Senior Director Of Software Engineering

ThoughtExchange is the world’s most trusted AI engagement and experience platform for leaders who drive change and alignment. We support a diverse range of clients from top school districts across North America to Fortune 500 companies and Public Sector innovators. We’re also winners of Quartz’s Best Companies for Remote Workers and Canada’s Top Growing Companies.  Join us on our journey to accelerate change for good through inclusive problem-solving!

ThoughtExchange is seeking a visionary Senior Director of Software Engineering to lead our engineering teams. This high-impact role involves shaping and implementing top-level engineering strategies while overseeing all facets of our engineering function. You will work closely with directors, engineering managers, team leads, and cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with our company's goals.

The Senior Director of Software Engineering will offer technical guidance and oversight to ensure robust engineering practices, designs, and resource efficiency, adhering to organizational and professional standards. They are responsible for the development, well-being, and progression of the engineering teams, including involvement in staffing, hiring, and compensation decisions. In partnership with the VP of R&D, the Senior Director manages the engineering department budget and provides necessary technical reports and advice. Additionally, this role involves collaborating with leadership and stakeholders across the company to shape product strategy, enhance user experience, and implement operational strategies that support ThoughtExchange's growth and expansion.

Note: This position has a planned career advancement path to a VP-level role within the year.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee all aspects of the engineering function within the company
• Develop and maintain a broad understanding of the product and its architecture to provide overall technical leadership
• Tackle ambiguous issues and initiatives, often outside core skill set, working through engineering managers and team leads to bridge gaps, and create understanding while empowering teams to resolve issues without mandating
• Understand, lead and make decisions on highly technical topics, across several key technical areas (application, infrastructure, research, metrics) that are vital to the product and the company
• Promote ability and desire in the teams, empowering them to attain both company and individual professional development goals
• Ensure success in the process, planning and delivery of daily operations as well as long-term objectives
• Deliver products, projects, and initiatives on time with quality, consistency and effective use of resources
• Refocus priorities and energy as required to align teams with emerging objectives
• Consider, anticipate and address cross-team and cross-department issues
• Understand where we "are'' as a company & where we "need to be" by challenging the status quoWork to refine our staffing & hiring processes to find, attract and retain valuable employees
• Innovate, plan and prototype new ideas, projects and processes by championing initiatives
• Ensure all engineering activities are in accordance with organizational standards for ISO and SOC2 compliance
• Collaborate closely with Sales, Product, Marketing, Senior Leadership, Customer Success and other departments throughout the organization as required
• Actively involved in engineering staffing, hiring and compensation decisions and help to manage the department budget
• Provide technical reports, evaluations and technical advice to leadership as required
• Manage applications and execution of projects for SR&ED, IRAP and other funding programs
• Forward our Anti-Racism and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) mandate by being aware of our ADEI commitment and initiatives and completing all required ADEI training

What We Think Is True About You:

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering
• 7+ years of people management experience
• 3+ years in a senior-level leadership role
• Experience with survey and engagement platforms is an asset
• Strong knowledge of software development methodologies, languages, frameworks and technologies
• Proven track record of successfully leading and delivering complex software projects
• Excellent leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to motivate & inspire teams and effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams
• Experience running technical programs for SR&ED, IRAP and patent planning
• Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities coupled with ability to capture and document decisions, designs and architectures
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment
• Proven ability to attract, retain and lead top engineering talent
• Strong business acumen and the ability to align engineering strategies with overall business objectives