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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Director of Software Engineering & AI Innovation | Hybrid | Reston, VA - **Company:** Ellucian - **Location:** Reston, VA, United States - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Automation of Tests, Business Software, Software as a Service, Cloud Computing, Cloud Engineering, Static Program Analysis, Software Quality, Custom Software, DevOps, Software Architecture, Software Engineering, Systems Integration, Enterprise Software Applications, Technical Debt, AI Coding Agents, Integration Frameworks, Devsecops - **Published:** October 25, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=fcf1d9ee51577e97 ## About the Role The ideal candidate combines strong technical judgment, proven engineering leadership, and the ability to guide teams through technology transformation while building an organization positioned for future growth., * Demonstrated experience leading multiple software engineering teams, including engineering managers, technical leaders, and customer-facing technical delivery teams. * Strong background in enterprise software engineering, SaaS platforms, cloud technologies, and complex systems integration. * Proven ability to define engineering strategy, establish technical direction, and deliver measurable improvements in software quality, productivity, and operational performance. * Experience managing customer-specific software development, enterprise integrations, and complex technical delivery commitments. * Demonstrated success modernizing engineering practices, adopting reusable architectures, and reducing dependency on custom development. * Strong understanding of software architecture, cloud-native development, APIs, integration frameworks, DevSecOps, and automated software delivery. * Experience with enterprise ERP, SIS, CRM, or similarly complex business application environments. * Ability to lead technology transformation and organizational change while balancing existing customer commitments with future engineering priorities. * Experience managing engineering capacity, resource allocation, delivery performance, and competing business priorities. * Practical understanding of AI-assisted software development, engineering automation, and responsible adoption of emerging technologies. * Strong business acumen and the ability to connect engineering investments and technical decisions to customer value and measurable business outcomes. * Proven ability to develop engineering leaders, build collaborative teams, and foster technical excellence across distributed organizations. * Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to influence technical and business leaders and navigate complex customer challenges. ## Description * Define and execute engineering strategy aligned with product priorities, customer needs, and Ellucian's long-term technology roadmap. * Lead software engineering teams delivering secure, reliable, and scalable enterprise SaaS solutions. * Drive adoption of modern engineering practices, cloud-native architectures, APIs, DevSecOps, and automated testing to improve quality and delivery speed. * Advance platform engineering capabilities, reusable components, and standardized integration patterns that reduce technical complexity and accelerate development. * Partner with Product Management and Architecture to translate business priorities into technical roadmaps and sustainable product capabilities. * Establish clear technical standards and architectural governance while reducing technical debt and improving platform performance and maintainability. Customer Leadership and Consulting Excellence * Lead customer-facing technical teams responsible for customer-specific development, enterprise integrations, and complex technical solutions. * Ensure successful delivery of existing customer commitments while maintaining technical quality, delivery predictability, and customer satisfaction. * Guide the transition from customer-specific development toward standardized, reusable, and product-aligned engineering solutions. * Partner with Product Management and Architecture to identify recurring customer requirements and incorporate them into scalable product capabilities. * Establish reusable integration frameworks, automation accelerators, and technical delivery standards that reduce implementation complexity and improve customer outcomes. * Serve as a senior technical escalation point for complex customer challenges, delivery risks, and critical integration issues. Operational Excellence and Business Impact * Establish outcome-driven engineering metrics that improve software quality, delivery speed, platform reliability, and developer productivity. * Drive measurable improvements in engineering performance using indicators such as delivery cycle time, deployment frequency, defect trends, and service reliability. * Balance engineering investments, resource allocation, and capacity planning across product development, customer commitments, and modernization priorities. * Partner with Professional Services leadership to manage consulting capacity, delivery performance, and resource utilization while supporting the evolving delivery model. * Improve operational efficiency through engineering automation, standardized processes, reusable solutions, and effective technical governance. * Translate engineering performance and technology investments into measurable business outcomes, including faster delivery, reduced technical complexity, improved customer satisfaction, and operational scalability. AI and Engineering Innovation * Lead responsible adoption of AI-assisted software development, intelligent code analysis, automated testing, and engineering workflow automation. * Establish practical measures to evaluate AI-driven improvements in developer productivity, software quality, and delivery efficiency. * Partner with technical leaders to identify opportunities for AI-enabled engineering capabilities and reusable automation across development and integration workflows. * Ensure AI-assisted engineering practices incorporate appropriate security, data protection, quality validation, and human oversight. * Foster experimentation with emerging technologies while prioritizing measurable business value, technical sustainability, and customer impact., * Build, lead, and develop high-performing engineering managers, software engineers, technical leads, and customer-facing technical consultants. * Guide teams through evolving engineering and delivery models, building capabilities aligned with cloud technologies, platform engineering, automation, and modern integration practices. * Develop engineering leaders through coaching, performance management, succession planning, and clear accountability for technical and business outcomes. * Strengthen collaboration between product engineering and customer-facing teams to accelerate knowledge sharing, innovation, and reusable solution development. * Foster an inclusive, accountable, and collaborative engineering environment that encourages continuous learning, technical ownership, and high performance. * Lead organizational change effectively while maintaining team engagement, delivery continuity, and customer confidence.