Software Director – SONiC

Micas Networks; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Micas Networks in San Jose, CA is seeking a Software Director - SONiC to define the long-term software strategy and roadmap for our SONiC-based platforms. You will lead a high-performing team of engineers and managers and collaborate with hardware, product, and customer teams to deliver world-class networking solutions to hyperscalers and data centers.

The ideal candidate brings deep networking and open-source expertise, proven leadership in scaling software organizations, and the ability to

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering and software management experience in networking, with exposure to data center, hyperscaler, and mission-critical environments.
• 5+ years of experience leading software teams, including hiring, mentoring, performance management, and building high-performing organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and define the long-term SONiC software product roadmap in alignment with hardware, product management, and executive teams.
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing team of software engineers and managers, ensuring alignment with business objectives and technical excellence.
• Engage with customers, including hyperscalers and OEMs, to translate needs into actionable software requirements and feature definitions.
• Oversee design, development, and maintenance of the SONiC OS across multiple platforms and deployments.
• Drive DevOps practices, CI/CD, automated testing, and robust release engineering to enable rapid, high-quality delivery.

Skills

Software leadership

Networking

Open source

Team building

Strategy

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

SONiC framework

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Company Overview

Micas Networks is a leading provider of open networking solutions for hyperscalers, cloud data centers, AI infrastructure, and OEM customers. We deliver high-performance Ethernet switching platforms supporting SONiC and other open network operating systems.

Company Overview

Micas Networks is a leading provider of open networking solutions for hyperscalers, cloud data centers, AI infrastructure, and OEM customers. We deliver high-performance Ethernet switching platforms supporting SONiC and other open network operating systems.

Position Summary

Micas Networks is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Software Director - SONiC to lead our Network Operating System software organization. In this role, you will define and execute the long-term software strategy and roadmap for our SONiC-based platforms, lead a high-performing team of software engineers and managers, and collaborate closely with hardware, product management, and customer-facing teams to deliver world-class networking solutions to hyperscalers, cloud data centers, and OEM partners.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in networking and open-source network operating systems with proven leadership experience in building, mentoring, and scaling software organizations. You will play a critical role in shaping the future of open networking by translating market and customer needs into actionable software requirements, driving cross-functional execution, and ensuring the optimal allocation of engineering resources to maximize impact.

Responsibilities

• Leadership & Strategy
  • Lead and define the long-term SONiC software product roadmap in alignment with hardware, product management, regional, and executive teams.
  • Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing team of software engineers, technical leads, and managers, ensuring alignment with business unit objectives and fostering a culture of technical excellence and accountability.
  • Engage directly with customers—including hyperscalers, cloud operators, and OEM partners—to gather insights and translate networking needs into actionable software requirements and feature definitions.
  • Provide strategic input across the organization to ensure software features, release cadence, and platform capabilities align with customer needs, market trends, and business goals.
  • Monitor industry, open-source, and technology trends (SONiC, DENT, SAI, P4, eBPF, AI/ML for networking) to inform strategy and maintain competitive differentiation.
  • Drive resource allocation, budgeting, and headcount planning across software functions to balance short-term delivery with long-term platform investment.
• Software Development & Delivery
  • Oversee the design, development, and maintenance of the SONiC network operating system across multiple hardware platforms and customer deployments.
  • Drive implementation and optimization of network protocols, control-plane and data-plane features, platform drivers, and software modules.
  • Establish and enforce engineering best practices for code quality, design reviews, performance analysis, and system reliability.
  • Lead continuous improvement of CI/CD infrastructure, automated regression testing, code coverage, and release engineering to enable rapid, high-quality software delivery.
  • Champion strong DevOps practices, version control discipline, and modern software lifecycle management across the organization.
  • Own software quality end-to-end—from feature definition through field deployment—and drive rapid resolution of complex, customer-impacting issues.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Collaborate across functions—including Hardware Engineering, Product Management, Product Marketing, Operations, and Procurement—to deliver high-impact product initiatives on schedule.
  • Partner with Hardware and Platform teams on switch ASIC SDK integration, hardware abstraction layers (e.g., SAI, switchdev), and BSP development to ensure tight hardware/software co-design.
  • Drive the development of Product Requirements Documents (PRDs), software design specifications, user stories, and customer-facing technical collateral.
  • Develop and deliver high-quality, customer-facing presentations that articulate software value, architecture, and roadmap.
  • Partner with Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Marketing Communications to support go-to-market activities and create compelling technical sales collateral.
  • Represent Micas Networks externally in customer engagements, industry forums, and open-source communities such as the SONiC Foundation and OCP.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering and software management experience in networking, with significant exposure to Carrier Service Provider, Data Center, Hyperscaler, and/or Mission-Critical environments.
• 5+ years of experience leading software teams, including hiring, mentoring, performance management, and building high-performing organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active contributions to open-source projects and communities, particularly SONiC, DENT, or related networking ecosystems.
• Hands-on knowledge of cloud computing and modern data center networking architectures (leaf/spine, EVPN-VXLAN, SmartNIC, AI/ML fabrics).
• Experience developing or configuring whitebox/disaggregated network devices and switches at scale.
• Prior experience working with hyperscaler or Tier-1 cloud customers on production deployments.
• Experience scaling globally distributed software engineering organizations.