Director, Software Solutions (Grade M13)

SES Space & Defense is a trusted partner ensuring mission success for our customers by blanketing the globe with multi orbit end to end satellite and technology solutions which provide reliable, secure, and high bandwidth connectivity. We strive to be the only solution when success is critical, and we will take care of our employees because we recognize they are our competitive advantage.The SES S&D Team, along with our customers and partners, will achieve success through integrity, honor, and commitment.

Director, Software Solutions

ROLE DESCRIPTION SUMMARY
The Director of Software Solutions is a senior engineering leader responsible for setting the technical vision, scaling high-performing engineering teams, and delivering secure, reliable, mission-critical software products. This role provides leadership across multiple engineering teams, owns product delivery execution, governs architecture and technical standards, and ensures alignment with business, security, and regulatory requirements.

You will partner closely with Product Owners, Process Owners, Security/Compliance, and executive leadership to define engineering strategy, guide modern cloud-native development on AWS, SaaS implementations with Salesforce & ServiceNow, and deliver platforms and applications that meet the organization's mission. You will lead people, practices, delivery, and platforms-ensuring engineering excellence at scale.

1. Engineering Strategy, Architecture Governance & AWS Cloud Direction
   
   
   
   • Define and lead the engineering strategy across a portfolio of applications, integrations, and data platforms.
   • Set and enforce architecture standards, patterns, and best practices for AWS cloud-native designs.
   • Make high-level decisions on system design, security, scalability, observability, and long-term maintainability.
   • Sponsor modernization initiatives such as cloud migration, DevSecOps automation, platform standardization, and distributed systems reliability engineering.
   
   
   
   
2. People Leadership for Multiple Teams
   
   
   
   • Directly manage multiple engineering teams, which may include, Tech Leads, and Principal/Senior Engineers.
   • Build team structure, staffing plans, and growth paths aligned to product and organizational needs.
   • Lead recruiting, hiring, onboarding, goal setting, performance management, and succession planning.
   • Create a culture of trust, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
   
   
   
   
3. End-to-End Product Delivery Ownership
   
   
   
   • Own delivery outcomes for the Software Solutions portfolio: product roadmap execution, quality, predictability, and customer satisfaction.
   • Oversee backlog refinement, prioritization, and cross-team delivery coordination.
   • Remove organizational bottlenecks, mitigate risks, and ensure delivery commitments are met.
   • Implement metrics-driven delivery management using DORA metrics, cycle time, deployment frequency, incident trends, and security posture indicators.
   
   
   
   
4. Quality, Security, and Compliance Leadership
   
   
   
   • Ensure secure-by-design principles across all architecture, development, and deployment processes.
   • Govern adherence to regulatory and compliance standards, participating in design reviews, material requirements processes, and audit readiness.
   • Embed security into the SDLC: threat modeling, code scanning, vulnerability remediation, and continuous monitoring.
   • Drive quality-first engineering practices including automated testing, code reviews, reliability engineering, and observability.
   
   
   
   
5. Deep Cross-Functional Partnership & Executive Influence
   
   
   
   • Act as the primary engineering partner to Product, Program Management, Operations, Security, and business leaders.
   • Communicate strategy, progress, risks, and outcomes to senior leadership with clarity and data-driven insight.
   • Advocate for engineering needs, platform investment, and long-term sustainability.
   
   
   
   
6. Vendor, Platform & Budget Stewardship
   
   
   
   • Manage vendor relationships for platforms, tools, SaaS products, contractors, and managed services.
   • Evaluate vendor performance, negotiate contracts, and ensure solutions meet security and compliance requirements.
   • Oversee cost governance for cloud environments, platforms, and engineering tools (e.g., AWS cost optimization).
   • Make recommendations for investment in new technologies, modernization, and tool rationalization.
   
   
   
   

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the design, development, and delivery of complex, AWS-based software solutions aligned with organizational priorities.
• Manage multiple engineering teams building applications, integrations, and data solutions (SQL, ETL, warehousing, streaming).
• Establish engineering best practices and ensure consistent application of SDLC and Agile methodologies.
• Drive cloud-native architecture, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), observability, and automation initiatives.
• Lead incident response at the engineering leadership level and ensure long-term reliability improvements.
• Conduct architecture reviews, system design reviews, and engineering quality assessments.
• Ensure development aligns with security, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
• Communicate engineering strategies, progress, risks, and outcomes to leadership and key stakeholders.
• Support and exemplify the organization's mission, values, and culture.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• US Citizenship, with ability and willingness to obtain and maintain a security clearance
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10-16+ years of experience in software engineering, architecture, and enterprise application delivery
• Demonstrated ownership of product delivery for complex technical solutions
• Expertise in AWS cloud-native architectures and modern distributed systems
• Deep knowledge of SDLC, Agile methodologies, DevSecOps, and secure development best practices
• Proficiency in multiple programming languages and development paradigms.
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong expertise in software design patterns, SOLID principles, and best-in-class engineering practices.
• Strong data engineering knowledge (SQL, ETL, data warehousing, data streaming).
• Excellent communication skills with leadership, teams, and customers.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience leading engineering delivery in regulated environments with compliance or accreditation requirements.
• 3+ years building custom solutions or integrations with SaaS platforms (Salesforce, ServiceNow, D365, etc.).
• Experience implementing or maturing observability (metrics/logging/tracing) and orchestration platforms.
• Experience managing cloud cost governance and optimizing AWS resource utilization.
• Proven ability to lead modernization initiatives across legacy platforms or monolithic systems

SES Space & Defense is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws. #LI-Hybrid #LI-DR1