Senior Director, Software Engineering

Roku; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 650,000 - 750,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Equity awards

Life insurance

Disability benefits

Parental leave

Wellness benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Roku is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the enterprise engineering organization, shaping AI-enabled systems, architecture, and governance. You will oversee global teams and drive a strategic, product-aligned transformation across the stack, data, and productivity platforms.

The role requires senior leadership, cloud-architecture expertise, and deep familiarity with agentic AI tools. California-based, hybrid work model, with responsibilities spanning the US, UK, and India.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software engineering teams, including managers and senior engineers.
• Deep expertise in cloud architecture and software engineering to set architectural direction.
• Fluency with agentic engineering toolchain and AI-enabled development practices.

Responsibilities

• Set technical vision and standards for Roku's enterprise apps and data.
• Advance architecture with cloud-native design, security, and fast delivery.
• Drive enterprise AI enablement and agent-ready systems.
• Lead AI-first engineering culture and establish quality standards.
• Shape team topology toward product-aligned, distributed org.
• Oversee Productivity Engineering platforms and enterprise governance.
• Partner on large enterprise tentpole initiatives with SOX compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Cloud architecture

AI-enabled engineering

Executive stakeholder influence

Agentic engineering toolchain

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

Copilot

LLM-based tools

Job description

Teamwork makes the stream work.

Roku is changing how the world watches TV

Roku is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and we've set our sights on powering every television in the world. Roku pioneered streaming to the TV. Our mission is to be the TV streaming platform that connects the entire TV ecosystem. We connect consumers to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers unique capabilities to engage consumers.

From your first day at Roku, you'll make a valuable - and valued - contribution. We're a fast-growing public company where no one is a bystander. We offer you the opportunity to delight millions of TV streamers around the world while gaining meaningful experience across a variety of disciplines.

About the role

Software engineering is at an inflection point — and Enterprise Engineering at Roku sits right at the center of it. Applications are increasingly built to plug into AI platforms — exposing their capabilities as services for agents rather than standing alone as siloed apps — and the once-clear lines between engineering disciplines are blurring, rewarding versatile engineers who can work across the stack and own outcomes end to end. At the same time, AI is raising the bar on what a lean engineering organization can deliver.

Roku is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the organization that builds the custom applications, integrations, enterprise data, AI and agentic capabilities, and productivity platforms that power how the company runs. This is a senior leadership role: you’ll set the technical vision, shape our architecture for an AI-native future, and make Enterprise Engineering’s systems agent-ready — all while championing engineering excellence in quality, security, and speed.

Reporting to the VP of Enterprise Engineering, you will lead a global organization across teams in the US, UK, and India. You’ll own the software engineering organization building Roku’s custom enterprise applications, integrations, and enterprise data; Productivity Engineering, the platforms and workflows that shape how thousands of employees work each day; andenterpriseAI enablement— the AI-enabled capabilities that let our systems and our people operate with far greater leverage.

The ideal candidate is a builder-architect and a transformation leader. You have deep, current expertise in AI and software architecture and a clear point of view on where software is heading, and you have repeatedly reshaped teams and lifted engineering standards to meet that direction. You care as much about how work gets done — the architecture, the rigor, the ways of working — as about what gets shipped.

For California Only - The estimated annual salary for this position is between $650,000 - $750,000 annually. Compensation packages are based on factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, certifications, and specific geographical location. This role is eligible for health insurance, equity awards, life insurance, disability benefits, parental leave, wellness benefits, and paid time off.

What you’ll be doing

Technical Direction & Architecture

• Set the technical vision and standards for the software engineering organization that builds Roku’s custom enterprise applications, integrations, and enterprise data.

• Advance our architecture and engineering practices — driving cloud-native design, strong engineering and security discipline, and fast, reliable delivery.

AI & the Agentic Platform

• Drive our enterprise AI enablement strategy — building the reusable foundations for agent-ready systems (identity-aware MCP services, reusable skills, eval practices, and a governed context layer) and enabling teams across the organization to build, adopt, and operate AI capabilities themselves.

• Lead the organization’s shift to AI-first engineering: drive team-wide AI adoption, create the psychological safety for teams to experiment and learn, redesign workflows around AI rather than bolting it on, and establish standards for the quality and accountability of AI-assisted work.

Organization & Transformation

• Reshape team topology around outcomes as the boundaries between engineering disciplines blur, evolving the org toward versatile, product-aligned teams.

• Build, coach, and uplift a high-performing, geographically distributed engineering team, and serve as a thought partner to executive leadership.

Enterprise Scope & Governance

• Own Productivity Engineering: the platforms, workflows, and tools that shape how thousands of employees collaborate, execute, and make decisions.

• Partner on the architecture and execution of major enterprise tentpole initiatives that span multiple systems and teams.

• Operate with the governance, security, audit, and compliance discipline (including SOX) that enterprise systems require.

We’re excited if you have

• 1 5 + years building and leading software engineering teams, including significant experience leading managers and/or senior engineers in an organization of scale.

• Deep, current expertise in cloud architecture and software engineering, with the judgment to set architectural direction and go as deep as a problem requires — whether as a hands-on architect or leading through strong managers.

• Personal, current fluency with the agentic engineering toolchain — conversational AI and agentic coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot) used across the full software development lifecycle — with the judgment to drive an agent, verify its output, and lead by example. Depth in LLM-based applications, agentic workflows, MCP integration, and eval-driven development.

• A track record of raising engineering standards in an existing organization — modernizing architecture, embedding secure-by-design practices, and improving quality, rigor, and agility.

• Conviction and experience in organizational design, including reshaping teams around outcomes and evolving operating models.

• Experience with enterprise or internal platforms and the governance, security, and compliance that come with them; large-scale enterprise system modernization is a strong plus.

• Change leadership: a demonstrated ability to move an organization to new, AI-enabled ways of working and to protect strategic capacity against the gravity of run-the-business work.

• Exceptional executive presence, a data-driven mindset, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders.

How will I use AI at Roku?

At Roku, we don’t just use AI, we work with it. AI agents and smart tools help power drafts, analysis, and repetitive workflows, while our people bring direction, judgment, and accountability. We’re looking for curious, adaptable builders who can show how they’ve used AI or automation to move faster, raise the bar, and scale their impact.

We value your AI skills if you’ve built fluency across the agentic engineering toolchain — coding harnesses like Claude Code or Cursor, MCP servers, custom skills, or agent frameworks — and you can describe projects where you shipped real work with these tools. You know how to drive an agent, verify its output, and ramp on an unfamiliar codebase with an agent helping you.

What's Roku's approach to hybrid working?

Roku fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where teams generally work in the office Monday through Thursday. Fridays are generally flexible for remote work, except for employees whose specific roles or assigned office location require five days' a week attendance.

What are some of the benefits?

• Roku is committed to offering a diverse range of benefits as part of our compensation package to support our employees and their families. Our comprehensive benefits include global access to mental health and financial wellness support and resources. Local benefits include statutory and voluntary benefits which may include healthcare (medical, dental, and vision), life, accident, disability, commuter, and retirement options (401(k)/pension). Employees are supported in taking time off, in accordance with local leave policies and other personal needs to support their evolving work and life needs. It's important to note that not every benefit is available in all locations or for every role. For details specific to your location, please consult with your recruiter.

Accommodations

Roku welcomes applicants of all backgrounds and provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments in accordance with applicable law. If you require reasonable accommodation at any point in the hiring process, please direct your inquiries to [e-mail].

What should I know about Roku's culture?

Roku is a great place for people who want to work in a fast-paced environment where everyone is focused on the company's success rather than their own. We try to surround ourselves with people who are great at their jobs, who are easy to work with, and who keep their egos in check. We appreciate a sense of humor. We believe a fewer number of very talented folks can do more for less cost than a larger number of less talented teams. We're independent thinkers with big ideas who act boldly, move fast and accomplish extraordinary things through collaboration and trust. In short, at Roku you'll be part of a company that's changing how the world watches TV.

We have a unique culture that we are proud of. We think of ourselves primarily as problem-solvers, which itself is a two-part idea. We come up with the solution, but the solution isn't real until it is built and delivered to the customer. That penchant for action gives us a pragmatic approach to innovation, one that has served us well since 2002.

To learn more about Roku, our global footprint, and how we've grown, visit https://www.weareroku.com/factsheet.

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