Director, Engineering

About the role

Federato is looking for a Director, Engineering to take ownership of the engineering organization and drive its long-term technical and cultural direction. This senior leadership role involves shaping how engineering teams are structured, how work is prioritized, and how high-quality software is delivered at scale. The Director, Engineering will partner closely with executive leadership to align technical strategy with broader business objectives. The position operates within a remote-first environment, enabling the leader to guide distributed teams while maintaining strong visibility and influence across the organization.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead the full engineering organization by defining strategic priorities and ensuring alignment with company-wide objectives.
• Manage and mentor a group of engineering managers and individual contributors across multiple product teams.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards, code quality practices, and architectural principles that apply to all teams.
• Work with product and design partners to turn business needs into clear technical roadmaps and execution plans.
• Supervise the planning, scoping, and delivery of large engineering initiatives and critical product features.
• Champion continuous improvement in development workflows, deployment automation, and overall system reliability across the platform.
• Serve as the voice of the engineering organization in discussions with executive leadership and external stakeholders.
• Own the full hiring lifecycle for engineering talent, from sourcing and interviewing to onboarding and retention strategies.
• Conduct regular performance evaluations and provide meaningful coaching and development guidance to engineering managers.
• Ensure every engineering team has the tooling, infrastructure, and organizational support required to perform at their best.
• Manage the engineering budget responsibly and allocate resources wisely across competing projects and priorities.
• Build transparent communication pathways between engineering and other departments to keep everyone informed and aligned.

Requirements

• A demonstrated history of leading engineering teams in a senior leadership role for a minimum of eight years.
• Hands-on experience managing directors, managers, and individual contributors within a rapidly evolving technology company.
• Deep knowledge of software architecture, system design, and contemporary development methodologies and practices.
• A proven ability to build engineering organizations from early stages or scale them through significant growth periods.
• Outstanding communication abilities with the skill to translate complex technical topics for non-technical audiences clearly.
• Prior experience working in remote or distributed team settings with a strong capacity for self-management.
• A bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a closely related technical discipline, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• A consistent record of shipping reliable, high-quality software products on schedule and at production scale.

Nice to have

• Exposure to artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms or data-heavy application domains.
• Experience navigating regulated industries or environments with rigorous compliance and security standards.
• A background in startup or high-growth company cultures where responsibilities shift quickly and frequently.
• Previous work with cloud-native infrastructure and containerized deployment and orchestration systems.

Skills & tools

• Strong command of one or more programming languages such as Python, Go, or Java.
• Practical experience with cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure for managing infrastructure and services.
• Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, containerization technologies including Docker and Kubernetes.
• Familiarity with project management and agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban for team workflows.
• Comfort using monitoring, observability, and incident response tools to maintain healthy production systems.
• Ability to leverage engineering metrics and data analytics when making decisions about team performance and direction.

Practical notes

• This is a remote position, and candidates should have a dedicated workspace at home with stable, reliable internet connectivity.
• The role may involve periodic travel to company headquarters or team gathering events scheduled throughout the year.
• Federato supports a flexible work schedule, though there may be designated core hours for team collaboration and sync meetings.
• The hiring process typically includes several interview rounds with engineering leaders and cross-functional partners.
• Applicants should be ready to articulate their leadership philosophy and their approach to cultivating a strong engineering culture.
• The position is understood to be a full-time commitment, with specific employment terms confirmed during the offer and negotiation stage.