Director of Software Engineering - Cloud & Modernization

Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies, Inc.; Bethesda, Northern (MD, KY); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company match

Health, dental, and vision plans

Short/long-term disability and life/AD

Generous paid time off

Job summary

SANS Institute is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the Product Development organization. You will guide senior engineers, standards, and governance for enrollment, entitlement, and platform services while coordinating with Product, Operations, Sales, and Finance.

You will drive architecture, delivery, and modernization programs end to end, balancing capacity with business priorities and reporting to executives with transparency.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• 10+ years in software engineering with 5+ years leading teams and 3+ years managing through managers/leads.
• Demonstrated success leading large modernization or systems-integration programs.
• Strong technical acumen with hands-on development and architectural guidance across services.
• Experience with modern AI development techniques and best practices.
• Experience with enterprise systems integrations (e.g., Salesforce/Service Cloud, identity providers, payment/order management).
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and DevOps practices (AWS, CI/CD pipelines, containers, IaC).
• Experience managing vendor relationships, software procurement, licensing, and budgets.
• Experience with Agile, SDLC, and modern development standards and best practices.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive reporting and cross-functional coordination.
• Unrestricted authorization to work in the USA; visa sponsorship not available.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor engineering teams through managers and leads.
• Own engineering standards and governance across teams.
• Balance capacity with priorities and communicate trade-offs.
• Direct modernization programs end to end with cross-team commitments.
• Modernize core product platforms including enterprise integrations.
• Measure engineering effectiveness and drive continuous improvement.
• Publish engineering updates and manage incident response discipline.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Leadership experience

Architectural decisions

AI development techniques

Enterprise integrations

Cloud & DevOps

Agile / SDLC

Executive communication

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Security-minded engineering

Authorization to work in USA

Education

BS or MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Salesforce/Service Cloud

PingIdentity

Entra ID

CI/CD tooling

Job description

SANS Institute is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the Product Development organization. You will guide senior engineers, standards, and governance for enrollment, entitlement, and platform services while coordinating with Product, Operations, Sales, and Finance.

You will drive architecture, delivery, and modernization programs end to end, balancing capacity with business priorities and reporting to executives with transparency.