, prompt/eval pipelines) is a strong plus.
• AWS/Azure cloud experience around data integration technologies and frameworks.
• Knowledge of common ingestion patterns, ETL/ELT, and streaming architectures.
• Hands‑on familiarity with modern data stack tooling (e.g., dbt, Spark/Databricksclass compute) and data observability/quality platforms.
• Proven experience working with large‑scale data processing platforms and distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Snowflake, or similar), handling high‑volume, high‑velocity data at enterprise scale.
• Working knowledge of data governance/cataloging tools and vector database concepts.
• Knowledge of Agile development methodologies.
• Experience leading a Shared Services / Platform organization, with a client‑first mentality and a collaborative, helpful attitude.
• Experience managing distributed teams across India and global time zones, with strong stakeholder management across US/UK/EU counterparts.
• Track record of managing and growing remote teams over time, including hiring, mentoring, and building out organizational capability as scope expands.
• Expert knowledge of data warehousing concepts and data schemas.
• Awareness of data privacy and security regulations relevant to legal/regulated data (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) and how they intersect with AI system design.
• Prior experience in the legal industry or legal technology is a plus, though not required.
• High level of attention to detail, quality, and effective verbal and written communication skills along with excellent follow‑through.

Epiq Leadership Compass

Enterprise Decision Making

Applies deep business and financial insight to guide strategic decisions, resource allocation, and thought leadership.

• Use financial and market expertise for long‑term direction
• Build strategic partnerships
• Promote a customer‑first mindset
• Allocate global resources for innovation and growth

Cultivates a Growth Mindset

Fosters innovation through curiosity, smart risk‑taking, and adaptability—aligning change with strategy for lasting impact.

• Promote curiosity and forward‑thinking
• Build a culture of innovation through partnerships
• Drive innovation to meet client needs
• Lead innovation with a clear vision
• Align innovation with market trends

Builds Talented Teams

Builds and develops inclusive, high‑performing teams aligned to strategic goals for exceptional talent and business results.

• Focus on employee engagement
• Build a strong talent pipeline

Fosters Relationships & Collaboration

Builds trust and alignment through open communication, shared goals, and strong partnerships to drive collective success.

• Build trust‑based partnerships
• Nurture long‑term relationships
• Remove collaboration barriers
• Celebrate cross‑team success

Engages & Influences

Inspires action and alignment through clear communication, purposeful influence, and a compelling vision.

• Use storytelling to build buy‑in
• Align communication with organizational goals
• Guild alignment through strong engagement

Maximizes Performance

Sets and reinforces performance standards that drive results, ensure accountability, and align with Epiq’s goals.

• Use data to identify improvement opportunities
• Make informed decisions
• Align team goals with boarder strategy
• Empower teams to manage their own goals
• Translate vision into clear priorities
• Prepare for disruptions with strong change management

It is Epiq’s policy to comply with all applicable equal employment opportunity laws by making all employment decisions without unlawful regard or consideration of any individual’s race, religion, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expressions, transgender status, sexual and other reproductive health decisions, marital status, age, national origin, genetic information, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, veteran or family status or any other basis protected by applicable national, federal, state, provincial or local law. Epiq’s policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on any of these impermissible bases, as well as any bases or grounds protected by applicable law in each jurisdiction. In addition Epiq will take affirmative action for minorities, women, covered veterans and individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. Epiq is pleased to provide such assistance and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request. Pursuant to relevant law, where applicable, Epiq will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.