Software Development Director - Ankara

D12 Danışmanlık; Çankaya; On-site; TRY 1,100,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

D12 Danışmanlık is assisting to fill a Software Development Director role for the Ankara region with a leading internet-based technology company. The position leads Backend and Mobile engineering, shapes the engineering strategy, and drives the delivery of scalable, secure software solutions.

The role requires extensive leadership experience, deep technical expertise in software architecture, and close collaboration with Product, Design, Data, and Infrastructure teams to ensure high performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 20 years of professional experience in the software development industry.
• At least 5 years of experience in a senior management or executive engineering leadership role.
• Fluency in English and residence in Ankara.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership to multiple software engineering teams and engineering managers.
• Define, implement, and evolve the engineering strategy in alignment with business objectives and technology roadmap.
• Lead Agile software delivery processes, including sprint planning, prioritization, execution, and delivery governance.
• Oversee engineering capacity planning, budgeting, and resource allocation.
• Establish and improve engineering KPIs, performance metrics, and quality standards.
• Guide major architectural and technical decisions to ensure quality, scalability, reliability, and security.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, Data, and Infrastructure to enable cross-functional execution.
• Support innovation, R&D activities, modernization programs, and emerging technologies.
• Coach and develop engineering managers and senior technical staff.

Skills

Leadership

Software architecture

Distributed systems

Cloud-native technologies

SDLC

Java

Spring Boot

Agile methodologies

Business strategy alignment

English fluency

Education

Bachelor's/Master's degree in Computer Engineering / Software Engineering / Computer Science

Job description

Software Development Director - ANKARA Region

We look for a highly experienced, accomplished, and results-oriented Software Development Director to join the Ankara office of a leading internet-based technology company for which we are providing executive search and consultancy services.

This is a senior leadership position with responsibility for leading multiple software engineering teams, shaping the company's engineering strategy, strengthening organizational capability, and ensuring the delivery of scalable, secure, reliable, and high-performance software solutions.

The successful candidate will play a key role in aligning technology strategy with overall business objectives, building high-performing engineering organizations, driving operational excellence, and fostering a strong culture of ownership, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

The position will have overall leadership responsibility for both Backend and Mobile Software Engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership to multiple software engineering teams and engineering managers.
• Define, implement, and continuously evolve the engineering strategy in alignment with the company's business objectives and long-term technology roadmap.
• Lead Agile software delivery processes, including sprint planning, prioritization, execution, and delivery governance.
• Oversee engineering capacity planning, workforce planning, budgeting, and resource allocation.
• Establish, monitor, and continuously improve engineering KPIs, delivery performance indicators, operational excellence metrics, and quality standards.
• Guide major architectural and technical decisions to ensure software quality, scalability, reliability, maintainability, security, and performance.
• Ensure effective implementation of modern software development practices and engineering standards across all teams.
• Work closely with Product, Design, Data, Infrastructure, and other business functions to ensure effective cross-functional collaboration and execution.
• Manage key technology vendors, external partners, and strategic technology investments.
• Support and lead innovation initiatives, R&D activities, modernization programs, and the adoption of emerging technologies.
• Coach, mentor, and develop engineering managers and senior technical professionals, supporting both leadership development and employee engagement.
• Foster a high-performance engineering culture based on accountability, collaboration, technical excellence, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain appropriate involvement in hands‑on technical activities where required, including technical reviews, architecture discussions, and code review processes.
• Manage employee‑related matters concerning the Ankara Office in close coordination with the relevant management teams based in Istanbul.

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Leadership

The Ankara Office will serve as the company's designated Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Center for the Istanbul Office in the event of natural disasters, major operational disruptions, emergencies, or other extraordinary circumstances.

Accordingly, the Software Development Director will hold a critical leadership responsibility for establishing, managing, coordinating, and continuously improving the company's disaster recovery and business continuity framework.

The role will include:

• Ensuring the operational readiness of the Ankara Office to assume critical business and technology functions when required.
• Developing, maintaining, and regularly reviewing disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
• Coordinating emergency response, contingency management, and operational continuity procedures.
• Ensuring that critical technology and business services can be transferred to and maintained from the Ankara Office without material disruption.
• Coordinating relevant teams and stakeholders during crisis and recovery situations.
• Conducting and overseeing business continuity and disaster recovery exercises, readiness reviews, and scenario‑based testing.
• Ensuring appropriate documentation, governance, escalation mechanisms, and communication protocols are maintained.
• Assuming broader administrative and operational responsibility for the company when circumstances require continuity of management from the Ankara Office.

Given the strategic importance of this responsibility, substantial and demonstrable experience in Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity Management, Crisis Management, and operational leadership is an essential requirement for the position.

Candidates with direct experience in establishing or managing corporate disaster recovery centers, business continuity programs, contingency operations, or technology recovery environments will be strongly preferred.

Technical Environment:

The position requires a strong technical background and the ability to remain sufficiently close to software development activities and engineering processes.

Candidates are expected to have strong proficiency in:

• Java
• Spring Boot
• Modern software architecture and engineering practices
• Distributed systems
• Cloud-native technologies
• Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The successful candidate should be capable of engaging effectively in architecture reviews, technical discussions, engineering quality reviews, and, where appropriate, code review processes.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 20 years of professional experience in the software development industry.
• At least 5 years of experience in a senior management or executive engineering leadership role.
• Extensive experience leading large-scale software development organizations and multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Proven track record of successfully managing engineering managers and senior technical professionals.
• Strong understanding of modern software architecture, distributed systems, cloud-native technologies, and software engineering best practices.
• Extensive experience with Agile methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban, as well as engineering delivery management.
• Strong command of all phases of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Demonstrated experience in engineering budgeting, capacity planning, workforce planning, resource allocation, and organizational scaling.
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical capability, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Proven ability to build, develop, and retain high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong stakeholder management, leadership, communication, and influencing skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, high-responsibility, and business-critical environments.
• Fluency in English.
• Residence in Ankara.

Preferred Qualifications:

The following qualifications will be considered advantageous:

• Master's degree or PhD in a relevant technical discipline.
• Experience in high-traffic consumer internet, marketplace, e-commerce, digital platform, or technology-driven businesses.
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms and modern DevOps practices.
• Experience with data-intensive systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or platform engineering.
• Experience leading large-scale technology transformation, modernization, or organizational change initiatives.
• Previous responsibility for enterprise-level Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, or Crisis Management programs.
• Workplace Type: ONSITE / Office-based position with semi-flexible working hours.
• Semi-Flexible Working Hours: Start between 07:30-10:00 and finish between 16:30-19:00, based on an 8-hour working day.
• Remote Working: Up to 2 weeks of remote working opportunity per year.
• Company vehicle.
• Annual performance-based bonus.
• Total compensation based on 12 net monthly salaries plus applicable performance-based incentives.
• Birthday leave.

The Profile We Are Looking For:

This position is suited to an experienced technology executive who combines deep technical expertise with strong organizational leadership, operational discipline, and crisis-management capability.

The ideal candidate will be capable not only of leading a sophisticated software engineering organization, but also of assuming broader operational leadership responsibility when required.

For this reason, proven experience in software engineering leadership, organizational management, disaster recovery, business continuity, and crisis preparedness will be central to the evaluation of candidates...